The functionality of the outdoor grill has exploded in recent years. An outdoor grill now has the capabilities to perform almost all of the cooking which an actual indoor kitchen can provide.
Take advantage of reclaiming your outdoor area this summer with a new patio grill.
In this featured blog from the Lawn & Leisure website, the countless ways a new grill will enhance your cooking experience are written. The benefits of cooking on a grill are a focal point.
Patio Grills: Take Your Love of Cooking Outdoors
There are multiple benefits to cooking outside, especially with a patio grill. By combining fresh air with the aroma of grilled food, you are sure to lure your family outside to the patio.
Get Outside
Firing up the grill and preparing a meal is a way to bring the family away from the TV. Life is busy; many of us don’t use our patios and if we do, they are just used for sitting and relaxing. Cooking on the grill is relaxing too. If nothing else, grilling chicken, burgers, or vegetables may result in children kicking ball or playing while dinner is cooking.
Summer Veggies
Summertime means fresh vegetables from the garden or local farmer’s market. Sweet corn, tomatoes, and green beans are a great addition to any grilled meal. Don’t be afraid to grill the vegetables along with your main course. There are many recipes on the internet for grilling vegetables. Not only will they taste extra delicious but grilling also retains more of the vitamins and minerals found in vegetables. Even grilling meat preserves riboflavin and thiamine, two nutrients that provide many health benefits.
Less Fat
Grilling is healthier due to there being less fat in your food. Excess fat simply drips off the grates. Grilling also seals in moisture, as long as you don’t overcook the food. Moist food means you’ll be reaching less for condiments and more for seconds on vegetables.
Patio grills are great for outdoor entertaining. From small family gatherings to a neighborhood block party, patio grilling draws people who follow the amazing aroma in order to “see what’s cooking.”
Cozy it Up
Take your patio to the next level by adding cozy comfort pieces. While the grill is the center point of the patio, consider adding patio furniture, lighting for nighttime grilling, and heaters for cool evenings. Now you have an outdoor oasis that you’ll find yourself using more beyond summer and into fall.
Container Gardening
A small patio is a great place for container plants, herbs, and vegetables. Vegetables that are successful in a medium or large container (be sure to drill holes in the container for drainage) are compact cucumbers and colorful sweet peppers. Herbs for containers include parsley, chives, oregano, and rosemary. Consider several containers of compact zinnias for an extra splash of color. Having herbs handy on the patio will save you a trip to the grocery store.
A Growing Trend
At the 2017 Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Expo in Atlanta, GA, participants learned of the most current trends in outdoor grilling. Energy efficiency and smart technologies are both growing trends. Another growing trend is the creation of outdoor rooms. Customization of outdoor rooms includes design for traffic flow with a specific area for eating and a fire pit area. This trend goes beyond the traditional patio and takes it up a level to an extended living space of the home. Referred to as outdoor rooms, these spaces are still open air areas that include the popular and important patio grill.
Get Grilling
Life is busy and sometimes, after a long day, picking up fast food for dinner seems like the easy thing to do. Instead of hitting the local drive-thru, have the family help prepare dinner by shucking corn or washing vegetables. Gathering around the grill as dinner is cooking is a great time to share stories about your day. The time spent prepping and cooking will be worth it when you take your first bite. To learn more about patio grills and how to create your outdoor oasis, contact us. At Lawn & Leisure, we’re ready to help you get grilling for a healthy and happy summer.
Anyone who has forgotten to clean a grill after use has known the feeling of being ready to cook outdoors, just to see a mess waiting to be cleaned. However, clean-up does not have to be a chore when these tips are worked into your cooking routine.
4 Tips for Easier Clean-Up During Outdoor Grilling Season
While the weather is still warm, you probably want to enjoy outdoor entertaining as much as you can. Hosting a BBQ for all of your loved ones or even for everyone in the neighborhood can be a great way to enjoy the warmer, nicer spring and summer months, but you might not be looking forward to dealing with the mess. However, you shouldn’t let clean-up get in the way of spending time with your loved ones and having a great time!
Luckily, taking a few steps now can help you save yourself a lot of clean-up later. Then, you can focus on the joy of outdoor entertaining instead of worrying about cleaning up a huge mess.
1. Invest in an Easy-Clean Deck
Some decks show stains and are more difficult to clean than others. Consider a composite deck, which can be a whole lot easier to clean, since you don’t have to worry about stains “setting” into concrete or wood.
If you have your heart set on wood or already have a wooden deck, make sure that it is sealed properly to protect it from stains and to make it easier to clean. Along with making clean-up easier, choosing the right type of sealant will also help keep your deck protected from the rain and other outdoor elements and can help it last longer. You will need to reapply the sealant every few years for maximum results.
