How to secure a grill from wind?

The best way is with a windscreen. The problems is can be keeping it from blowing away. I have been using rebar ground stakes to secure the windscreen from being blown over and/or away by strong gusts of on-shore winds on the Washington Coast (see below picture). When there are on-shore winds at my grilling location, this setup works like a charm. These pictures were taken during very gusty conditions where we had to keep resettling the grill on all three of our camping trips. This really helped us out as we could not do much about the gusty conditions except wait for them to pass or set up one of our two pop-ups. Though we had to constantly adjust the height of the grill for these breezy conditions, it was at least secure and not blowing away.

I am so happy with this set up that I wanted to share it with you here. It is very simple and cheap to make (no more than $5) and will last a lifetime if made from stainless steel. The rebar stakes themselves cost next to nothing. You can buy them in 50 or 100 packs on Amazon (see link below). We use them for lots of holding down stuff on camping trips like tents and tarps as well as anchoring some of our popup campers onto blocks when we are not using them during those breezy times on the coast. We also use them for holding down solar panels and other devices that we need to secure onto our camping trailers.

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These stakes are strong but we always place a large flat shovel underneath the grill as added precaution. In the future, I hope to make my own custom pop-up cover/frame from PVC or even wood to fit my Weber kettle grill size exactly. The rebar stakes will work great with those too if they fit through those grids on top perfectly. If you go this route, you might want to coat the inside of your material with Plasti Dip first as it can eat through some materials otherwise (cardboard or cloth alike). I have never had any problems using these rebar stakes Plasti Dip coated grills. Please note that these stakes can scratch up your grill a bit, so if you have a nice looking one, you might want to give it a good sanding and paint job first before using them.

You should have plenty of length for this project depending on the size of your grate. We made three holes for our 22 1/2 inch kettle grill which gives us enough room to adjust the height easily each time we set up or pull down our grill from any gusty conditions. If your grate is larger, simply use more stakes. The important thing is to make sure they are deep enough into the ground so they won't get blown away in case of heavy wind gusts before securing them with some sort of washer or nut and bolt in the ground. A washer and nut with a wing nut is what we have been using so far to secure ours from being blown away.

We have been able to use this setup for securely securing our kettle grill from any gusty winds on our camping trips so far. It is quick and easy to set up and take down, just like the Weber Q Grill itself, making it very convenient for us when we go camping or taking vacations by car or plane. I am very glad that my custom metal artwork has paid off over time making it possible for me to cook more of my healthy Paleo meals while saving more of my money at the same time! Thank you all who follow us here on Lamps and Shavings blog and who have been supporting me on my journey by purchasing my metal artwork over the past several years.

Tips for grilling in high winds:

The most perilous time to be grilling or smoking on a charcoal or wood fire is when a thunderstorm is approaching. If you're lucky enough to have several hours notice that a storm is coming, it's easy to cook your food and then cover your grill so that it doesn't get soaked by rain. But what about those times when there is no warning? You may not have any idea a storm is approaching until you see lightning and hear thunder. The next thing you know the wind has kicked up and suddenly you can barely keep the lid closed on your grill – let alone hold a cooking utensil in place long enough to flip a burger or turn some ribs. In times like this it's not the lightning that poses the biggest danger to your grill, it's the wind. There are a few things you can do to prepare for high winds while still enjoying some great grilled food.

1) If you have time, build two fires – one on each side of your grill. Instead of lighting just one chimney full of charcoal, light two so that you have enough fuel to cook over both sides. With this arrangement, even if the wind blows out one fire or knocks it down somehow, there is another one ready to take its place immediately. 

2) Use an electric starter instead of matches or a lighter to light your coals. Getting coals hot enough with matches takes too long and produces too much smoke. Additionally, you run the risk of burning yourself or getting soot all over your clothes and hands if a gust of wind catches the flame from a match.

3) Make sure the vents on your grill are open before cooking and that no ash or other debris is blocking them. You need every bit of draft possible because even a small breeze can blow your coals into piles – reducing heat and shortening cooking time – if it's not able to draw well. If you're using wood chips for smoke flavor, toss them onto the fire as soon as it's lit (before you put any food on the grill) to make sure they start smoking as quickly as possible.

If there isn't enough air flowing through your grill, the food on the bottom will cook much more slowly than food on top. If this happens, lift up the cooking grate and push the coals around to expose more of them to oxygen so that they all get hot at about the same rate.

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If even a light breeze is whipping into your grill while you're cooking, pile your coals into mounds rather than long lines or circles. You can create low walls with bricks or stones if you need something sturdier than loose piles of coals to keep them in check. These wind breaks can also be made higher than just one layer of coals; place smaller mounds of charcoal behind larger ones if you want to make sure no gaps remain where air could through. As long as you're proactive and not just hoping for the best, you can avoid having most of your food overcooked or even burned in a high wind. The biggest mistake people make with grilling is to be overconfident. Yes, it's possible to grill when windy but it takes some preparation and strategy to keep things working well under such conditions.

I hope this little quick tip might help you too with whatever your grilling needs might be! See more at: https://tarponbendrawbarandgrill.com/