Throwback Thursday: Grilling For the Ages

This week has been all about grilling here at BuyDig and, for Throwback Thursday, we’re going to continue that theme. Using fire to cook meat, vegetables, and even grains has been a practice of humanity since we lived in caves. Roasting, rotisserie, searing… these are all methods that people have favored since those long-forgotten days. And, over those years, we have constructed various types of grills and cooking areas for the purpose of using open flames to cook food. Today, we’re going to look over some of those devices.

1) Open firepit — This is the oldest method we’ve used and it’s still largely in use today. Roasting hotdogs over a campfire, using a simple grill or metal plate to sear or spread heat over the bottom of steaks — these are things we all do to this day. Charcoal and wood-burning grills make use of this design and plan.

2) Enclosed heat — All grills and stoves make use of this though stoves are engineered to be much better and more precise at convection cooking than a grill with a top over it to trap in the heat. Open flames are not normally recommended when using this method. Instead, the cook lets the fuel source burn down to coals and then traps the heat and uses the hot air to cook the food. The food can also be placed in a tin-foil package, wrapped in wax paper, or otherwise covered and enclosed which is then placed in the coals.

3) A turning spit — The spit — a long type of skewer is either used to pierce the meat or the meat is tied to it and the spit is turned over either an open flame or in the heated air — is favored for rotisserie cooks and used for cooking whole chickens or pigs (at luaus) most frequently.

These are three of the most general methods that grills and grillers can use to cook food without relying on high-tech methods such as stoves, ovens, and accessories like pots, pans, and skillets. What methods do you tend to favor? Let us know in the comments below!