2. Keep Your Water Hose Close at Hand
It’s important to keep a water hose close at hand when you are outside grilling; then, you can quickly wash off your deck if there is a spill or rinse off your hands after you’ve been munching on your BBQ meals. It’s also important for safety reasons if you will be grilling.
Since you will have your water hose close at hand, it is best to go ahead and spray off any messes as soon as possible; the faster that you tackle them, the easier they will be to clean. Plus, you can help prevent insects and other pests from being attracted to your grilling area while you are cooking or enjoying your meal.
3. Make it Easy With Disposable Everything
Now is the time to use disposable everything to make clean-up a breeze. Styrofoam plates and plastic cups can be thrown away without you having to bring the mess into the house. If you cover your tables with disposable tablecloths first, you can wrap the whole mess up and throw it away with minimal effort.
If you have environmental concerns, consider looking for disposables that are made out of recycled materials. You can also look through your cabinets for old plastic cups and plates that you don’t care much about; then, if they do get tossed out, you won’t feel as bad about waste or have to worry about your “good dishes” getting ruined, but you can always rewash them and use them for future outdoor events as well. You will probably also find that they are lighter and easier to carry in and out of the house when you’re hosting a lot of people.
4. Make Trash Cans Easy to Access
If your guests have easy access to a trash can to throw away their plates and napkins, they’ll be less likely to leave them sitting around. Place several trash cans throughout your property to take some of the work off of your self. If you want to bump things up a notch, consider also offering recycling bins so that your guests can properly dispose of recyclables.
Entertaining outdoors during BBQ season is a lot more fun when you don’t have a huge mess to take care of. If you want to enjoy your outdoor grill more than ever, consider following these tips. You can also contact us at Lawn & Leisure for all of your grilling and other outdoor needs.
This blog from the Lawn and Leisure website makes a great point: people who have grand visions of their outdoor grilling area suddenly keep themselves limited once the grill is in place.
This easy read should help open your eyes to the possibilities your cooking area can provide.
Accessories that Make Outdoor Grills a Suburban Adventure
Many people don’t take full advantage of outdoor grills because they allow themselves to get stuck in a rut. They make the investment in a nice new grill and maybe add a deck or patio and load up on the basic supply of grilling accessories. Sticking with that initial investment can often mean missing out on some very cool tools and accessories that have the power to enhance the entire experience of grilling in the great outdoors.
The Grillslinger
The Grillslinger is one of the most perfectly suited accessories for everything that makes owning outdoor grills fun. Strapping on the Grillslinger holster is an act that transforms outdoor grills into time machines that send your hurtling back to the Wild West. Once you slip this belt around your waist and insert your tongs, forks, spatula and brushes, you’ll feel like a backyard barbecue Butch Cassidy. The Grillslinger also celebrates the freedom of the pioneer spirit of outdoor cooking by providing areas to store spices, bottle and can openers, squirt bottles and even your cell phone. Head outside and stay outside when grilling.
Flashlight Grill Tongs
Those lazy days of the long, hot summer may be perfect for firing up outdoor grills, but even the dog days of August can get away from you. Many people across the country can comfortably barbecue outdoors well into autumn and even before spring flowers start blooming. The point is that outdoor grills are not limited to fun in the sunshine, but very often become the centerpiece of a meal enjoyed in the moonlight. One tool tat fits nicely into the Grillslinger or can just be hung on the grill itself is a pair of tongs equipped with LED bulbs that provide bright enough illumination to allow you to detect the subtle difference well and medium-well steaks even if the electricity goes out.
WiseHooker Clean-n-Flip
Quite possibly, the Wisehooker Clean-N-Flip grill tool will become as omnipresent at backyard barbecues as bottles of ketchup and mustard. The WiseHooker features a revolutionary design that could make much of what you might holster in the Grillslinger obsolete. This is multitasking at its finest: a grill accessory that can used as a spatula, fork, tong and scraper.
Personalized Branding Iron
Perhaps no other cool grilling accessory encapsulates the spirit and history of outdoor cooking in America more than a personalized branding iron. Instead of branding the cow before it becomes steak, these personalized and customized irons brand your meat on the grill just before serving. You’ll never forget the look on the faces of cookout guests the first time you place a steak in front of them into which has been seared the letters, numbers or even image of your choice. Steak branding irons are available to personalize your freshly grilled beef with everything from your initials to the mascot of your alma mater to a silhouette of a duck seared into a T-bone if you just want to confuse people. Best of all are those BBQ branding irons that let you change out the letters so you can give each guest a steak emblazoned with their own personal message.
The additions and implements which a grill and grilling area provide is only limited by one’s imagination. Visit lawn-and-leisure.com to help inspire your ideas for your outdoor cooking area.