"charcoal grill" news and stories

No, it's not the latest genetic modification by KFC (thank God, right?). It's a display by British conceptual artist Banksy at his project The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill in New York City's Greenwich Village.

As Joe DiStefano reported a few weeks ago, the display, which just closed on Halloween, featured chicken nuggets like the above, as well as "living" fish sticks, and sausages wriggling toward water. The idea was to challenge our perception of the foods we eat. According to io9.com, children thought the creations in the cages were real and tapped on the glass.

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It's the beginning of grilling season -- er, at least it is for us in southern California -- and with Slashfood's Steak Day coming up next week, it's a good time to start thinking about the grill that's hiding underneath moldy leaves and a dusty tarp on your patio. Maybe it's time for a new grill?

If it time to buy a new grill, the question that remains to be asked is whether you should go with gas or charcoal. Jon Bonne has written a good list of the pros and cons of both. As a summary, where one has a pro, it is a con for the other.

Gas grills can be used year-round, are easy to use, heat quickly, have temperature controls, and are relatively easy to clean. Charcoal grills, on the other hand, are difficult to use in say, winter, take a long time to heat and prepare the charcoal, rely only on the griller's experience and eye for temperature control, and are a bear to clean.

On the other hand, nothing beats the flavor that comes from charcoal, charcoal grills are much cheaper, and though they may lack temperature controls, they can heat to much higher temperatures than a gas grill.

In the end, it's up to you, so go get yourself a gas grill, you know, if you want to wimp out like that.