A Lovely Day In the Canyon

Here in Utah, it is a pretty safe bet that October means "So Long Summer! Hello snow, ice, bad traffic and salt on my car. Ughh!

Not wanting to think about that prospect, my wife and I decided that a trip up the canyon was in order. 

The Premise: How long would it take to cook a great steak with 15 briquettes and no lid. (This might have been about the lid had I remembered to bring it) 

We decided on a very simple menu:

Steaks
Potatoes
Fruit Salad
Potato Chips (Insisted upon at the last moment while we were at the Texaco)
Crystal lite (I can't drink soda until the end of the year, Im betting with someone) 

My personal Volcano lives in my jeep. I don't often cook with Propane and left the burner home. In that space, I keep a baggie with about 15 Match Light Briquettes,(be sure to get them mostly white or youll get lighter fluid flavor)  matches, couple of pair of surgical gloves,  and a few other things. This way, Find Coolers, fill with stuff, leave. Way less complicated

I dumped out all of the briquettes on top of the diffuser plate. This is the best way to grill with the volcano. I made the lovely mound you see.. 

And with one match, got the show on the road.

I arranged the potatoes around the edge of the diffuser plate, made sure they weren't touching the coals, and proceeded to go. I gave the potatoes a head start of about 15 minutes.

I added the steaks, salt and pepper. I cooked 9 minutes on one side, 9 on the other and about 5 to finish. I had the draft ring 100% open all the time. This made the steaks medium.

We decided that to pass the time we would watch a movie on my iPad. Not that great. The Ipad screen washed out, even in the shade, and with the river nearby, hearing was impossible. Happily it was  a foreign film.. so it was sub-titled. 

I smashed the potato with a plastic fork.. It was pretty tender and very delicious... I would rate it excellent!