Get Your Grill On

With the weather heating up, barbecue season has officially begun. And while a little backyard grilling isn't going to ruin the environment, when 60 million people hit the BBQ at once--like they do on Fourth of July--the impacts can add up. To grill greener, try these tips:

• Opt for a cleaner-burning propane or electric grill over one powered by charcoal, which contributes more to poor air quality. If you've got time to spare, a solar oven or stove avoids emissions altogether.
• If you do use charcoal, look for lump brands (briquettes may contain coal dust or other additives as binders) made from invasive tree species or harvested from sustainably managed forests, and switch from lighter fluid, which releases smog-forming VOCs, to a chimney starter.
• Grill organic, hormone-free meat and mix it up with fish, veggies, even fruit.
• Minimize health risks (from carcinogenic substances that can form when meats are grilled or broiled at high temperature) by choosing lean meats and trimming fat before cooking.
• Set your picnic table with reusable dishware and silverware and cloth napkins. If that's not feasible, look for biodegradable or recycled-paper dinnerware, unbleached cups, and recycled-paper napkins.
• Clean up green with a natural cleaner like Orange Plus (made with orange oil) or SoyClean.

For more information, check out the Sierra article "P's and Q's of BBQ" and the magazine's resources for an earth-friendly cookout.

Comments

[Andrea]

If we want to be really green, choose a veggie burger instead of meat. A 2005 study by University of Chicago researchers found that eating vegetarian fare is more effective in reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions than replacing a gas-guzzler with a hybrid car.
http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~gidon/papers/nutri/nutriEI.pdf

Go the extra green mile and make the veggie burgers yourself from scratch. You can use lentil, chick peas, black beans or other legumes.

And with veggie burgers, you don't have to worry about the carcinogenic substances that can form when meats are grilled.

[Todd]

Instead of a grill - try a sun oven (http://www.sunoven.com/).

(no, I don't work for them)

[Mark Grose]

I live in Texas and we have a lot of trees that lose their limbs when we get a good wind. Instead of throwing them in the trash, I save the limbs and use them for grilling instead of charcoal. No lighter fluid at all.

[Gale Teschendorf]

Use carbon neutral dry wood from your yard, not propane which has a carbon impact and unburnt propane which is worse than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

Not electricity that may put CO2 & mercury in the air, kill birds, or leak radiation or chemicals.

[Jim Stack]

use a sunoven and have veggie burgers. They use 10 times less energy and 100 times less water than animal burgers.

[Rosemary]

This is all very important information, but one crucial thing is missing. While eating organic, hormone-free meat is a great way to improve your own health and to support more sustainable agriculture, eating LOCAL meat is just as important, if not more; in fact, environmentally speaking, it is the main ingredient in eating "green". The unnecessary transportation of our food is one of the main suppliers of the greenhouse gases that are wreaking havoc on our planet and furthering global warming.

So, when preparing for your BBQ, or any other meal for that matter, if you must consume meat products please consider buying local if you really want to make a difference.

[Janet Baer]

We are having a LiveEarth party on 7/07/2007 at 7:30 PM and certainly welcome Sierra Club members. If you would like to come to Jarrettsville, MD 21084, check us out at LiveEarth or call (410) 692-2820. Two families have signed up. We have room for a a few more.
Sheep eat the grass on this organic farm.

[Tyson]

With Traeger Grills innovative wood pellet grill there's no longer a question of gas or charcoal. Wood Pellet Grills are the next generation of safe healthy cooking outdoors. Wood pellet fuel burns 98.8% efficient-low carbon footprint. It uses Bio-mass natural fuel-no fossil fuels. 100% hardwood pellets made from recycled sawdust. In-direct cooking system ensures healthier cooking. With lower benzoprene emission than charcoal or gas. Gas and charcoal days are over!

[Mani]

Very good posting thanks for that. I am usually using findbestgrills.com to get my best offers :-) Maybe give it a try and get your own gas grill for BBQ.

[Mike Macken]

Grilling Green and Your Gas Grill..
More and more, we see people becoming educated about the reduction of green house gasses and doing their little part everyday to help save our planet with everything from driving less to turning off lights. With that said, there are literally well over 100 million gas grills in use across America today. They all use fossil fuels such as propane or natural gas and they are getting fired up billions of times every year. Although gas is still one of the greenest and cleanest ways for savoring the flavor of the flame, it would be interesting to know how much the long term effects of these numbers impact our planet. We already know that the consumption of charred or burnt food due to flare-ups and over cooking on the outside can potentially produce serious ill health effects. Not to mention while under cooking it on the inside.
Sometimes the simplest solutions to a problem can simply be overlooked because they are just that, too simple. These little things can make the biggest difference in our lives and they are usually discovered by accident.
Several years ago, I set out to developed a simple little grill gadget to improve my own grilling skills with out sacrificing flavor or grilling times. And to my surprise, my efforts are not only becoming one of the hottest new grill tools to come on the market in a long time. It seems it is also becoming the greenest grill tool as well. This revolutionary new product is called GRILLTAMER and it seriously improves the performance of any gas grill. Turns out that it not only gives you control of your grill temperature; it eliminates flare-ups, makes food cook healthier, moist and more flavorful, and reduces your gas consumption by a whopping 30% or more. So if you are serious about “Grillin’ Green™ on your Gas Grill”… Go really green at: www.GRILLTAMER.com

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[Ben]

Thanks for the great post. I have a weber gas grill myself but I have not yet had chance to use it due to the whether, hopefully this summer will be better.

[Tina]

Great post!I just buy a GT Xpress 101 Indoor Electric Grill, nut I have no idea about it for I have no experience. My friend buy it from
http://www.asontv.com/kitchen/gt-xpress-101-indoor-electric-grill.html
then I got one,too...

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[outdoor cooking equipment]

Great post but I'm disappointed more people aren't more critical. Charcoal and outdoor cooking go together; recommend using a ceramic grill which uses much less charcoal, but don't lose those smokey flavors that charcoal imbues......... and please don't cut off the fat as once again your going to be loosing flavor. AndI agree with Rosemary; eat local meats; don't go overboard on fads that require us to transport meat great distances .... and keep those temperatures up when cooking meat or you'll be disappointed; just don't burn it. Place your hand over the charcoal 3-4 seconds should be all you can stand, longer its too cool, less its too hot.

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[ceramic grill]

If your looking to cook efficiently [meaning here using the least amount of fuel possible]buy yourself the Bayou Classic Cypress series Ceramic Grill; it cooks wonderfully.

Ceramic cookers cook so well and so efficiently because of their very special insulation qualities. These grills retain heat and seal in moisture; they cook by radiating & circulating heat using the minimum of charcoal to give truly exceptional results.

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[outdoor cooking equipment]

Great post and some interesting comments. Cooking great meat dishes seems to be at the heart of a number of comments; perhaps this article on cooking meat may help some folks: 8 secrets to cooking great meat dishes outdoors

[Chuck]

Good articles on this blog. Thanks much.

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With the weather heating up, barbecue season has officially begun.

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[danial]

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