A Word About My Grill

I've enjoyed grilling for about 15 years and I cooked on gas for the first 9 years and now charcoal for the last 6. We live in a house without air conditioning so summer grilling is really a necessity since it's just too hot to cook in the kitchen.

Once you get the hang of lighting the coals (I use a chimney) it can be easily worked into your cooking routine and I'll guess that I can get the grill ready about as fast as a gas grill. I'm a purest so when I light the coals I use a flint and some dry tinder so that the butane or sulphur of a match don't interfere with the true charcoal flavor... NOT! I use charcoal because the fire gets hot, the "fire" flavor is real, and it's fun to cook over hot coals that I started. I'm not particular about my coals. I use Kingsford and that's fine. I've tried hardwood chunk charcoal and it takes some getting used to. If it was easy to buy in my area I might switch for a summer to see what I really think but so far it only shows up in our supermarkets every now and then.
What makes my grilling truly unique is that I have replaced my original metal grate with a custom cast iron grill surface that I purchased from Craycort which as far as I can tell is basically a one-man company. This guy invented an ingenious insert for a Weber grill that completely transforms the experience. If you like to grill and you use a Weber kettle, I strongly suggest that you check this out.
Cast Iron gets very hot and holds the heat. It leaves great grill marks and I have to say it is a real treat. The quarters can be removed so that you can add more fuel. The company sells some additional inserts for these quarters and they too look like great additions.
Here's some swordfish and a red pepper form earlier in the week.