Off the grill...

Well to start it's charcoal, lump charcoal for most applications. It takes a little more work but produces higher temperatures without the chemicals in briquettes.

As for the meat, I do love a good grilled hot dog but I usually do them in conjunction with something else since it's a lot of time and effort to set up a grill for a few dogs. However hot dogs are wonderfully versatile and I like to explore the various combinations from across the nation. From the Texas style chili dog to the delicious monstrosity of a Chicago dog or the taste of my childhood in Los Angeles with a Dodger Dog.

Grilled chicken can be amazing. It's a little tricky as each of the 4 primal cuts of chicken (breast, wing, thigh, drumstick) is oddly shaped and requires a good understanding of which parts of your grill are hotter than others. When grilling chicken I only put charcoal in half the grill so I can move the pieces between radiant heat and convective heat zones for more even cooking.

The burger however is a classic. Like others have mentioned there are "secret" ingredients to making the patties. I use worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, both garlic and onion powder along with some cayenne powder for a bit of flavor among other things. I grill the patties but I also grill slices of red onion to put on the finished burger and lightly toast the buns on the grill as well. My typical burger is the basic lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese with ketchup, mustard and Mayo. Cheddar cheese is my usual but I've also used pepper jack and more recently I've been finding things like habanero jack or Carolina reaper jack in the stores so I'm think about trying those sometime. On occasion I'll also grill some portobello mushroom caps and put those on the burger with Swiss cheese, but no other veggies.
 
Onions would be part of my seasoning mixed in with the meat :)
i do that sometimes too, chop them into chunks (not too small though) and mix them in the meat. sometimes add steak seasoning powder. vidalia onions are perfect for burgers....nothing better............... mushrooms and swiss cheese are good too..... but now we are getting into designer burgers....lol
 
i do that sometimes too, chop them into chunks (not too small though) and mix them in the meat. sometimes add steak seasoning powder. vidalia onions are perfect for burgers....nothing better............... mushrooms and swiss cheese are good too..... but now we are getting into designer burgers....lol
Now, what's wrong with that? lol My son will sautee onions and green peppers and throw that on with cheese whiz. Philly Burger. ;bg3
 
Wood fire burnt down to charcoal, gum tree wood. Split the chicken in half and smoke with the lid on. Corn cooked in the husk. No seasonings needed.
i love to soak the corn in the husk in water for a few minutes and throw it on the grill while the meats are cooking. perfect way to steam it and it grabs that grill flavor, mmmmm.