Grill Masters

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I can’t be the only one who loves to grill. Let’s see the setup. I’m a Weber guy, have both charcoal and gas. Did NY strips, burgers, brats, brussel sprouts, corn on the cob and potatoes yesterday. The heat was killer but it had to be done, food went to fast to get pics. Here’s a during pic. Show me what you’re cooking and what with.
 
Man, that looks good. I haven't done any grilling for years.

Just for fun, thought you may find this old 25+ year old BBS posting interesting.

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Subject: want some bbq?

Our subject today is lighting charcoal grills. One of our favorite charcoal grill lighters is a guy named George Goble (really!!), a computer person in the Purdue University engineering department.

Each year, Goble and a bunch of other engineers hold a picnic in West Lafayette, Indiana, at which they cook hamburgers on a big grill. Being engineers, they began looking for practical ways to speed up the charcoal-lighting process.

"We started by blowing the charcoal with a hair dryer," Goble told me in a telephone interview. "Then we figured out that it would light faster if we used a vacuum cleaner."

If you know anything about (1) engineers and (2) guys in general, you know what happened: The purpose of the charcoal-lighting shifted from cooking hamburgers to seeing how fast they could light the charcoal.

From the vacuum cleaner, they escalated to using a propane torch, then an acetylene torch. Then Goble started using compressed pure oxygen, which caused the charcoal to burn much faster, because as you recall from chemistry class, fire is essentially the rapid combination of oxygen with a reducing agent (the charcoal). We discovered that a long time ago, somewhere in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (or something along those lines).

By this point, Goble was getting pretty good times. But in the world of competitive charcoal-lighting, "pretty good" does not cut the mustard. Thus, Goble hit upon the idea of using - get ready - liquid oxygen. This is the form of oxygen used in rocket engines; it's 295 degrees below zero and 600 times as dense as regular oxygen. In terms of releasing energy, pouring liquid oxygen on charcoal is the equivalent of throwing a live squirrel into a room containing 50 million Labrador retrievers.

On Gobel's World Wide Web page (the address is http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/) you can see actual photographs and a video of Goble using a bucket attached to a 10-foot-long wooden handle to dump 3 gallons of liquid oxygen (not sold in stores) onto a grill containing 60 pounds of charcoal and a lit cigarette for ignition.

What follows is the most impressive charcoal-lighting I have ever seen, featuring a large fireball that according to Goble, reached 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The charcoal was ready for cooking in - this has to be a world record - 3 seconds.

There's also a photo of what happened when Goble used the same technique on a flimsy $2.88 discount-store grill. All that's left is a circle of charcoal with a few shreds of metal in it. "Basically, the grill vaporized," said Goble. "We were thinking of returning it to the store for a refund."

Looking at Goble's video and photos, I became, as an American, all choked up with gratitude at the fact that I do not live anywhere near the engineers' picnic site. But also, I was proud of my country for producing guys who can be ready to barbecue in less time than it take for guys in less-advanced nations, such as France, to spit.

Will the 3-second barrier ever be broken? Will engineers come up with a new, more powerful charcoal-lighting technology? It's something for all of us to ponder this summer as we sit outside, chewing our hamburgers, every now and then glancing in the direction of West Lafayette, Indiana, looking for a mushroom cloud.
 
Man, that looks good. I haven't done any grilling for years.

Just for fun, thought you may find this old 25+ year old BBS posting interesting.

**************************
Subject: want some bbq?

Our subject today is lighting charcoal grills. One of our favorite charcoal grill lighters is a guy named George Goble (really!!), a computer person in the Purdue University engineering department.

Each year, Goble and a bunch of other engineers hold a picnic in West Lafayette, Indiana, at which they cook hamburgers on a big grill. Being engineers, they began looking for practical ways to speed up the charcoal-lighting process.

"We started by blowing the charcoal with a hair dryer," Goble told me in a telephone interview. "Then we figured out that it would light faster if we used a vacuum cleaner."

If you know anything about (1) engineers and (2) guys in general, you know what happened: The purpose of the charcoal-lighting shifted from cooking hamburgers to seeing how fast they could light the charcoal.

From the vacuum cleaner, they escalated to using a propane torch, then an acetylene torch. Then Goble started using compressed pure oxygen, which caused the charcoal to burn much faster, because as you recall from chemistry class, fire is essentially the rapid combination of oxygen with a reducing agent (the charcoal). We discovered that a long time ago, somewhere in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (or something along those lines).

