Hi All, Claudia, the gas grill is totally doable for blind people. I just bought a new gas grill from Wal-Mart last month and in the July issue of Consumer Reports I find that it was rated as a "See Our Best buy"
I'll specify the brand and model at the end of this message as I need to get my sighted wife to look on the model plate. If you've ever cooked in a frying pan and who among us hasn't? The new gas grills are even better then the older ones and safer too. Today's grills use 5 burners rather then 2 or 3 used in older grills. These burners are smaller but because you cook with all 5 burners running, the heat is more uniform across the cooking surface of the cast-iron face. The cast-iron cooking grate provides greater non-stick like a cast-iron skillet that's well seasoned does. I cook on the lowest setting using all 5 burners. Under the cooking grates are 5 deflectors which help spread the heat evenly across the cooking surface and protect you against direct heat. The 5 dials that control the gas flow are very blind friendly. There is an electronic igniter like you would find on a gas stove. It runs off of a single "(AA) battery and makes a clicking sound as it's held down. To light the grill, you press in on the dial and turn it counter clockwise. A click is heard letting you know your on high power. The first thing you do is hold down the igniter button and press in on the dial. Turn the knob counter clockwise and the escaping gas is lit for you. Repeat the above second step with the remaining burners. There is also a sixth burner off to the right that can be used to cook a pot of beans for example or what ever else you might need a sixth burner for. Turning the dials farther counter clockwise until they stop sets you on low cooking where I like it. Your ready to cook in about 6 minutes. I suggest using a cooking spray before starting the grill just like you would with a cast-iron skillet. The sides of the grill stick out and form a handy place to put a platter to hold all the burgers, steaks, chops, or anything else you decide to make. On the far left of the grill is a bar type handle with 4 S hooks you can use to hold utensils made for the grill. The propane tank is a standard size 5 gallon tank. By law the tank cannot hold more then %80 of capacity. This prevents all those accidents you use to hear about about gas grills exploding. This safety feature has greatly diminished the number of deaths but there is always the stupidity factor. A gas grill is like anything else that uses any kind of gas. The potential is there for accidents and therefore, respect for what your doing is in order. When not in use, the tank should be turned off and only turned on just before cooking is to commence. It never pays to buy the bottom of the line. This particular grill is only sold at Wal-mart and goes for $250 and worth every dime of it. However, when we came across it, it was on sail for $220 which made it an even more attractive deal. You can buy the grill in a box and assemble it yourself which is what we chose to do. The frame is about all you assemble. The firebox and lid are pre assembled at the factory. This includes the 5 burners as well. They don't want you assembling it incorrectly and suing them if you do it incorrectly. You can also choose to buy one of the already assembled grills. I found the assembly of the units to be easy and straight forward with easy to understand instructions. They say 90 minutes to assemble the grill but that's in the same class as "the checks in the mail" It took me a bit over 2 hours. The grill is already setup for you if you decide to buy a rotisserie sold separately for around another 20 to 30 more dollars. You will also need an extension outdoor cord long enough to reach your outdoor outlet. We have the rotisserie and have already grilled several chickens. On low and only using burners 1 and 5 for indirect cooking, it took 90 minutes for an average size chicken. The grill was rated by Consumer Reports as "very Good" for both low and high cooking. It also comes with a second rack that drops into 4 holes on the outside frame and sits about 2/3 of the way from back to front giving you even more cooking surface for those items like corn on the cob etc. I find that this grill with all 5 burners running cooks a bit faster then my old 3 burner grill but the heat differences are in uniformity. My new grill is a pleasure to cook on, the design is well thought out. The controls are easy to use and even easier to tell by feel if they are on or off or their status as to temperature. I've only used the right side side burner a few times but it works like any all the other 5 burners and has the exact same dial as it's brothers. It has a cooking grate such as one would find on an in the house gas stove. I noticed last night during a trip to K-Mart that even the new gas stoves now have cast-iron burners now. Cooking. I find this grill a pleasure to cook on, easy to tell at a touch what the status is of your burners. If you think the heat is a little to high even on low, you could turn off burners 2 and 4 leaving burners 1, 3, and 5 lit. You can use indirect heating by only using burners 1 and 3 and cooking in the center of the grill. This grill is safe to use outdoors and should provide years of back yard fun. Brand and model number: Uniflame BCG1059WB Price: $250 Price actually paid: $220 Weight in box" Aprox. 130 LBS Notes: We bought our grill brand new in a sealed box. They also come preassembled as well. Gas tank is sold separately. There are basically 2 types. The most popular is the pre filled tank. You can find these at 7-11s etc. They cost more up front to buy but once you buy your first one, you just exchange your old empty tank for a fresh one and pay the exchange price. The biggest advantages are, you always have a new tank and places that carry them are numerous. The second kind is the older refillable kind. Advantages are, their cheaper to buy and a few bucks cheaper to refill. Disadvantages: it's harder to find a place to refill them. Unless you have a flying J near by that you can get to easily or some other reseller your probably better off with the first kind. NLS users can download the July or was it the August issue and look for the update to grills. The Uniflame was the only Uniflame they tested. Alan Please click on: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~alanandsuzanne/ There, you'll find files of my arrangements and performances played on the Yamaha Tyros keyboard. I often add files so check back regularly! The albums in Technics format formerly on my website are still available upon request. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Claudia" <cdelreal1...@sbcglobal.net> To: <blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 3:25 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Using Gas Grill! > Hi, > > The honey & I, being both totally blind, want to know how easy or > difficult it is to use a gas outdoor grill? > We're both pretty confident cookds, but something just scares me about the > whole gas thing! > I guess I'd like to know how doable it is? > Thanks. > > Claudia > > Windows Messenger: cdelreal1...@sbcglobal.net > Skype: claudiadr10 > > > __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus > signature database 5408 (20100830) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > > http://www.eset.com > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Send any questions regarding list management to: > blindhandyman-ow...@yahoogroups.com > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 > Or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > Visit the archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ > > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > blindhandyman-h...@yahoogroups.comyahoo! 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