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Apartment Grilling

destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Alright OT, I need your assistance.

WTF am I going to do about grilling?

We have a small patio and I'm not worried about leaving a grill out there (I see them and other things on many patios - nice community here).

But I don't know what kind of grill I should even be thinking about. And no, I have no preference regarding charcoal or gas. Probably not electric, so I guess that's a preference.

I've never cooked on charcoal myself, and my grilling experience has been limited with my dad's electric grill.

Doesn't really matter what I do, cooking anything has a certain challenge for me... have red/green color deficiency (albeit a mild case), deciding on "doneness" is a hell of a bitch. Light pinks? They say: fuck your eyes! The difference between red and brown in meats? Only in exaggerated differences is it easy for me to see (like, blue rare and overcooked aka well done).

Even then, that's post-cutting. Charcoal or gas, I'd still need some time to get used to cooking times - since all you can see is the seared outside.


Do I get a full-size grill or smaller, table-top style?
Charcoal or gas?
With charcoal, I can do a sort of smoker-style cooking, right?

This is really about starting from scratch and hearing pros and cons and having people make my decision for me. 😀
I really don't know what I want, and I'd sort of have a dumbfounded/awestruck look when standing in the outdoor/grilling section of a home improvement store - seeing everything awesome but having no clue exactly what I'd prefer.

Am I going to stoke the charcoal vs gas, uh... fire, with this thread? I hope so. 😉
 
is it legal to grill on your patio? when I live in an apartment it wasn't. Guess it depends on your complex and state but also there is the smoke problem.
 
Thebobo said:
is it legal to grill on your patio? when I live in an apartment it wasn't. Guess it depends on your complex and state but also there is the smoke problem.
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The fact that I can look into the courtyard and see many grills on patios, leads me to believe it is, at the least, acceptable.

I am on the first floor, and have only been looking at first-floor patios.
If I go this route, I would move it out in the grass in front of the patio when actively cooking.
 
Hard to believe its acceptable. Most city/ county fire codes want the grill to be six feet away from the building. Most landlords don't want to deal with the maintenance of the exterior being discolored caused by the smoke.
 
Raincity said:
Hard to believe its acceptable. Most city/ county fire codes want the grill to be six feet away from the building. Most landlords don't want to deal with the maintenance of the exterior being discolored caused by the smoke.
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I haven't really witnessed any said grilling, except on one occasion. And they had their portable grill out in the grass, a few feet (3' ? 6' ? I can't remember) from the patio.

They might have that clause and even enforce it. I do know security makes rounds.. came home one night smoking a cigarillo and puffing away as I walked though the breezeway leading to my door. Was standing at the end, facing the courtyard I spoke of, and was spooked by a security guard who approached and said no smoking in the breezeway, and asked if I lived nearby and, upon finding out I was standing next to my apartment, told me to take a few steps to be on/in front of my patio and not the breezeway's end.

So they might enforce grilling spacing - but I do know people HAVE grills, and keep them on the patio when not in use. :\
 
is it windy on your patio?
how many people will you be cooking for (keep in mind you really shouldn't grill large meals on a small patio)?
how open is your patio?

if it is windy go with something a like a weber one touch, or if a smokey joe is big enough for you then go with that. charcoal with a lid usually works better in windy conditions. use a chimney starter to get that coal nice and hot as quickly as possibly (less smoke), DO NOT USE FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS!

if it's not too windy use a gasgrill as it will create less smoke, I'm partial to charcoal myself but gas is very convenient and straight forward whereas charcoal grilling will take experience to do properly.

if your patio is very enclosed I'd say go with an electric grill, lots of darwin awards have gone to idiots who killed themselves with CO poisoning.
 
UglyCasanova said:
Either get a Weber charcoal grill or just get a grill pan. Grill pan is easy, charcoal grill is fun and you can learn to cook on it. Gas grills to me are a waste until you get to the higher end models, but it doesn't seem like that price would fit your needs.

$35 grill pan

Or

$100 charcoal grill plus another $15 for a chimney starter
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I imagine for those kettle-type charcoal grills, Weber has some of the better construction?

