While cooking out is at an all-time high, what’s the best way to beat the monotony of backyard burgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob? Try barbecuing your breakfast.
From sizzling bacon to gooey egg and cheese sandwiches, grilling your breakfast not only is a fun and creative way to break up your cooking routine, it’s also trending nationwide. Over the past year, 12% of all grill and smoker owners cooked out for brunch and 7% for breakfast, numbers that have more than doubled in recent years.
Saturday, Sept. 3, is “Barbecue Your Breakfast Day,” set aside by the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association to encourage everyone from novice grillers and pitmasters to cook their favorite meal outside, in the back yard over a flame.
Consider these five reasons you should be grilling your breakfast:
- Anything you can cook in your indoor kitchen can be cooked on your grill or smoker. While the coffee is brewing in a percolator on the side burner, let the grill cook up every-day basics like grilled eggs (recipe here), toast, pastries, French toast, oatmeal, bagels, burritos and ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. Cereal is no exception: Warm up granola with a little butter in a pan to toss into yogurt or milk.
- Breakfast can be more affordable. With inflation pushing meat prices to all-time highs, a simpler cookout of eggs, breakfast sandwiches and potatoes can stretch your grocery dollars further while still enjoying the flavor and thrill of a great backyard meal.
- Grilling breakfast creates a family tradition. In an overscheduled, hectic world, weekend breakfasts often are the only leisurely meal the family enjoys together. Making it on the grill creates a new way to enjoy time and food with the fam. Cook up a stack of chipotle egg sandwiches for the family to devour.
- Make it a brunch. Have a brilliant brunch by cooking low and slow. Beyond making a quick-turn breakfast over a hot flame, consider slipping out of bed earlier than usual to barbecue a low and slow feast your family can enjoy as a brunch. Think pulled pork scramble.
- Go adventurous. Just as you use your Saturday evenings for exploring and testing new culinary items over your grill, be just as experimental early Saturday mornings, creating new twists on everyday breakfast foods. Try grilled bananas Foster French toast, scrambled egg pizzas, hash brown tacos and Dutch pancakes.
