... For me, lighting the chimney while I crack a beer and do some prep work while chatting with my girlfriend is therapeutic. I work hard and am constantly go go go. I never want to be in a rush when I'm cooking because I enjoy food and enjoy the process. ...
@ shkish there's your money quote above. No one should try to "make" someone else like what they like but I will say that if you let yourself get into some of the more ritualistic aspects of charcoal cooking you'd enjoy everything about it better. Said another way, you'd really have no choice but to put up with getting dirty with char, waiting for it to light, dealing with crusty or rusty grates, waiting for kettle temp to stabilize, dealing with ash afterwards the next day prior to the next hookup possibly.
The same goes for hubby. He might just not want to deal with much of it. No harm, no foul but it is what it is, you know? I'm not saying it's gonna be a pain in the ass but it'll never be as easy to use as a gas grill and if time it tight during the week you'll only use it on weekends.
Give yourself a good hour before you intend to put food on to get everything ready. Longer if you didn't clean up from the previous cook outside or need to deal with ash. Enjoy the
process, the creative configurations, the small adjustments ... because it'll produce results like no other!
****************
The biggest revelation for me when grilling is doing it indirect. I rarely cook anything directly over heat unless searing for a couple minutes or if I need to "speed something up" that didn't go as planned.
That means your cooking surface is effectually cut in half usually. This is a big reason why "more grills" unless you get something like a "stacker" that turns it into smoker/griller that lets you cook indirect over the entire surface.
We're getting into the weeds with this now but you did ask "why more grills." Bottom line, when talking capacity, if the entire meal isn't cooked outside, ask yourself why that is.
