Steveio the Grill-Meister and his love affairs.....

I said in my last blog that I would post about Steveio and his love affair with grills.....(not GIRLS... GRILLS!)

When I first met him, he said he did a lot of cooking over a grill.. even pizzas!   And because he was remodeling the house he was living in, he didn't even have a stove yet till the cabinets were in.  So ALL his cooking was over the grill out in the back yard.   What a guy, eh?   Little did I know where this love affair with grills would lead.......

When we got married, I already owned a huge Webber kettle charcoal grill, it was larger than the regular Weber and it was great for large gatherings.    We always had to wait for the coals to be ready, but he liked cooking over it and did a lot of family parties and big meals over that grill.  Four hungry teens and their friends would be about the right size family for a grill like that.   He has now brought it to work and they have company cookouts using that grill.

Once we built the house up in Oconto, I got him a regular propane grill like everyone else has on their decks. You think that would have kept him happy?  One grill, easy start, quick, and he could cook on it.   Fine?

He cooked and cooked on that grill,  and I think he had to replace the innards 2 or 3 times over the years.  But he said he was thinking of getting a tabletop grill that we could take camping too.   I had no idea what kind of Monster I was creating.  I said I thought that was a good idea and we could look at new portable propane grills....

So when Heather got her first apartment, he gave this regular normal deck one to her to cook on.

And after looking around, for his birthday I bought him this:

A Coleman Roadtrip grill--   I bought the extra griddle piece and the extra grid to make one side a burner.  And it's blue so it matches our motorhome .. heh heh   The X legs collapse down so he can just slide it right in a basement compartment.    So I thought I did the best thing, by getting him a grill that can be out on our deck or take along in the motorhome.   It cooks wonderfully, but  the enamel coated cooking grids are kinda strange and very hard to clean.  They are not wire racks like most grills.   We have to clean this grill right away each time or things bake on and it's really really grodey, and takes a lot more elbow grease to clean it than just leaving it sit there all icky.

Then one day he saw THIS on a special sale from the website RV Toy Outlet..

http://www.rvtoyoutlet.com/

It was regular priced $69 on sale for only $19.99 ....  (but $18 shipping!)    Well he liked THIS grill so much he kinda stopped using the big Roadtrip unless we had a lot of company to cook for!

That was about three years ago.. and now it's all worn out and won't work anymore.  The innards aren't even replaceable, so now it was time for shopping for another grill!


He saw this Party Grill from Coleman and wanted it.   He said it would be great in the motorhome too.  It works great and is perfect for 2 people ....  here he has it loaded up with ribs for 6!   But it's still kinda small, and he said the one drawback is that there is no lid, to help cook foods on the grill, ya gotta be able to cover the food sometimes to get better heat and through and through cooking on some meats.

So the hunt was on again for another grill besides the three he already owns....  oh geesh.  

He saw a nice cheap Charbroil at Fleet Farm and hinted it would be good for his birthday.  $20.    Soooo I went in April and bought it, just a nice table top grill with a lid that ran off propane.   Okay...  hidden away till his birthday, I am thinking all is good.   But 2 days before his birthday, WHAT does he come home with???   The very same Charbroil grill!!!   He said he knew they were on sale and he had a co-worker pick it up on a tool run from work!  ARGGGHHHHH   WHY does he go and buy things for himself right before his birthday, Father's Day, Xmas etc. ?  He does that very often.

So he opened one of the grills up and used it.... works great!   And the other one we kept new in the box and donated it to my brotherinlaw's cancer benefit to be raffled off.  

So now he has the Charbroil for at home on the deck, the bigger Coleman Roadtrip if we have company, and huge Weber for at work, and the small Coleman Party grill in the motorhome..... 

Then two weeks ago..... he was thinking out loud:
"HEY.. WILL IT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE **TWO** OF THOSE CHARBROIL GRILLS?  KEEP ONE IN THE MOTORHOME AND ONE AT THE HOUSE!   THEN I DON'T HAVE TO LOAD OR UNLOAD THE CHAR-BROIL!!!! "

So now he wants ANOTHER grill???

We said we would pick one up next time it went on sale, but then we were shopping in Aldi's grocery store, and he saw THIS one!   No name brand, but larger than the Charbroil, but smaller than the Roadtrip.....

