Gas-grill Lighting 101

Damian and I have a gas grill that we absolutely love! A little while ago we thought the burners needed to be replaced, but with a lot of elbow grease and patience, Damian was able to get the grill up and running again. Much to my delight. But that's not the point of this story. I'm just setting the stage with the fact that we have a grill.

In the past I have cooked many things on this grill with pretty decent results. This means I have LIT the grill as many times.

Yesterday being Father's Day and all, I decided to grab some steaks to grill out as a special treat. Damian had made burgers the day before without a hitch. So anyway, last night I go outside to light the grill (once we were sure we weren't going to get rained on, it had rained almost all day).

I opened the lid and turned the burners (all 4 of them) to the light position. Apparently you're only supposed to do it with 1 burner, but I'm pretty sure in the past I've done it with more than one. NO LONGER! Anyway, I pressed the ignite button and nothing happened. So then I checked to make sure the gas was on.

I actually don't know if it was or not bc it was dark out. I went back and forth a couple of times with turning the gas on/off and then I finally grabbed a flashlight to be sure. All this time the lid has been up and all 4 burners set to 'light'. I had also pressed the ignite button a few other times. But those times don't really matter since nothing happened.

What matters is the last time I pressed the button. I experienced what amounts to a small explosion in my face, I guess. There was a loud POP and a bright flash of light and the next thing I knew I had jumped 10 feet away from the grill. Turns out the gas had been coming out of all 4 burners and building up and when the ignition button finally worked it went off.

Scared me to death. But it did manage to get the grill lit. And singe the hair on my right arm. And a little on my eyebrows. And right around the top of my head. And make a nice gas flavor in the back of my throat for awhile. Burnt hair doesn't smell all that great. I'm just glad that nothing caught on fire or anything.

So here's what I learned:
1. Only turn ONE knob to 'light' to begin with.
2. If the ignite switch doesn't work, wait a minute and try again.
3. Once the first burner is going, turn the others on.
4. If you have long hair, always keep it back when lighting a grill! I'm sure glad I did.