Mensam Mundum – World Table: The history of grilling
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Many an American will be firing up the grill this Labor Day weekend. While today’s methods of cooking over fire can be quite sophisticated, the act of grilling is almost as old as humankind itself.
Before we go any further, it should be noted that there is a difference between grilling and barbecuing. The words are sometimes used interchangeably, but technically grilling is cooking at a high temperature directly over flame or another heat source (hot coals, for example).
Barbecue, on the other hand, is a low and slow method of cooking that utilizes indirect heat and smoke. The longer cooking time at a lower temperature allows the smoke to permeate and flavor what’s being cooked.
To take it a step further, smoking is a method similar to barbecue, but the temperature is even lower, typically under 225 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cook time is longer.
Now on to the history of grilling.
When our ancestors were able to tame fire, it changed the course of human evolution. Fire provided light on dark nights and a means to cook food, it warded off predators, and its warmth allowed humans to migrate to colder climates.
Up until recently, the oldest hard evidence of man using fire was found at Qesem Cave in Israel and dates to more than 300,000 years ago.
In April 2012, however, archaeologists found evidence of campfires that could have burned a million years ago. Charred bones and the ashy remains of plants were found at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, a dwelling place for humans and our ancestors for more than two million years.
The sharp edges on the bones and the excellent preserved state of the plant ash indicated that they would have been burned in the cave, rather than in a wildfire, as being blown into the cave by the wind would have blunted the bones and damaged the plant matter.
The discovery rekindled a controversy that’s been smoldering for decades. Could cooking over fire have allowed our ancestors to take in more calories, contributing to an increase in brain size? This theory of human origins is called the “cooking hypothesis.” Not all archaeologists agree, and other factors are cited as contributors to brain growth.
Either way, one thing is certain: cooking with fire and smoke make for some great tasting fare!
Let’s fast forward from a million years ago to a more familiar era: the 1940s.
During World War II, the U.S. government asked the Coleman Co. of Wichita, Kansas to develop a compact stove for military use.
The parameters were that the stove had to be lightweight for easy carrying, no bigger than a quart-sized bottle, able to operate in extreme temperatures (from -60 to +125 degrees Fahrenheit), and able to burn any type of fuel.
The result was the G.I. Pocket Stove, which was developed in only 60 days.
The stove was a hit among the soldiers and served the military well during the war. A side benefit was that it reintroduced the idea of outdoor cooking to the troops, perhaps contributing to the enthusiasm for backyard grilling in the post war era.
In the midst of post-war affluence and the resulting baby boom, people flocked to the suburbs from cities and rural areas. The same G.I.s who had used the Pocket Stove during wartime now had growing families and backyards, and a national obsession with backyard grilling was born.
The grills in most backyards at that time were not particularly sophisticated. They consisted of a place for charcoal with a raised grill grate above it, and the process was vulnerable to the elements, such as wind, which could affect the flame and therefore cooking temperature.
Enter George Stephen, a salesman for the Weber Brothers Metal Works in Chicago, who in 1952 decided he was going to make a better grill. Inspired by the shape of the round metal buoys made by the company at that time, he tweaked one and transformed it into a simple version of what we now know as a kettle grill.
A few well-placed holes and a removable top transformed the way a nation grilled.
Gas grills weren’t far behind, with the Chicago Combustion Co. producing a portable gas grill in 1954.
Now a word about fuel. The fuel of choice for barbecuing is wood, which is also used in smoking, though some smokers are designed to use pellets.
With grilling, it’s typically gas or charcoal. While wood charcoal has been around since ancient times, it was a man named Ellsworth B. A. Zwoyer who in 1897 invented and patented the charcoal briquet, a form of fuel designed for easier use in grills.
In 1919, Henry Ford of car assembly line fame further popularized Zwoyer’s invention by using wood and sawdust byproducts from automobile manufacturing to mass produce briquets. His colleague Edward Kingsford assisted him in this process and an industry was born.
These days there are a plethora of ways to grill, barbecue or smoke food, with ever advancing technology to make things easier, or at least fancier. Even so, we must give a nod of thanks to our human ancestors for blazing a trail by igniting the grilling fire a million years ago.
Today’s recipe is for barbecue beans made on the grill a la Bob Oertel, my oldest son. I thank him for sharing his methods with us!
Bob’s Barbecued Beans (they’re delicious!)
Use a pot that can withstand the heat of a grill, such as one that’s oven safe. Bob uses an aluminum Dutch oven.
Ingredients:
Olive oil for the pot
1 diced onion, any color
1 diced bell pepper, any color
A couple of Mexican peppers of your choice, such as jalapeno, Anaheim, or poblano, diced (use a jalapeno pepper or two if heat is desired)
A couple of garlic cloves, minced, or a spoonful of jarred minced garlic
4 cans of assorted beans, drained (Bob likes to use one can each of kidney and black beans, plus two cans of pinto beans)
1 regular sized bottle of barbecue sauce
1 can beer, any type
Seasonings to your liking, such as Italian seasoning, garlic salt, dehydrated onion, black pepper, smoked paprika, or pre-made barbecue rub (Bob likes to use them all)
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup molasses if you’ve got it
4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
Procedure:
Place the pot with olive oil on the grill over indirect heat (meaning hot coals on the opposite side of the grill).
Heat olive oil, then add onions and peppers and cook until soft, stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and stir, cooking until soft (be careful not to burn).
Add beans, barbecue sauce, beer, seasonings, brown sugar, molasses, and bacon; stir to combine.
Cook for 2 to 3 hours until liquid is mostly reduced and the flavors permeate beans.
Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
This makes about eight hearty side dish servings.
Notes:
Be sure not to use a pot that’s Teflon coated or has plastic handles.
Beer may be replaced with a juice, such as apple or orange.
Bacon may be cooked on the grill before chopping and adding (see below).
Leftover grilled or barbecued meat may be added. (For example, if Bob makes these beans on a Sunday, he might add leftover pulled pork, tri tip, sausage or chicken that he barbecued or grilled on Friday or Saturday.)
If you want lots of heat, keep the seeds in the jalapenos.
How Bob cooks bacon on the grill:
There’s no need to grease the grill if it’s seasoned. (If not, spray a little grilling oil, such as Pam, on it.)
Lay bacon strips on the grill over indirect heat.
Depending on the temperature, the bacon may take 20 to 30 minutes to cook on a kettle grill. (If using a low temperature smoker, it can take up to an hour and a half.)
Flip bacon three to four times during the process.
Note: Do not cook over direct heat as dripping grease can cause flare-ups.
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.