Paper Palate

Char-Broil recently invited the Well Fed crew to the unveiling of their 2007 product line for some lessons and lunch. Upon arrival, the hearts of all women jumped with the knowledge that Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor were filming a movie in arms reach, and were spotted crossing the path of a nearby grill. But with jaws picked off the floor, we entered the event tent to get to the heat of the matter.

Char-Broil�s pride of their new line are the high-end TEC- series grills. TEC-, a glass-covered, infrared cooking surface, crowned with a grill top, makes it ideal for cooking delicate vegetables, fish or marinaded meats. Because there is no direct flame to work with, the surface does not dry out those temperamental-when-grilled foods and you can continue to marinate meats on the grill without worry of flare up. Still, because a grill surface covers it all, you get great grill marks (and can even add smoking chips for extra flavor). Chef Gadi Weinreich of the Bryant Park Grill stated he loved the ease of cooking black and blue tuna: with the ability to leave the center raw, adding good color as well as a secret sauce to the outside, he had no worries of overcooking.

The event also showcased the company�s Grill-2-Go. My favorite in the series line, possibly because it is the only one I could potentially fit in my city plot, this portable unit is much like Weber�s Baby-Q. Advantages of the Grill-2-Go are fold-out surfaces, including a flat-top grill surface (flap jacks anyone?) and a convenient handle-turned-flashlight that is easy to remove and use around a campsite or tailgating lot. In fact, Char-Broil has added the handy flashlight feature to a few other accessories, including a changeable fork/spatula unit that makes seeing your food in the dark a cinch. Possibly the coolest grill accessory to-date.

Personally, I�m a charcoal girl and received some raised eyebrows at the comment during the event. The Char-Broil team brought their new smoker along for the ride, and while it wasn�t cooking up a storm, it was out on display with some handy features, including a hanging vegetable rack and double door design that allowed the smokey goodness to stay in while meats could be rotated and marinated.

Some of the other showcased products I�m not so sure about. While Char-Broil�s Quick 2 Burn Charcoal is a great concept, a non-petroleum based quick start charcoal, it wasn�t so quick to burn. During the demo we were told the charcoal bricks would be lit in 2-3 seconds and ready to cook on in under 5 minutes. The 2-3 seconds of constant heat turned into 2-3 minutes. That said, once lit, the bricks did burn quickly and turned gray in about 6 minutes (total start time just under 10 minutes).

Char-Broil was quite proud of their Sure2Burn Starter Packs. Also petroleum-free, one simply lights the start pack and places the flame under wood or coals to spread the fire. The packets were a convenient size, and produced a good flame for about 5 minutes; great for fireplaces and campfires in addition to coal. The drawback is that these starter packs are sealed in a plastic that we were told to �just light up.� We questioned the safety (both environmental and personal) of the fumes that might be released while burning plastic. The reply was that the starter packs were so small the harm is minimal, though it didn�t stop everyone present from taking a few steps back as the plastic seal burned away and black smoke entered the atmosphere.

While Char-Broil may need to work on some of their grilling accessories, they sure have their grills down to a science, especially their high-end TEC-series � a great grill if you have the space for it! So get out there and get your grill on while the weather holds crisp.