He Said
“All barbeque, all the time” requires some imagination. A little planning. Thinking out of the box.
And it requires the Weapon of Choice.
When we bought our current home, we excluded the appliances. We figured, “no problem, we’ll barbeque for a while…it’s summer, so it’s all good”. If you’ve been following the kitchen reno saga, you’ll know why.
As usual, I digress. First up was to have a gas fitter come out and run natural gas to the patio. The configuration of our basement (and main gas line feed) dictated a different line run. Out of the basement, through the garage to the outside via big honkin’ hole; along the outside wall to the patio. Whoa…don’t forget a “T” for the interior Weapon of Choice. We decided this was the way to go, as our basement is nicely finished and fishing NG line would be painful and destructive.
The Weapon of Choice is a beast. The shipping weight of the thing is well over 200 pounds. Four burners with a rotisserie as well as a side burner. Heavy grade stainless steel. Assembly that required a team resembling a NASCAR pit crew (Ok, ok…it was just me, and a team of Stella Artois). A gajillion BTUs that require welding helmets and heat shields. Ok, lots of BTUs but not the other stuff; that would be cool, as I like to keep the neighbours on edge.
The assembly wasn’t bad – but, I went at it over a couple of evenings, to take my time and make sure that it went correctly. I am really impressed with the build quality. Everything is so solid and tight – it’s everything I would expect from a grill that’s approaching the high end. From a “feel” perspective, I love how heavy the lid and the cooking grates are – you get the sense that the Weapon of Choice will be around for a while.
On a side note, our grill was the second one we received – the first one appeared to have been dropped or squashed – its lid was significantly bent. No problem…the Home Depot came out the next day to pick up the old grill and drop off the new one. Say what you want about the big box, but these people have taken very good care of us. Shout out to the Ottawa South Keys Home Depot! I am not in any way compensated by the big orange machine, btw…in fact, we’re putting their kids through college with this crazy reno. Anyhoo…
The cooking is also predictable. There are hot spots on the grill, but they were easy to find and they seem a little more easy-to-read than other grills we’ve used. The rotisserie works really well too – nice low temperature for that “long and slow” cook. To date, we’ve done chicken, tenderloin and rabbit on the spit, all with fantastic results.
So far no real negatives, with the exception of the side burner. Don’t get me wrong, it works very well – too well perhaps – it’s difficult to get low heat. Even at “low”, it’s too hot; but, we’ve just gotten used to moving pots and pans around to reduce the heat.
Stay tuned for some really cool recipes from Oneof7!
Having had the privilege of cooking on the WoC, I would have to agree. Stunning quality device.
I also agree on the side burner comment, as making a cream sauce on it is quite a challenge. I’ll go out on a limb though and say that we rose to the challenge and the sauce was all creamy goodness.