Is it worth it to step up (as much as I hate the idea of $150 for a charcoal grill) to the "one-touch" version: Lowe's link

Never even knew about those starter chimneys. After looking up what you even do with them (I told you, had no idea), that's ingenious and removes some of the reason why I might hesitate with the concept of charcoal grilling.

But that still leaves cleanup - and dammit, I hate dishes and general cleanup after cooking enough - now that's just another added step for cleanup.

That cast-iron grill pan: 😱
Does cast-iron work even better with gas stoves than electric stoves, like it seems any other pan does? I always grew up with electric stoves - we have gas here and I'm in love... so much faster and predictable.
That might be a winter trick. I have been looking into even a standard cast-iron pan for steak.
 
When I lived in an apartment we bought one of those little tailgater grills that run off a standard propane can. Worked great, and when we were done we could fold the legs up and put it away.
 
Broheim said:
is it windy on your patio?
how many people will you be cooking for (keep in mind you really shouldn't grill large meals on a small patio)?
how open is your patio?

if it is windy go with something a like a weber one touch, or if a smokey joe is big enough for you then go with that. charcoal with a lid usually works better in windy conditions. use a chimney starter to get that coal nice and hot as quickly as possibly (less smoke), DO NOT USE FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS!

if it's not too windy use a gasgrill as it will create less smoke, I'm partial to charcoal myself but gas is very convenient and straight forward whereas charcoal grilling will take experience to do properly.

if your patio is very enclosed I'd say go with an electric grill, lots of darwin awards have gone to idiots who killed themselves with CO poisoning.
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It's generally not windy - but it is Ohio. We have weather - a whole heck of a lot of it. So it can be windy - let's put it that way. 🙂

I haven't been here long - so I haven't gotten to experience too much in the way of "typical weather patterns" to see if "normal windy days" creates a lot of wind on or near the patio.
Again, I think, especially with charcoal, I'd take the grill out from the patio... there is the second-floor's patio overhead, I'd want to minimize how much smoke reaches them.
 
destrekor said:
But that still leaves cleanup - and dammit, I hate dishes and general cleanup after cooking enough - now that's just another added step for cleanup.
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there really aren't much cleaning to do with a charcoal grill, empty the ash catcher (always liked that name) when full, give the grate a bit of scrubbing with a grill brush before use, clean the grate once in a while and you're golden.

the biggest pitfall are the coal and briquettes, some burn like shit and others hotter than hell. the most expensive aren't always the best.

here in Denmark the men of suburbia measure their penis size by the model of their charcoal Weber grill.
 
destrekor said:
Understood.

I don't have a balcony, however, I have a patio (balcony overhead) - and the ability to roll something into the grass.
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Still most apartments prohibit grilling on your own. Those that allow it will usually have grills far away from the units.
 
A Weber Q320 is a good size. I used pavers to make a level grilling area outside the back kitchen door in my apartment.
 
Jumpem said:
A Weber Q320 is a good size. I used pavers to make a level grilling area outside the back kitchen door in my apartment.
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D:

Yeah, I was looking those up - that price? Hell no. 😛

If I'm paying that much I might as well say I'll pay even more and get a nice full-size gas grill.


just read the lease and the only statement relating to grills is under the section regarding flammable materials.
It basically says don't use grills on balcony.

No statement could be found preventing use of grill a few feet in front.
 
destrekor said:
The fact that I can look into the courtyard and see many grills on patios, leads me to believe it is, at the least, acceptable.

I am on the first floor, and have only been looking at first-floor patios.
If I go this route, I would move it out in the grass in front of the patio when actively cooking.
Click to expand...

One of the apartments I lived in said no flame grills at all. The other said gas only.

Whatever you do, don't grill lamb on a charcoal grill at 2am unless you want extremely unhappy neighbors.
 
I wouldn't worry about the regulations too much. Our leases prohibit using grills (charcoal or otherwise) on our patios/balconies, but that doesn't mean that we can't use them at all. What we do is keep a charcoal grill on our patio and wheel it out about 10-15ft from the building. That seems to satisfy the safety concerns.

That being said, since you are in an apartment, dont get something too big. You need it to be reasonably portable.
 