He said this one is a winner... and he should buy a couple new in boxes  to store away when this one burns through or wears out.   Oh really???


But please keep in mind that he also likes cooking over a campfire!   Sometimes he cooks over the grids that are in place in the national forest camgrounds we often go to.....

Then of course if there is no grid over the fire, he needs to cook over a tripod too..... 

Not only cooking meats or corn right on the grid, he also does big pot meals too......

Now, my sister is the one who carries my tripod all over for camping, even through it collapses, it's grubby and sooty and would make a mess in our carpeted motorhome compartments.  So they carry it around in the back of their pickup truck, and bring it to wherever we go camping together.   

So what if Steveio wants to cook over the fire when it's just the two of US camping???   My crafty creative guy Steveio made this cooking grid and metal stake.  Yup, he designed it, welded it up and it is comprised of the one stake and the one flat grid/handle piece.  The weight of the handle keeps the grid at various heights by just sliding it up and down on the slanted stake, and it stays put whatever height you set it at.   It stores flat in a heavy duty plastic bag in a basement compartment of the motorhome.   

Then sometimes when we are with the whole family, my brothers bring along THE QUAD POD!!!    This is a tripod made out of a swing set, with a cable, pulley and a boat winch to raise or lower the grill, and has accessories like a big flat griddle for 16 pancakes, or a big cast iron dutch oven.  This is for SERIOUS cooking outdoors!   It can come apart into pieces and be hauled from place to place. 

Sometimes we also cook over the fire with pudgy pie irons, not quite a grill, but still cooking over a fire, right?   We have a collection of I think 4 or 5 right now, and whenever I see them at rummage sales, I snap them up!~   The newer aluminum ones are not as good as the old cast iron ones, take my word for it.

And last, but not least, is the Redneck part of Steveio who always wants to cook a turkey, by deep-frying it!

So I bought him a turkey deep-fryer one year.   Honestly, I use the burner and stand more for canning pickles or tomatoes or dyeing wool out of doors, but we do a bird every now and then too.

He has also used the deep-fryer (with salt water in it)  to steam up Alaskan Snow Crabs legs for my birthday!

Now, as I write this and look back over it...  

I realize that **I** am the one who keeps buying him 

all of these grilling toys!!  

GASP!  I am an *ENABLER* to his addiction!!!!

See why I said he has a love affair with grills????  

Better than with WOMEN!  LOL LOL 

Some of the mods we made to our motorhome – O thru S

Back again.. this the fifth installment of my alphabetical listing of our mods from my photo files.  I have been sick lately and pretty much bed-ridden, so this is keeping me occupied.  LOL

OLD FUEL FILTER SYSTEM:
 
Our 3126 Cat engine has a fuel filter system that is accessible through a side bay door.  The winn 200/200 filters have been discontinued.  So instead of doing the very expensive upgrade to the new systems like other folks have been doing….  (the new filters are in the $30-40 range)    Steveio did something a little different.   He found out what filters the semi truck drivers are using for this same engine.  Fleetgard filters at about $8 each.  Cheaper if you buy em by the six pack!     We bought the *head* piece for $14 from a local truck place, and Steve made a little bracket to hold it into place.  Works great and is a cheap modification to a complex problem!

OVER THE OLD TELEPHONE OUTLET:
We stuck the other part of the thermometer (the outdoor temp sensor)  first out under the front bumper.  We lost it one day and found it when walking through the campground.. .all mushed.  So we bought another one and put it out in the fridge access compartment stuck into place with velcro!

OVEN:
This is my favorite mod that directly affects me and my baking.  I know that I have mentioned it before in previous blogs, but we don’t have an LP oven in our rig.  Short of sacrificing 3 of my big kitchen drawers to install one, and cutting our Corian countertop.
We are usually boondocking or camping without hookups in the National Forest Campgrounds.   If we want to bake something in the micro/convection oven, we have to fire up the generator to do so.  Not nice in the early morning hours for muffins, or droning hours on end for lasagna, stews, or roasts….  even brownies take a long time to bake.  So we found this:
 
(technically it’s called the Coleman Instastart Oven, and runs about $80-90)
Steveio nicknamed it my Easy Bake Oven!   How cute is that?
Got it from Camping World.  We stow it in a basement compartment when not in use.  It’s great to keep the heat outta the rig if you want to bake some dinner rolls on a hot day, and also nice for toast for the whole crew at once for breakfast.   Bakes an 11x13 pan nicely.


