More outdoor cooking enthusiasts are taking the winter barbecue challenge—adjusting their regular barbecue routine to take winter grilling from a sometimes-madcap chore to an upscale entertaining experience.
Gas grills made winter grilling practical, and the recent emphasis on indoor-outdoor home design is leading to more experiments with winter parties thrown in part on decks and patios. The winter barbecue is an opportunity for guests to revel with cocktails in the bracing beauty of a winter night and then head inside for the cozy comfort of winter char.
Grill aficionados say it makes sense to grill outdoors when the temperatures dip. "It's a lot more pleasant to stand next to a grill when it's chilly than when it's 100 degrees," says Scott Thomas, 39 years old and a senior systems engineer in St. Louis, Mo.
"My neighbors look at me like, 'Who's the idiot out there grilling when it's snowing?' " Mr. Thomas says. "I love to stand outside next to my grill and watch it snow, with wine in hand or maybe warm bourbon."
The Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, an Arlington, Va., industry group, polled some 6,000 grill owners and found 62% reported using their grills year-round in 2011, up from 56% in 2009.
Winter grilling has practical benefits. It frees up oven space for side dishes and desserts. Kitchen cleanup is minimized. And a beer tucked into the snow stays very cold for the grill master.
Kingsford Charcoal has been asking retailers to stock their packaged charcoal earlier, by March rather than by Memorial Day. In cold-weather regions "the issue was, even if you wanted to grill, it would be hard to find charcoal," says Drew McGowan, senior group manager for Kingsford Charcoal, a unit of Clorox Co., in Oakland, Calif. "Now we're seeing retailers carry at least a small supply earlier in the year."
In recent years, Mr. Kempster has asked retailers to promote Weber's "Q" line of portable gas and electric grills and stock more of them in the October-to-December period leading up to tailgating's peak. Char-Broil, a unit of W.C. Bradley Co., of Columbus, Ga., introduced a gas-fueled Tru-Infrared Grill2Go portable grill in 2012 that it says is "ideal for tailgating" and other outdoor activities. In 2011, 24% of grill owners said they cook outdoors on Super Bowl Sunday, up from 16% in 2009, the barbecue association says.Winter tailgating has stoked winter demand for portable grills, charcoal and grill tools. Weber-Stephen Products says grill sales in the last three months of 2011 grew 11% compared with two years ago. The increase in the springtime high season was a more modest 3%, says Mike Kempster, chief marketing officer.
Successful grilling in winter takes more planning than in summer. Think about what to wear. Dress for warmth and ease, experts say. Tuck in tassels and flaps and keep scarves, gloves, sleeves away from flames. Wear shoes or boots that are easy to put on and take off as you toggle between inside and out. Russ Faulk, vice president of marketing and design for Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, which designs high-end outdoor grills and kitchen equipment, says his trendy UGGs fill this need. "I hate to admit it," he says. "Mine look like a pair of loafers. They're not little booties."
No matter where you park your grill in summer, move it closer to the back door in winter—"so you don't have to traipse too far," Mr. Faulk adds. But keep it clear of exterior walls of the house. And definitely don't be tempted to grill in the garage, which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. In snowy regions, keep a shovel handy so you can dig a direct path to the grill.
A flashlight or clip-on style desk lamp affixed to the grill's frame are good ideas in winter months when it gets dark earlier. In St. Louis, Mr. Thomas likes his battery-operated LED clip-on light by Fulcrum Products, of Portland, Ore., which retails for about $30. "I once left it out all night in the rain, and the next day it was still on," he says.
Grills take longer to warm up in cold weather. If it takes a grill 10 minutes in summer to preheat to a temperature of 600 degrees Fahrenheit—ideal for searing burgers or chicken breasts—it might take 15 or 20 minutes in winter, says Chris J. Hartley, vice president of marketing for Blue Rhino, a unit of propane company Ferrellgas Partners, of Overland Park, Kan.
Grills can be harder to ignite in cold temperatures, Mr. Hartley says, especially if wind gusts extinguish the flame. Friends can form a human barrier from gusts until you get it fired up. Or use a patio umbrella, set and secured on its side.
Resist the urge, even more than in summer, to open the grill top and check on how things are progressing. It brings temperatures down quickly, requiring more cooking time. Doug Dickerson, an information technology manager in Wilmette, Ill., swears by his Maverick Industries "deluxe single-probe remote thermometer." A probe goes into the meat; a hand-held device gives a temperature reading and an alarm sounds when it's ready.
On a recent December Sunday in Fargo, N.D., winds were gusting and the temperature outside was hovering just below freezing. Doug Burgum, 56 years old, a former Microsoft executive, and his partner Kathryn Helgaas, 49, had invited about a dozen friends over for Sunday dinner. Guests bundled up to mingle outside on the rooftop deck, spearing appetizers of bacon-wrapped scallops and teriyaki-glazed pheasant while sipping wine, beer and hot, cinnamon-infused cider.
Dinner—rib-eye steaks, bison burgers and salmon grilled on a cedar plank—was served at a table inside the couple's two-story condo, a penthouse pied à terre that sits atop a four-story residential building owned by Kilbourne Group, Mr. Burgum's real-estate firm, which focuses on redevelopment of downtown Fargo. After dinner, guests put coats back on and headed back out for s'mores around the fire pit.
In winter, it's easy to "get caught up driving from heated garage to heated garage," Mr. Burgum says. "Anytime you can get outdoors and connect with the air, so fresh and clean, it adds to any meal."
Tripp Rion, owner of Twisted Oak Catering in Castle Rock, Colo., steams oysters on the grill in winter. It's a tamer version of a tradition from his childhood on Pawleys Island, on the South Carolina coast, where winter is oyster-harvesting season. Mr. Rion says his father had a giant backyard fire pit with a grate. He would spread raw oysters on a large steel sheet, and to create steam, he would cover the oysters with wet blankets.
In Colorado, Mr. Rion grills oysters on his charcoal grill in an 18-by-10-inch brownie pan. He puts a half-inch of water and a couple dozen oysters into the pan, covers it with foil and puts it on the grill until the oysters pop open. It takes about five minutes.
The Rions usually invite a dozen or so friends over to gather on the deck around the grill. "It's very communal," Mr. Rion says. "Everyone's reaching into the same pile on the table as oysters are coming off the fire." Hot bowls of clam chowder and cold beers are also usually served.
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