Product Spotlight: Grills!

Ah, autumn. A time of falling leaves, pumpkin spice (don’t blame us, it’s a thing) and football. And with football, of course, comes that other fall favorite, tailgating.

Just about everybody loves a good outdoor party, right? Combine food, drink and a great local team to cheer on, and you’ve got the perfect tailgate party. And what the hey, even if the team isn’t so great, food, drink and friends make for a fun afternoon.

Speaking of that essential element – food – there’s one thing that’s a must. A grill! Grilling in the parking lot is as natural as rooting for the home team.

Grills have come a long way over the decades, making tailgating easier and more fun, whether in the stadium parking lot or the back yard. Let’s take a look at the history of these tailgating standards.

In the Beginning Was … Fire 

Cooking food over an open flame is, of course, nothing new. The concept dates back to when humankind discovered fire. It’s a simple process.

What a grill does is refine the process by giving the cook more control over position, temperature and degree of doneness.

Grilling begins with a device that raises the food above the heat source. It’s nothing new. The simplest form of a grill, called a brazier, dates back at least as far as 824 BCE. A brazier is just a metal box with feet. Its elevation helps feed oxygen to the fire within.

By the 1600s (CE), the indigenous Arawak people of South America were roasting meat on a raised wooden structure they called a barbacoa. From that, we got the English word barbecue.

Grilling evolved as a way to cook food outdoors, but it remained essentially a stationary task. For the grill to become an important part of road trips, picnics and tailgating, it needed to become mobile. That would require the inspiration of an American visionary entrepreneur.

Ford and Kingsford: The Charcoal Kings

That visionary was automobile magnate Henry Ford. In the early part of the 20th century, he built a factory in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to craft parts for the Model T. The car that put America on wheels featured a significant amount of wood in its construction, including the frame. That amounted to about 100 board feet of timber per car.

Edward G. Kingsford, who was married a cousin of Ford, helped the automaker acquire timberland in Iron Mountain, Michigan to build a sawmill and parts plant. But Ford wasn’t satisfied. The sawmill created tons of waste wood. Ford wanted to turn the waste into something useful (read: salable).

Ford learned of a method of making charcoal briquettes from wood scrap. Ford’s friend Thomas Edison designed a factory to make briquettes. Ford built it next to the sawmill, and Kingsford ran it.

So What Does That Have to Do With Grills?

By the mid-1930s, the plant was producing nearly 100 tons of charcoal a day. Ford, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, began selling the bagged briquettes and small grills as “Picnic Kits” at Ford auto dealerships.

Around the same time, auto manufacturers began producing the classic “woody” station wagon. The drop-down tailgate made a perfect table or seating surface for pre-game meals and drinks. The term “tailgating” began to make its way into common usage.

Ford had named the small town built to house the sawmill and charcoal facility for Kingsford. But the charcoal carried a Ford brand for more than a decade .

The 1950s – An Era of Innovation

Simple grills such as braziers are cheap and portable. They do, however, have significant limitations. They’re open to the air, and with no vents, have virtually no way of controlling the cooking process. It’s all too easy to end up with food that’s burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. 

George Stephens had a better idea. Working at Weber Brothers Metal Works in Chicago, he cut a marine buoy manufactured by the company in half. He created a dome-shaped grill with a lid to allow all-weather use. He added vents for temperature control, put legs on it for comfortable cooking height, and a new era of grilling was born.

And Ford’s original charcoal factory was ready to capitalize on the new invention. Investors bought the plant from Ford in 1951 and renamed it Kingsford Charcoal.

The combination of Weber “kettle” and charcoal benefited from the post-war migration of Americans into the suburbs. The Weber style became the de facto standard for charcoal grills. Grilling became a weekend staple, and tailgating grew ever more popular. 

A New Innovation – The Gas Grill

Charcoal grills made outdoor cooking a mainstay of American suburban living. They impart an unmistakable flavor to food. Yet charcoal grilling has its drawbacks. It takes time and effort to start the flame, monitor the progress of the coals as they heat, and keep track of the cooking.

In 1954, a new kind of grill became available to consumers – the portable gas grill. The Chicago Combustion Company introduced the concept with commercial gas grills two decades earlier. By the 1950s, the company adapted its design to create a smaller home version, using 20-pound propane gas tanks commonly used by plumbers.

Gas grills offer notable advantages over charcoal. They’re easy to light, quick to heat up, and offer much more precise temperature control. But for some people, there’s just no substitute for that smoky flavor that charcoal offers.

Portable Grills

The original Weber grill was certainly “portable” in the sense that it was on wheels and could be moved with relative ease. But like many of its gas-fired counterparts, it’s too large for most people to comfortably take to the parking lot for the big game.

Over time, technology has improved, and smaller grills have been developed using the same styles as their larger counterparts. Smaller propane tanks have produced gas grills that can easily go to the game, even with stands that raise them to standard height. It’s never been easier to grill out at the stadium.

Promotional Grills

You knew we’d get to this part eventually. Yes, even grills can be used as promotional items to advertise your brand today. Laser engraving can put your logo or brand onto the grill, giving you a high-visibility presence at any tailgate party.

The Bottom Line

Where there’s a grill, there’s a way – to create a fun tailgate party for the game, a picnic in the park, or even just a family get-together in the back yard. Go forth this fall and get your grill on! P.S. – Good luck to your favorite teams!