Barbecue season is here, check your grilling gear

  • Published
  • By Carl Grusnick
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base, NM --  Nothing says summertime more than the enticing aroma of a working dinner on the backyard grill. But with some 8,000 fire department responses to home fires every year, all grillers have to refresh themselves with proper "barby" etiquette to avoid becoming a statistic.

You wouldn't or shouldn't embark on any worthy enterprise, especially one with such significant safety implications, without a good gander at the condition and proper operation of your equipment. Hey, any camper worth his salt would never embark on a trip without setting up the tent once before leaving the house. Remember that time you had to set up the tent in that dark, only to learn you didn't have all the stakes? Yup, you really impressed your companions on that trip!

Barbecue grills on the market today are amazing pieces of engineering. If you spend enough, yours can be a backyard work of art worthy of neighborhood envy. What they all have in common is the need for periodic inspection and maintenance. When you pull the portable meat-cooker out of its winter hibernation, take a few minutes to inspect key components. In the case of those very popular gas models, check for gas leaks. Check accessible propane line fittings to ensure they're tight. Look for visible cracking in the propane lines. Use a water/soap solution applied to fitting and lines to see if there's a leak. Apply the solution to a charged gas line and look for bubbles that indicate a leak. Propane has a pungent aroma, so if you smell it when the main gas valve is open and the grill burner is off, you definitely have a leak and should not operate the grill until repairs are made.

According to QualityHealth.com, more than 300 hospital stays and 30 deaths a year are a result of injuries caused by backyard grilling. I'm sure that number doesn't include the countless Uncle Harry's who've lost their eyebrows to over-fired grills. So take a minute to clean out your grill at the beginning of the season, including the grease that accumulates in the grill; a frequent culprit in those flame-kissed injuries of singed arms and seared skin of backyard chefs. Continue to do so after each use, once the grill has cooled.

Until now, I've focused mostly on the very popular gas variety of these backyard cookers, but to purists like me, the charcoal type remains the only true way to get the meat to the table. With these beauties come significant risks and time-tested safety procedures to ensure you never end up as a statistic. First, second, third and always: never use gasoline or any other unapproved accelerant to light the charcoal. If you don't believe me, check YouTube. The world seems to be full of brainiacs who want to tempt fate, with disastrous results, and end up as one of those 300 who head to the hospital or 30 who end up in the morgue. Use only approved charcoal starter fluid and a lighter designed to keep your hand away from the flame. Consider an electric starter. As with the gas variety, keep the grill free of accumulated grease and ash, cleaning it regularly once the grill has cooled.

To all backyard-cooking aficionados who feel that primordial desire to cook meat over an open fire, I salute you and wish you the season's best. Just adhere to the proper safety etiquette so your weekend grilling adventures remain boring water cooler discussions on Monday mornings, instead of a mishap report.