Gas prices

I use 2 outdoor cooking methods.

1.) Pit Boss Pellet Smoker/Grill

2.) Weber Kettle Charcoal grill

I use the pellets more than anything else because it's just so darn easy to get going. Charcoal is amazing, and gets really hot, but it takes effort to build the fire.

I plan on adding a Blackstone or some kind of outdoor griddle to the mix in the next few months, too. That will be LP, and we also have an LP fire pit on the patio that I suppose could be used for marshmallows.

^^A charcoal chimney and a sheet of newspaper will eliminate the need for lighter fluid. I love my mini weber. Agree that gas is a convenient option, but I'm a charcoal guy through and through.

BlueGemini said:

But it's ok for certain people...

You keep making this wildly inaccurate assumption that someone pointing out misdeeds by one group implies that they believe misdeeds by other groups are ok. That is, of course, ridiculous.

The BLM protests - which were overwhelmingly nonviolent, despite the 3 video clips that I would bet money FOX is still playing on loop - were a long overdue reaction to police violence against minorities. The goal of the protests was to bring attention to the issue and hopefully move toward a more just society. And the small number of people who engaged in violence and such have been dealt with via the legal system.

And, importantly, the BLM protests or threats to blow up the White House were not incited by a US President or other elected officials, so the comparisons are dumb.

Master D said:

What about making our country more energy independent instead of less?

We're trying, but "we" keep electing people that are beholden to the fossil fuel industry, or people that think windmills cause cancer.

I have read from a reputable source that the US has more untapped oil underground than Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Do you have a link to this "reputable source"? Because Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are the two countries with the most reserves, at about 300 billion and 260 billion barrels, respectively. The US sits in ~10th place with around 35 billion barrels. Now, if you include shale oil, then maybe the US has more, but recovering shale means fracking, which is a huge problem ecologically, not to mention inefficient due to the cost.

Why not use the Keystone pipeline to get the oil from the sands in Canada and bring it into our country?

KXL is a pipeline designed to transport Canadian oil to the US gulf for export to other nations. Even if we ignore the myriad issues with the pipeline - stealing land from private landowners, the ecological disaster its construction and use would bring, etc. - the existence of KXL would not have a material impact on US prices at the pump, which is what studies done under the Obama and Trump administrations concluded. I mean, think about it - even without KXL the US is a net exporter of oil. The problem isn't a lack of domestic or continental production.

At the end of the day, we simply need to get off of fossil fuels, so any money invested in fracking or whatever is money effectively wasted, since we're not addressing the root cause of the problem.

Dvo said:

^^A charcoal chimney and a sheet of newspaper will eliminate the need for lighter fluid.

Yes! A chimney will change your life if you've never used one before.

Adding my support for the charcoal chimney starter. No lighter fluid and that thing is like a turbo charger for starting the coals.

Chimney starters are the best! Only from Weber though....

Master D said:

I have read from a reputable source that the US has more untapped oil underground than Russia and Saudi Arabia. So why NOT create the infrastructure and the refineries to tap and produce?

First off, no, that's not true. Second, it can take a decade from the time you find something in the ground to the first drop. And third, maybe you've heard, burning dead dinosaurs is really not working out for the planet.

And getting back to the politics, gasoline for more expensive all over the world, because it's a global commodity. THANKS BIDEN!

Dvo said:

^^A charcoal chimney and a sheet of newspaper will eliminate the need for lighter fluid. I love my mini weber. Agree that gas is a convenient option, but I'm a charcoal guy through and through.

Somewhere Hank Hill is shedding a tear at your admission.

Your family is way better off then you were four years ago, you're just too stupid to know it.

That politics has to be dumbed down to that level for so many people is a large part of the reason we're in the mess we find ourselves in. But hey, if Ronald "Literally Jesus Christ" Reagan said it...

The other telling sign of an unenlightened political opinion is when there was never any Democrat who has ever done anything right and never any Republican who has ever done anything wrong (or vice versa).

I cook on a Primo XL-400 Oval and light it w/ a propane torch. On the verge of buying a Pit Barrel Smoker.

djDaemon,

The BLM riots in Columbus alone were very violent. There was much vandalism to the costs of millions. The Ohio Statehouse was vandalized, and the mod tried to bust in... like January 6th. Had that happened the outcome would have been worse. People were injured all across the nation. Not mostly peaceful.

Add in the fact that most of the money donated to BLM did NOT help any black people except the corrupt leaders. That info has slowly come to light as being true unfortunately. Some here are so convinced that they are on the correct side and there can be no wrong on the left.

I guess George Floyd wasn't murdered and people of color have equal standing, right? I mean, because vandalism.

Whole lot of white privilege and virtually no empathy around here.

George Floyd was murdered. No matter what he did that day or before was cause for what happened. Those responsible are being held accountable. The BLM protests and riots were the fault of the phony BLM organizers who have pocketed millions and the liberal media who fueled the fire. It did not help. Defunding the police did not help. Crime at OSU is up because they ended their relationship with the Columbus Police and now regret it. Now, police are being refunded across the nation because people realized that going along with the mob was the wrong choice.

Oh please. George Floyd was anything but a martyr. Please do not paint him as such.

e x i t english said:

I use 2 outdoor cooking methods.

1.) Pit Boss Pellet Smoker/Grill

I use the pellets more than anything else because it's just so darn easy to get going.

I've heard a lot of great things about pellets, and advertising for Trager, but I think I've heard of pit boss before as well. Along with being easy to get going what are the benefits of a pellet smoker/grill? I'm thinking that may be an investment I want to make.

Honestly, the most “restaurant quality” dishes I’ve ever made have come from my Pit Boss. They are self-regulating for temperature and smoke, and really almost set-it-and-forget it. I put a pizza stone on there and open the gates up to let the flame in - and cook wood fired pizzas all the time - I’ve baked cookies, and can even throw a cast iron skillet on it and make cornbread, eggs, or even homemade sausage gravy. It’s seriously the most versatile cooking “appliance” we own. The kid love when I do long smokes on it and has requested pulled pork bak3d potatoes for her birthday dinner this weekend. I’ll smoke the pork for about 8 hours and throw foil wrapped potatoes on for the last hour or 2.

it’s also easy to start slow and then increase the heat - whenever I cook burgers, I’ll reverse sear them by smoking them for an hour first and then cranking the heat and getting them seared. I usually use a competition blend pellet for those, but I’ve also done applewood for pork and oak for turkey. Oh, yeah, turkey. Thanksgiving day, my turkey has been the favorite for the last 2 years. Between 6-8 hours on 225, makes it amazing.

I can’t recommend it enough.

CoasterHawk said:

djDaemon,

Not mostly peaceful.

Thankfully, we're a sufficiently advanced species that we don't have to rely on uninformed opinions or gut feelings when it comes to things we can measure. And, of course, we can, and did, measure the amount of violence during the BLM protests.

One such study found:

In short, our data suggest that 96.3% of events involved no property damage or police injuries, and in 97.7% of events, no injuries were reported among participants, bystanders or police.

Another found:

Between 24 May and 22 August, ACLED records more than 10,600 demonstration events across the country. Over 10,100 of these — or nearly 95% — involve peaceful protesters. Fewer than 570 — or approximately 5% — involve demonstrators engaging in violence.

And still another found:

In CCC data collected from May 2020 to June 2021, 94% of protests involved no participant arrests, 97.9% involved no participant injuries, 98.6% involved no injuries to police, and 96.7% involved no property damage.

So the protests were, quite literally, mostly peaceful. Anyone with the misconception that an event was "mostly violent," when in reality the event was ~5% violent, should probably rethink their media consumption habits.