By this point, Goble was getting pretty good times. But in the world of competitive charcoal-lighting, "pretty good" does not cut the mustard. Thus, Goble hit upon the idea of using - get ready - liquid oxygen. This is the form of oxygen used in rocket engines; it's 295 degrees below zero and 600 times as dense as regular oxygen. In terms of releasing energy, pouring liquid oxygen on charcoal is the equivalent of throwing a live squirrel into a room containing 50 million Labrador retrievers.

On Gobel's World Wide Web page (the address is http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/) you can see actual photographs and a video of Goble using a bucket attached to a 10-foot-long wooden handle to dump 3 gallons of liquid oxygen (not sold in stores) onto a grill containing 60 pounds of charcoal and a lit cigarette for ignition.

What follows is the most impressive charcoal-lighting I have ever seen, featuring a large fireball that according to Goble, reached 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The charcoal was ready for cooking in - this has to be a world record - 3 seconds.

There's also a photo of what happened when Goble used the same technique on a flimsy $2.88 discount-store grill. All that's left is a circle of charcoal with a few shreds of metal in it. "Basically, the grill vaporized," said Goble. "We were thinking of returning it to the store for a refund."

Looking at Goble's video and photos, I became, as an American, all choked up with gratitude at the fact that I do not live anywhere near the engineers' picnic site. But also, I was proud of my country for producing guys who can be ready to barbecue in less time than it take for guys in less-advanced nations, such as France, to spit.

Will the 3-second barrier ever be broken? Will engineers come up with a new, more powerful charcoal-lighting technology? It's something for all of us to ponder this summer as we sit outside, chewing our hamburgers, every now and then glancing in the direction of West Lafayette, Indiana, looking for a mushroom cloud.

Haha! That’s hilarious, man you’re on fire this morning! .......Get it?
It made me think about the electric charcoal starter my Dad used to use back in the 60’s. I looked it up and darn if they don’t still sell that thing unchanged.
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I myself use a small gas grill, only for basic burgers, chicken and hot dogs. I tried to get serious about barbeque a few years ago, wasted some expensive cuts of meat. Decided to stick to the basics. If I want bbq I let the pros handle it. Mmmm brisket!
 
Haha! Those guys may be brilliant engineers , but they’re idiots, they’re lucky that guy pouring the liquid oxygen wasn’t consumed in the fire himself. Don’t they use liquid oxygen to fuel rockets? Anybody remember the Challenger explosion?
 
Back in the day, we used LOX for breathing oxygen in Air Force jets. Servicing was never one of my favorite jobs. In the First Gulf War we were bare base (no facilities) when we first got there. We squirted LOX into a bucket to cool our water bottles. When it was 115F in the shade.... was the best tastin' water ever. ;)

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Challenger, Apollo 1. Yeah, these are the best and brightest minds that keep Emergency rooms and burn units busy, and insurance rates high. Fire can build or destroy, help or hurt. Be smart, people. What's yer damned hurry? If you want a steak that bad, go to a steak house and keep your eyebrows and all your fingers.
 
Long ago I was hosting a grill and BBQ party, the charcoal wasn't starting very well, so I dragged the compressor hose out there and gave it some assist. The guys took notice, and forwarded that "light-off" posting to me. Lot of like-minded gearheads out there.

The last big BBQ I hosted involved renting a trailer mounted smoker, like this:

BBQ-Trailer.jpg

I have a lot of Oak, plus some Mesquite.
Great for BBQs...
 
Long ago I was hosting a grill and BBQ party, the charcoal wasn't starting very well, so I dragged the compressor hose out there and gave it some assist. The guys took notice, and forwarded that "light-off" posting to me. Lot of like-minded gearheads out there.

The last big BBQ I hosted involved renting a trailer mounted smoker, like this:

View attachment 121602

Dang 2M! I didn’t know you were one of them SERIOUS barbequers! What time is the cookout? I’ll bring the beans! :cool:
 
I guess I can share one of my BBQ secrets.

Take any BBQ sauce of your choice.
Mix it 50/50 with Lone Star beer.
Slather it on, before and during.


Leftover beer is for the cook...
I tried that i found it made my skin very sticky! My wife didnt like the smell either. It wasnt a bad lube though!
Perhaps it was the Black Duck Brewery substitute i used East Coast pale Ale. If i can find Lone Star Ill give that ago.
 
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