Everybody wants to go to the party but nobody likes to stay and clean up.  We realized it was time to clean the grills from the FirstGrill event, especially since the July 4th RainyDayMagazine RibFest is fast approaching!

Today is going to be a clear 80º day...perfect for this outdoor task.  Our trusty Summer helpers were assigned the job while the rest of us stood around and had our morning coffee.   Cleaning the Coleman RoadTrip LXE at first looked like it would be pretty messy... mostly because food was able to fall between the slots of the grill.  It turned out not to be a big deal. 

They swept out all the big pieces, used a sponge to wipe off the iron grates, and just hosed everything down the drain hole in middle.   Not as difficult as we had first thought.

Next they tackled the Thermos Grill2Go.  The Thermos had a grease trap on the side which got filled with water from the rain.  The surface is a one piece and should be very easy to clean.

When the top was lifted off the burner, it showed an advantage of the Thermos design.  The burner area was spotless and grease-free. 

Cleaning the top was as easy as we had expected...just a matter of hosing the surface and wiping it down.  However, cleaning the grease trap turned out to be a problem.  There was no good way of getting the solidified grease out from the bottom of the container.

Folks here have some ideas on how to "modify" the container to make it easier to clean this grease trap.  We will post our results later.

The RainyDayKitchen staff hosted the First Grill of the Season event on May 21st.  The guests got some first-hand exposure to some new and interesting Summer grilling gear.  We have grills from the following vendors:

1. Coleman RoadTrip Grill LXE
2. Thermos Grill2Go
3. Weber OneTouch

These events are also a good chance to try out some new products such as the All-Clad Stainless Steel Wok, the Waterless Cooking System, and the Epicurean wine/champagne preserver.

Some may remember we got in a few fitness scales because we wanted to see if they would be useful in helping us get into Summer Shape.  Some of us have been weighing ourselves everyday.  Others have walked past the scales as if they were radioactive.

We put them out at the FirstGrill event, and surprisingly quite a few of our guests were willing to try them.

FirstGrill Summary :

1. FirstGrill Prep

2. Assembling the Coleman

3. Assembling the Thermos

4. FirstGrill Event

5. FirstGrill - The Movie

6. Grill Cleanup

A freak thunderstorm zipped through with huge gusts of wind and even some hail.  Somebody noticed the tent outside had been pulled out of the ground by the wind and had started to take flight!  It all added an extra bit of thrill to the event...as if the food and the the grilling weren't exciting enough. 

We caught a little bit of the storm after we got the cover of the tent off the frame.