In partnership with Backyard Discovery
It’s hard to believe that winter is just around the corner. But the reality is that it really is… Labor Day is over and for many people it’s nearing the time to start packing up the grilling stuff until next spring. But I’m here to remind you that you do not need to have a “grilling season”. It should always be grilling season! In the spring we installed our new Backyard Discovery Rockport Grill Gazebo and I am super excited for the cooler seasons to arrive so we can use this amazing shelter to enable year-round grilling!
IS THERE REALLY A GRILLING SEASON?
In the old days, it seems that “grilling season” was traditionally Memorial Day to Labor Day. A few months of hot weather when cooking outside seemed more appealing than getting the kitchen hot– and when hamburgers and hot dogs signified summer. I don’t disagree with that assertion, but I think that the advent of easier to use grills like Traeger wood pellet grills means that grilling season has been able to be extended significantly.
With a Traeger grill, gone are the days of bags of charcoal, lighter fluid and efforts to get grilled but not burned chicken onto the dinner table. With Traeger grills, you can cook in all seasons, grill, braise, sear, bake, etc. and churn out amazing food for your family no matter the weather.
Indeed, I’ve been to Traeger’s headquarters where they demonstrated the all-weather capabilities of the Traeger– maintaining heat in even the coldest of temperatures and cranking along under a deluge of rain. So grilling season is definitely becoming year-round.
DIFFERENT FOODS FOR DIFFERENT SEASONS
While hamburgers and hot dogs may be iconic summer BBQ treats, there are so many things you can cook on a grill– whether a Traeger pellet grill, a griddle or a more traditional gas or charcoal grill. Our website is full of interesting and unique ideas. But here are some ideas of things to cook, according to season:
Spring:
Summer:
Fall:
Winter:
HOW TO OVERCOME CHALLENGING WEATHER
While challenging weather can be the main reason we opt not to grill, it really shouldn’t be an excuse. Given the versatility of the grills these days, and the great results of grilling, we really should be grilling everyday.
A few tips for year-round grilling include always having a plan, defrosting meat from your deep freezer in advance, and having a wide variety of options on hand for easy and creative meals.
Early days grilling on the front porch 
An early version of a grilling area Shoveling a path to the grills
A GRILL GAZEBO IS A GREAT SOLUTION
After a few winters of challenging and extremely cold weather, we knew we wanted to have a great, purpose-built and dynamic solution for our new backyard. And a grill gazebo from Backyard Discovery was the obvious choice! If you order your gazebo from Backyard Discovery by September 17th, and use the discount code JEWCANQUE15, you can get 15% off your order!
DIFFERENT TYPES OF GAZEBOS FROM BACKYARD DISCOVERY
Backyard Discovery is a terrific place to find a solution for your backyard BBQ structure needs. In all likelihood, you’ve seen their products live and in person before– perhaps without knowing it. Their amazing gazebos are often set up and for sale at Costco and sometimes Sam’s Club. You can take them home from the store and begin assembly right then and there.
But if you check out their website, you’ll see that they offer lots more than just the gazebos you see at the big wholesale retailers!
PERGOLAS, GAZEBOS OR GRILL GAZEBOS
There are three distinct kinds of backyard structures you can get that will protect your grilling area.
The first is a pergola– which often has an open or slatted top. We had a pergola in our old backyard which definitely served its purpose, but wasn’t truly weather-proof like we needed. And when we had really big snows, the fabric sail that created the top would sag incredibly low. You can get some great slatted and trellis-top pergolas from Backyard Discovery. You can get pergolas made of solid wood or steel, depending on your look and feel!
You could also get a gazebo— much like the ones you’ve seen at the stores assembled. Bigger footprint, sloped roof in 2 or 4 directions, and plenty of room for your grills. Steel or wood, there are lots of different styles to choose from that will take your backyard from boring to amazing.
Easy assembly for two people Installing the steel roof 
We opted for a purpose-built grill gazebo from Backyard Discovery, in steel, which will last a long time and fits our grill collection really perfectly. One of the things we loved about the grill gazebo option was that the roof slopes in only one direction– so you don’t have drips or snow sloughing off in many directions. The grill gazebos have great side countertops on each of the short sides and we had no idea how much help more surfaces for prepping, cooking and serving would be. In addition, there is integrated power in the grill gazebos which makes powering up all of our Traegers streamlined and tidy.
THE SOLUTION WE LOVE: TRAEGER TEMPLE 2.0
We ended up choosing the Rockport XL Grill Gazebo in grey steel for our new backyard space. With great dimensions, a sloped roof, integrated power and counters on both sides, it seemed like the perfect solution for us. And it is.
The area we picked for the grill gazebo.
We, of course, battled another round of bad weather in our installation window because we needed some new concrete. It was worth the investment to build a space specifically for the gazebo, with an appropriate slope, room for the anchors, etc. We also added some additional power to our backyard to make it easy to power up the grills and that was critically important.
Installation was super simple. Admittedly, we hired a crew to come set it up for us and in about 2 hours they had it assembled, anchored and hooked up to power.
Now we have an amazing grilling space with lots of footprint for the grills and a sturdy metal roof overhead. This winter, we will add a shop light to the space to help illuminate our work. It’s going to be a great winter of grilling ahead!
A DISCOUNT FOR YOU!
Because of my awesome experience with Backyard Discovery, they’ve kindly offered a discount code for my followers. If you order your own Backyard Discovery winter grilling solution by September 17th, you can use the code JEWCANQUE15 to get 15% off your order. There’s always free shipping on Backyard Discovery products, so this discount can go a long way!
Did you have an awesome backyard grill area?
I’d lo ve to know how it turned out!
Leave a review below or snap a photo,
share it on Instagram and tag me at @ThisJewCanQue
RECIPE CARD PLUGIN
Leave a Reply