Happy Summer Solstice!

This past weekend I planted some new tomato plants, fertilized the lawn, repaired a minor roof leak, grilled out a couple of times, went to the pool, built a railing for the stairs in the garage, cleaned the front porch (in preparation for staining it) and cleaned and sealed the cedar shed out back. 

I even managed to install Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox (awesome Father's Day gift) and I worked in a two hour nap (even more awesome Father's Day gift).  Thanks, family!

Most of that aside, I want to talk about the stuff I used to clean the deck and the new gas grill.  Why?  Because it is rare that I run into stuff that does exactly what it says it does on the box and in the reviews.  Also, I can't think of anything else right now...

Anyway, first up is Olympic Premium Deck Cleaner.  All you do is pour it in a pump sprayer and go.  No scrubbing - you just let it sit for 10 minutes and hose it off (no pressure washer required)!  The before and after pics on the front of the container are not some idealized exaggeration achievable only in laboratory conditions dreamed up by some scumbag sales staff.  And the stuff works fast.  By the time I went 10 feet with the sprayer the color change in the treated lumber was extremely obvious.  Bird droppings and mildew-y green areas were just lifted away.

Unfortunately, I under bought so I had to head back to Lowe's to pick up more in the middle of the job.  On the bright side, they started stocking larger containers for the same price, so I had enough left over to clean the shed (it did awesome) and still have enough to clean the back porch when I get around to it.

This stuff might or might not be nothing more than bleach water, but I can't argue with the results.  Spending an extra $10 per deck cleaning (versus making your own old-wives-tale cleaning solution out of parsnip hearts and spearmint chewing gum or whatever) is totally worth it to me if someone else has done the precision mixing and there is no scrubbing. 

The next item is the Spirit E320 Gas Grill from Weber.  I got this on Memorial Day Weekend and I am pretty sure I have cooked out more since that day than in the entire two years previous to that.  It is my first gas grill, so I was pretty intimidated by this thing but the reviews were good and it came pre-assembled for free from Home Depot (thank goodness, because this thing has, like, twelve billion parts).

Man, to think of all the years I thought that having a gas grill would just be one more dangerous hassle I didn't need, I just feel foolish. Don't get me wrong - I still think the ritual of lighting coals and whatnot makes traditional grilling a very satisfying experience.  Let's just leave it that I grossly underestimated the benefit/cost ratio of gas grills.  Well, this one, at least.

It's got three separately controllable inside burners and a side burner (for sauces, sauteing mushrooms, etc.) It has an inside "warming rack" that is about 4" higher than the primary cooking surface. I use that for veggies, certain shellfish, and even garlic toast. It came with 5 V-shaped metal pieces they call "Flavorizer Bars" which sit under the grilling surface and are alleged to precisely burn drippings from above and impart a smoky flavor to your food.  I don't know about that, but I do use one to act as a shield to prevent the middle burner from getting gunked up – which works fine

Cleaning this grill is very easy.  Preheating to 500 degrees for 10 minutes then brushing removes any residue from the cooking surface.  The stainless steel pan under the burners is easily removable and easily cleaned.  Excess grease is captured by little disposable aluminum cake pans.  Weber was cool about this and made the pan dimensions and materials something normal (instead of a proprietary 9-sided RFID enabled thing or some such nonsense) , and the company goes out of their way to say that you can just use aluminum foil if you want. Sweet.

Well, the cooking is done for today and the front porch has been sealed and stained, so maybe I'll actually have time to play Red Dead Redemption... after the little man goes to sleep, of course. :)