Modern living: Grill crush

National Post

22-07-2025

You don't have to search hard to find Ryan Janicki. Just follow the hickory-scented smoke trails to his Leaside backyard.
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'The whole neighbourhood knows what's going on,' says Janicki, a barbecue enthusiast and brisket connoisseur.
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Janicki smokes brisket for up to 15 hours in his Green Egg ('a wedding present going on its fourth year that I would 100 percent recommend') so it reaches peak juiciness and soaks up the flavour of hickory, his wood chip of choice.
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'It's a labour of love,' says Janicki. Ditto the other main attraction in his meatfest: 'I do a bacon-wrapped sausage weave. Piled within that are chopped vegetables, cheese and bacon. I roll it into a log and smoke it.'
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Janicki says he's staying home to barbecue and smoke more than ever, even years after the pandemic. The difference is, now it's by choice, and he's part of a trend that's growing.
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According to Statista, in 2025 the barbecue market is projected to reach US$144.36 million with an anticipated annual growth rate of 3.47 percent. Around 78 percent of Canadians own a barbecue, roughly splitting their time between cooking outside and indoors, the report notes.
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Paul Johnson, the president of the 46-year-old business Barbecues Galore (with six locations; three in Alberta and the rest in Ontario), is not only colloquially a member of the pit-master club but a customer. He has smoked just about everything, including mac and triple cheese.
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While he agrees Janicki's Green Egg along with Kamado Joes are high-performing smokers, he has seen a surge in the popularity of pellet grills. Even a novice can smoke ribs and brisket in them, he says, listing Yoder and Traeger — a pioneer in the category dating back to the 1980s — as reputable brands. Weber's matte black Smoque Pellet Smoker, he says, is another solid option.
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'Pellet grills look somewhat like standard barbecues,' he says, but to operate the unit, you feed 'rabbit-food-looking pellets into a hopper and then it slowly [makes its way] to the base of the firebox.'
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Unlike a traditional smoker that can feel intimidating — the coddling of the charcoal, the lighting of the thing — pellet smokers are a breeze to run, though you will have to spring forspecialty pellets. 'You turn a dial like an oven and the barbecue will get to 400 degrees,' he says. 'The attraction is you have a wood-smoked fuel source that cooks food low and slow and the start-up is easy,' he says. 'And it maintains the temperature the entire time.'
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Another hot ticket is the flat-top griddle, or plancha. Given the popularity of smash burgers, and the rising cost of steak, it's no wonder the large, hot, flat surfaces are trending. People also use them to make scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes, or fajitas because you can spread out the chopped onions peppers in quantity.