MovingTarget said:
I wouldn't worry about the regulations too much. Our leases prohibit using grills (charcoal or otherwise) on our patios/balconies, but that doesn't mean that we can't use them at all. What we do is keep a charcoal grill on our patio and wheel it out about 10-15ft from the building. That seems to satisfy the safety concerns.

That being said, since you are in an apartment, dont get something too big. You need it to be reasonably portable.
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I reckon that's what I see - the lease states no balcony grilling, but I see grills on the patios ("balcony" ? I haven't seen any big grills on the upper balconies, but who knows about small camp-style portables) - one even appears to be a fairly good size gas unit (think: typical gas grill size - not a tiny one but not necessarily beastly).
As I've said, I imagine most of the first-floor grillers are using the grass. The one folks I saw with a camp-style mini grill took it out in the grass.


I did go with this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-On...Grill-in-Black-1351001/203597028#.UeyaPI3CZ8E

I like the catcher, and the size didn't seem to take up that much more space than the cheaper, basic pan-style catcher 18.5" model. The extra room could come in handy for when I want to experiment with smoking 🙂
throw some wood chips in with the charcoal and have a water pan on the bottom, put the goods on top... I'm excited to try that. 🙂


Charcoal recommendations? I got original Kingsford. I saw they had a Mesquite version but seeing as I have planned some seasoned chicken for one night and some burgers for another night - I wasn't sure if I'd want that flavor. That, and might as well have a good starting point to appreciate charcoal, right? 🙂

But any brand recommendations that may be cheaper or the same as Kingsford? Perhaps certain Kingsford products specifically?


OILFIELDTRASH said:
Damn a bad ass here folks.
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:awe:
 
Looks like a good choice for a first grill while living in an apartment. As far as charcoal, Kingsford or just regular frickin bags of charcoal have always worked well for me or whoever I've been with that was grilling. I'm sure you'll have some that'll roll in here and say that charcoal is shit, but it's safe to ignore them. Just buy a bag of charcoal, a steak, and cook it up. Now I'm hungry for steak. :awe:
 
destrekor said:
I reckon that's what I see - the lease states no balcony grilling, but I see grills on the patios ("balcony" ? I haven't seen any big grills on the upper balconies, but who knows about small camp-style portables) - one even appears to be a fairly good size gas unit (think: typical gas grill size - not a tiny one but not necessarily beastly).
As I've said, I imagine most of the first-floor grillers are using the grass. The one folks I saw with a camp-style mini grill took it out in the grass.


I did go with this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-On...Grill-in-Black-1351001/203597028#.UeyaPI3CZ8E

I like the catcher, and the size didn't seem to take up that much more space than the cheaper, basic pan-style catcher 18.5" model. The extra room could come in handy for when I want to experiment with smoking 🙂
throw some wood chips in with the charcoal and have a water pan on the bottom, put the goods on top... I'm excited to try that. 🙂


Charcoal recommendations? I got original Kingsford. I saw they had a Mesquite version but seeing as I have planned some seasoned chicken for one night and some burgers for another night - I wasn't sure if I'd want that flavor. That, and might as well have a good starting point to appreciate charcoal, right? 🙂

But any brand recommendations that may be cheaper or the same as Kingsford? Perhaps certain Kingsford products specifically?




:awe:
Click to expand...

Good choice for a charcoal grill! I'm jealous. I've always wanted a weber grill like that one.

No recommendations on charcoal brand/type though. However, I would recommend getting one of those $10 chimney starters for your coals. Those things are a godsend for grilling with charcoal.
 
How often do you expect to grill out? (Nightly, weekly, monthly, etc)
How long do you expect to own the grill before moving or replacing it? (6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc)

If you're in an apartment complex and own a nice grill, left outside, it's likely to be damaged by weather or stolen. Weather can ruin a grill fast. Most are made out of thin sheet metal to begin with.

I asked those first 2 questions just so you avoid spending on an expensive grill that's going to deteriorate.

Look at getting a small hibachi grill. You can let them cool down, dump the coals, wipe them off, wrap them in a garbage bag and store them in a closet. That will help keep them from rusting out... Get a charcoal chimney starter....

Just read your post: Ok....good choice. Just keep it covered from rain/snow......if you can get a grill cover it'll help make it last.
 
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