Published November 1, 2011. From Cook's Illustrated.
With this handy gadget and a fireplace, you can recreate the experience of cooking over a campfire right in your home.
Cooking over a fire is possible indoors with a Tuscan Hearth Grill. This cast-iron set has a solid frame that fits into your fireplace. Just slide the grill grate into one of three slots, depending on how far above the flames you want to grill. The large version ($199), with a generously proportioned grate (23 1/2 by 30 inches), gave us enough real estate to grill and turn six strip steaks. Wood handles made the grate safe for barehanded adjustment, which proved useful when we moved the food closer to the coals as the flames subsided. Two minor objections: Adding logs to the fire was difficult once the grate was in place, so we had to make sure the fire was just right before we began cooking. Also, the set does not include a drip pan, so we used a disposable aluminum pan to keep the bottom of the fireplace grease-free.
