Barbecue season is officially open, and the question on the table is whether convenience has taken the soul out of lighting one up.

The team is at a crossroads on this. One host has switched from natural gas to a wood pellet grill and discovered that a Wi-Fi attachment can control temperature from the couch without stepping outside. The food comes out basically perfect every time. That, it turns out, is exactly the part that bothers everyone at the table.

The counterargument is the lighter fluid can, the briquettes, the smell, the sound of the squeeze bottle. A generation of people grew up with that ritual. The charcoal barbecue taught you something about patience and the cost of not paying attention. The Wi-Fi version does not have that lesson built in.

Topics: barbecue, wood pellet grill, long weekend BBQ, charcoal briquettes, cabin season

Originally aired on 2026-05-14