Gas Grills

Student school board member Jay Witcher fought back tears last week, speaking about the death of his Glen Burnie High School classmate, Nikki Preston."

There was a time when backyard grilling meant lighting charcoal briquettes in a rusty hibachi out on the deck. Boy, is that time past. This season, the two words for the properly outfitted barbecue enthusiast to remember are "stainless" and "steel." Yes, America is going chic and shiny when it comes to grilling this summer. Continuing a trend that started in the late '90s, the hottest things in outdoor cooking are stylish, rust-resistant and match your flatware. And it's not just those pricey grills either.

The garish photograph in Monday's newspaper bared the secret fears of thousands of backyard chefs -- a grass-lined suburban street swallowed by a roiling cloud of smoke and orange flame that dwarfs houses, cars and awe-struck bystanders.The Owings Mills man whose gas barbecue touched off the nightmare survived his burns. But the spectacular fire left many others wondering: Just how dangerous are these grills, anyway?Fire safety officials say they shouldn't be taken lightly. One said the explosive potential of the pressurized liquefied petroleum gas tank that fuels a grill is equal to several sticks of dynamite.

Yikes! It is almost Easter. Or, yikes! It is almost Passover.Either way it means a big family meal. If you are like me, it is a meal you are rarely prepared for.Unlike the other big eating holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, Easter always sneaks up on me.Usually I have a problem deciding what to fix for Easter. Somehow, barbecued ribs, my entree of choice for most major eating holidays, does not seem appropriate.For Easter I was thinking about marinating a leg of lamb in red wine, olive oil and marjoram then cooking it slowly on the barbecue grill.

As someone who enjoys cooking in the great outdoors, albeit a rowhouse backyard, I wondered about the environmental impact of firing up my barbecue cooker. I read reports and interviewed people who have addressed various aspects of green grilling. Right away, I struggled with the question of scale. By one federal government estimate, all the barbecue grills in America fired up on July 4 produce only .003 percent of the nation's annual total carbon dioxide. So whatever I do in my backyard grill does not rival the environmental impact of, say, flying a jet from Baltimore to Boston.

One of the kicks of cooking outdoors is getting the chance to burn things.I am talking about the combustion that takes place in the lower levels of your kettle cooker, not up on your grill. Burning fuel, not supper.I am also talking real fire here, the kind that deals with smoke, wind and ashes. We are not talking about that push-button, no-mess, butane-tank setup. That kind of knob-turning backyard cooking is fine for fellas who, as a way to keep their womenfolk happy, periodically grill hot dogs and ham-burger patties on a rig that resembles a kitchen stove on wheels.

Thinking about cooking out tonight? Why not think big?That's BIG, as in barbecued beef tenderloin, stuffed turkey breast, marinated leg of lamb, salmon roast, or ham.All these are perfect on the grill, and can make a mighty nice change from the "small stuff" like burgers and dogs. They can turn a family meal into an occasion, or make a memorable feast for guests. And they're really no more trouble than preparing and watching over a lot of little things on the grill."You can do anything on a grill," says Francie George, corporate vice president of Baltimore's Haussner's restaurant and an enthusiastic outdoor griller at home.

A Woodbine man suffered first- and second-degree burns to his face and neck while lighting a gas grill Sunday, state fire marshal reports said. Joseph Serwna, 34, of the 1800 block of Gum Road was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center by Maryland State Police MedEvac helicopter at 4:27 p.m., where he was treated and released, according to the medical center. Serwna was trying to light the propane grill at his home during a family picnic. His wife, Carol Serwna, said that the gas had been on for about 10 minutes when he ignited it, causing flames to flash into his face.

Within the food world, certain debates are never-ending: butter vs. margarine. Red wine vs. white. Chicken or beef.But none grows more heated this time of year, perhaps, than the face-off over fire under a grill: charcoal or gas?It can be a passionate dispute as it rages across back yards in America. It pits purists who love the smell of smoke and the blaze from wood or charcoal against those who gladly give up hopeless minutes blowing on coals, then cleaning up piles of ashes, for fire begun by turning a knob.

A gas grill is basically a simple device, but grills can and do get balky and fail to perform properly, usually at the worst times.A breakdown is much less likely if a grill is periodically given a simple tuneup and a safety check.A typical grill consists of a storage tank for liquid propane, or LP, (bottled) gas; a valve to start and halt gas flow; a tube to deliver the gas to the burners, and an igniter to start the fires. Most LP grills are portable and have wheels.Some stationary grills use natural gas for fuel and don't have a storage tank, but the rest of the mechanism is similar to that of portable grills.