Barbecue: Hot, Sizzling and Oh So Cool

The backyard grill was born in the late 1950s when a welder for Webber Metal Works stuck three legs on the bottom half of a buoy, jammed a grill on top, and called the contraption Sputnik. A decade later, the barbecue reached American icon status as suburbia discovered the joys of outdoor cooking. Soon, little hibachis were sprouting up everywhere. In the 1980s, when gas-fueled grills overtook charcoal in popularity, homebuilders began offering built-in outdoor entertainment centers and the barbecue became a fixture in American life, as much a rite of summer as a rite of manhood.

Outdoor cooking has always been ‘a guy thing’ – after all, most women are happy to avoid its volatile mixture of fire, grease, grime and beer. But no longer. Cutting-edge designers are now creating barbecues that appeal to anyone with a sense of style and taste.

KAMADO
This ceramic barbecue grill is a handmade creation and, according to some barbecue experts, offers unmatched cooking flavor. The Kamado was invented by Richard Johnson, an American pilot who came across a ceramic rice cooker in Japan in the 1960s. He claimed this method of cooking makes for better flavors of smoked, broiled or baked food. The Kamado Barbecue is available in five sizes and in many tile colors.

THE PERFORMER
Should I go gas or charcoal? A question endlessly debated among serious backyard cooks everywhere. While most buyers favor gas grills, Webber, the granddaddy of barbecue makers, offers the Performer, a charcoal barbecue that is as deluxe as its stainless steel gas marvels.

Q-barbecue
High-tech meets cute – the Q-barbecue bucks the big barbecue trend by offering a mini outdoor cooker that can be carried like a briefcase but opens like a Transformer-toy to become a gas grill. With small internal propane tanks, the Q-barbecue offers dual gas controls that allow cooking burgers on one side while gently toasting buns on the other. The Q-barbecue won the Bronze Award in Industrial Design Excellence.

JEPPE UTZON
This stylish barbecue by Electrolux is the perfect outdoor accessory for the ultra-modern home. Offering minimalist design and low profile, the Jeppe Utzon is ideal for elegant surroundings. The barbecue blends striking looks with innovative features.

“These inflatable pools may often be used without safety fences, alarms, covers, and other gear required with larger pools,” the magazine said. “Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics show that 250 children under age 5 drown in pools each year, and another 1,800 are treated for submersion injuries.”

So keep safety in mind if you’re considering an inflatable pool, and think about installing a protective fence or constantly supervising kids who use it.

With that off your mind, you can kick back in the inflatable pool with a cold drink and watch the ice cubes melt — just like the polar ice caps!