When living in an apartment without a deck the options for grilling are limited. Most nights I’ve resigned myself to boiling hot dogs and frying burgers in a pan. Since it was Labor Day weekend and I had a strong desire for some legit BBQ I made the tough decision to use the public grills outside my building. After filling a cooler with beer and meat and a bag with my utensils I shuffled down the 3 fights of stairs and prepared to take on the beast.
The number one concern with me when it comes to public grilling is sanitation. It might be paranoia but when I see a grill that the entire neighborhood has been cooking on and birds have been using as a public toilet I just think malaria or hepatitis is in my future. Given my apprehension I went about aggressively cleaning the grill itself. After removing the ash and many cigarette butts (who does that really?) from the grill I combined a hearty amount of matchlight and lighter fluid and built the hottest fire possible. I allowed the coals to burn down and then began scrubbing with a wire brush to remove any remnants of past use. The grill was now clean and I was ready to begin cooking.
Most public grills are not enclosed like a Weber so controlling temperature is near impossible. I was only grilling Beer Brats anyway so it wasn’t too much of a concern but anything more complicated would’ve been difficult. I like my Brats fairly crispy so I let them cook for about 50 minutes while consistently turning them and enjoying my beer.
The end result turned out well. The Brats were crispy and not too dry. Adding chopped onion and mustard topped off a decent holiday meal. It’s not my first choice but I’ll be back to the Public Grill just as soon as I get my Hep C booster.
I have seen this grill and you are brave. Are you feeling any of these symptoms?
Well the cirrhosis of the liver but I think I already had that.
Also if for some sick reason you wanted this grill in your backyard it’s called the Pilot Rock Grill.