Greening Your Grilling
Right on the heels of celebrating Earth Day, it seems only natural that we look for ways to green up our grilling. I mean, really, if we can, and easily, why not, right? Well, look no further. In a recent EcoBags newsletter, Rick Browne, the creator and host of Barbecue America, shared his 12 tips for having a more environmentally friendly barbecue.
- Use cloth napkins.
- Use biodegradable plates, bowls & utensils.
- Bring your own reusable bags to the store.
- Use reusable produce bags and Tupperware’s FridgeSmart containers to keep vegetables fresh.
- Clean your home with natural cleaning products.
- Buy lean meats and trim off excess fat.
- Become a “locavore,” buying and eating local produce and protein whenever possible.
- Find a local source (butcher or farmer) for organic poultry and grass-fed beef and hogs.
- If you need a liquid fire starter use a brand like Lokkii’s Organic Firestarter. You can also use clumps of dryer lint to start grill fires!
- Use green products like the 100% organic natural briquettes produced by Lokkii. Their “Ready to Light Premium Barbecue Briquettes” are the cooking equivalent of 10 lbs. of charcoal briquettes, and contain no nitrates, no petroleum distillates, and burn very clean.
- Cook with gas if you can. With, by far, the lowest carbon footprint among fuels used to cook food in backyard barbecues, propane and natural gas have many economic and environmental benefits.
- Think CARBON NEUTRAL and then do something about it!
Photo from Barbecue America.
While it isn’t perfect, the new infrared grills from Char-Broil, sponsor of the blog and newsletter I write called Sizzle on the Grill, use less propane than standard grills. The engineering of the RED infrared and Quantum infrared systems produces more heat, via the infrared, with less BTU - thus less gas consumed. The Big Easy oil-less infrared turkey fryer also uses less gas, because there is no pre-heat time. I realize in the big picture the reason to buy a grill is not limited to these positive aspects, there are a number of reasons folks choose grills. But perhaps this is a good start towards even better efficiency down the road.