Beyond burgers: Affordable meat for holiday grilling

This is the Hybrid Fire Grill by Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet. Why We Love It: Most grills allow you to cook with gas, wood, or charcoal, but not all three at the same time. That's where the Hybrid Fire Grill comes in. With its deep firebox, it enhances the heat of conventional grilling, and can slow cook at 150 degrees, or sear meat at 1,200 degrees.

(pic-nerd)

For the next five months or so, backyards across America will be filled with the smell of smoke, the sizzle of cooking meat, and the fun and camaraderie of families and friends grilling. Some of these meals will be delicious, but unfortunately there will also be charred burgers, undercooked steaks and the occasional bland meal. ...

The tourist mecca has been suffering, but hotel owners and merchants are hoping that a slew of discounts and the nation's birthday celebration will kick-start summer. Here in San Diego's Mission Bay -- a nearly 7-square-mile playground of amusement parks, beaches, marinas, restaurants, hotels and souvenir shops -- the words on the lips of merchants and hotel owners are "Fourth of July weekend." ¶ And it's not the annual fireworks displays they are talking about.

With increasing frequency I see articles on how robots are taking jobs once held by humans. Typically I batch a few of them up for comments, and I have a new set now. Last week, on the manufacturing front I reported "Baxter" the Robot Out to Get Your Minimum-Wage, No Benefits, Part-Time Job, Because He's Still Much Cheaper; Fed Cannot Win a Fight Against Robots. Alpha the Custom Burger Flipping Robot

From In-N-Out Burger’s devoted fan base on the West Coast to the stampedes that greet the unveiling of a new Shake Shack, well, anywhere, it is no secret that the hamburger is a beloved part of the American diet. See the world's favorite burgers >

Britain is being consumed, not so much with a food safety scandal, as it is with a culinary cultural nightmare. To their horror, the British have discovered they have been eating horse meat in their burgers, their frozen lasagnas, and who knows what else. Perhaps for months, maybe even years. Britons may have had to eat horse and donkey meat during the Second World War — although they would have kept a stiff upper lip about it — but generally viande de cheval, as the French say, is taboo. “No horse meat please, we’re British,” proclaimed the Guardian.