They’ve grilled chicken in winds whipping 25 degrees below zero. They’ve lit charcoal and cooked steaks in hailstorms. And, perhaps most perilously, they’ve barbecued brats for 10,000 Packer-backing tailgaters at Lambeau Field.
Wisconsin’s Mad Dog and Merrill know their way around a Weber. “We’re grillologists,” Gary Merrill said. “We study the art of grilling.”
Nearly 25 years ago Merrill teamed with fellow flamesmith Mad Dog, an oddly named distant relative. They now host a radio show in the Badger State, make television and personal appearances, write books (“We’ve Got Gas”) and basically personify the Wisconsin grill guy.
“If you can cook it, you can grill it. That’s our motto,” Mad Dog said. And they’ve taken that philosophy to extremes, barbecuing everything from fluffernutter sandwiches to brown-bear shanks (very tough meat, takes hours to cook). “The strangest thing we’ve grilled has to be muskrat hocks,” Merrill said. “Why we did that I have no idea.”
Although some of the recipes may baffle the duo, they certainly know their audience. And it’s changing. The growing popularity of user-friendly gas grills has prompted a surge in gal grilling.
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“It used to be a he-man thing, but I think it will end up about 50/50 in terms of men and women grilling,” said Merrill, slyly sidestepping a prompt to compare male and female barbecue acumen. He couldn’t resist stoking the fire on another debate, however–comparing grill skills between cheeseheads and FIBs (loosely translated: Freakin’ Illinois Bullies).
“I’m originally a FIB, so that’s a hard question,” said the native of Watseka. “But I’m going to have to go with cheeseheads.”
Want to learn about bratwurst while spending quality time with your wife or girlfriend? See Mad Dog and Merrill live next Saturday and Sunday at the Chicagoland Women’s Expo at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights. Visit www.chicagolandwomensex po.com for details.