OXYGENICS SHOWER HEAD:
Now this mod is DEFINITELY  a MUST DO!   We replaced the original shower head with this white Oxygenics one.   Got it from CampingWorld on sale for about $25. They also have them in silver and bronze, neither which would match a gold tone like our bathroom.  So white it was.   I LOVE LOVE LOVE  this thing and we are going to buy some for in the house now too.  You use less water, but its a frothy foamy spray that rinses my long hair well, and sprays wide that you get your whole body wet, instead of single small spray …..

The hose and bracket are from my original shower, but on the Oxygenics there is a small knurled section that does turn it *almost* off.  I guess folks who buy them in California don't even get the shut-off in their packages, something about a plumbing code I have read. 

When opening the big blister pack the Oxygenics comes in, the shut off knurled section is hidden way in the back, it does not come pre-assembled on the wand handle.  Steveio threw away the package without reading any instructions, of course!   So imagine my dismay when I tried it and there was no shut-off.   Soooo I rescued the package from the trash and found the little shutoff section!   Works great. 

I guess the folks in California have gone to Home Depot and found a shutoff that works too and adds them to their Oxygenics.



PARTY GRILL: 
  This is such a nice little propane grill.  We have a larger Road Trip grill too, but this one is just perfect for when there are only the two of us.  The legs come off and it stores in a cute vinyl bag.  There is a *drip tray* underneath that you fill with water while grilling for catching the grease.  Washes up really fast.  Only drawback is that there is no lid for putting over the top of the food while cooking.  Ya know, to enclose it and keep the heat in?   There is a big plastic lid that snaps over the whole thing after it’s cool .  I found that if I invert that lid on the picnic table and fill with soapy water, the cooking grid sets right in it to soak off baked on food, till it’s time to do dishes.  Nifty!  It was about $30 at Gander Mountain, but I have seen them at Walmart too.


PASSENGER SEAT STEP STOOL:

He is such a good project-making guy!   I also use this stool for reaching the top shelves in the cabinets, or reaching way up in the front video compartments.  And if I am weaving, I sometimes set my coffee mug on this little stool as a side table!   It’s great to have items that are multi-use in the small space of an RV.


PUCK LIGHT REPLACEMENT:
Some people may think we are crazy to take OUT these modern looking puck lights and replace them all with the cheapie looking fake brass gold swivel lights that are all too common in RV’s today. 
But……..   these puck lights would get VERY hot, the plastic rim pieces  would let loose and the hot glass lens would fall down into your lap!   One time a lens fell down and burned the leg of a little girl visitor to our rig.  That was it, OUT they went! 
I found these little aim-able brass lights on ebay for about $3 or 4 each.  We bought enough to replace all the puck lights in our entire rig.
One by one we are going to replace each bulb too with the new LED bulb devices, something we would not be able to do with the halogen puck lights.   






SCOOTER RACK:
  We take our Honda Helix scooter all over on the back of our motrohome.  It rides 2 up, gets 70mpg and can reach speeds of 70 mph,  which of course we don’t go.  LOL  
The rack is removable, and mounts into two hitch receivers for stability.  The little ramp sets into place, and he can roll the scooter down easily.  To put it back on, he has the engine running and squeezed the throttle to walk it right back up the ramp.  It’s locked into place with two padlocks and two straps on the tires.
 

SCREEN DOOR LATCH:
This is another *favorite* of mine… probably because I thunk it up, bought the pieces when we were in Florida, and it worked out JUST as planned!  LOL
Sometimes we like to lay down and rest in the middle of the day, and just flipping this little wing tab around to the frame makes it less likely our doggers would pop the door open with their naughty noses if they saw something outside they could not resist… (squirrel, chipmunk,  some cute doggie, or a grandma bringing over treats)   By the time we could get up, they would be halfway across the campground!  

Ok.. that is enough for tonight… we will continue with the S’ … there are some special things that the photo file names all start with Steveio’s  this.. or that….