In fact it's a gas

Yes, it's all right now. I spent a frustrating Friday morning trying to get the new bbq grill set up for use. The major problem was that the documentation (which came in twenty-one European languages) was not at all helpful. The French and the English (the only two of the languages I can read) did not say exactly the same thing. Similar, but not close enough to be helpful.

This photo has nothing to do with this post. But there's still a point. LOL.

The procedure described for connecting the gas hose, accompanied by drawings, did not correspond to the actual grill parts I had. The instructions showed one type of hose connector, but my grill does not have that type of connector. I banged my head against the table several times trying to understand why I had instructions for someone else's grill. I thought I must be misunderstanding something and, like a perfect example of the common definition of insanity,* I kept reading and re-reading the instructions (English and French), studying the pictures and my grill, then banging my head in utter frustration.

It became clear, earlier to Ken than to me, that I needed to give up on the modern screw-on coupler as per the instructions and use the old-style compression collar to clamp a hose onto the gas nozzle (that may not make sense to you, but I know what it means). I had already been out to the store once to buy the gas bottle. I didn't get a hose because I had at least realized then that the hose with two screw-on couplers was not going to work. So, after discovering that the regulator on the gas bottle could be used with either type of connector, I went out to the hardware store for a plain gas hose that thankfully came with the correctly-sized compression collars. Interestingly, the plain hose is a third of the price of the hose with screw-on couplers.

Here we go, I thought, almost done. But nooooooo. "Slipping" that hose onto the gas nozzles (one at each end) was like stuffing a baseball bat into a tube of toothpaste. We pushed, stretched, and twisted that hose for half an hour before we finally were able to force it onto each of the nozzles. The compression collars worked fine.

Once again, I was convinced we were finished. But nooooooo. I couldn't get the burners to light. A trip back to the internet made it clear: I had bought a bottle of butane, the gas we use in the kitchen, which apparently loses pressure in temperatures at or below 10ºC (high 40sF). The internet site said that it shouldn't matter, because who wants to grill outdoors in temperatures below 10ºC anyway? We were at around 11ºC as I was reading.

I finally got the burners lit and the grill heated up, as did the outside temperature, and we were able to cook our lunch. The grill worked great and lunch was delicious (and not too late). I'm going to grill again today and tomorrow -- both days are going to be warmer than yesterday. The butane should work fine through summer, then, when the bottle is empty, I'll trade it in for a bottle of propane.

* Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.