I understand why some people say Labor Day is the official end of grilling season. I understood it acutely on a recent Saturday morning as my breath fogged the air in front of me.

As much as I believe that grilling is a year-round activity, there are a few things that are better done during the warmer months. Smoking meat is on the top of that list.

Rather, smoking meat was on the top of that list.

Smoking is part of the barbecue family of cooking techniques. It's a low and slow process. Grilling, by comparison, is hot and fast. When you’re smoking or barbecuing, you’re effectively baking in the great outdoors. When you’re smoking or barbecuing in the winter, you’re baking in a walk-in freezer.

The ambient temperature is constantly trying to cool the smoker off, which makes it that much harder to maintain proper cooking temperatures within the smoker.

I was talking to some friends about this a few months ago when I realized I wouldn’t have time to smoke another pork butt this year (yes, these are the kinds of conversations I engage in). I told Sarah and Andy about how much of a pain in the ass it would be to try and keep my little bullet smoker hot enough, long enough (26 hours) to properly cook a butt.

That’s when they mentioned their smoker. It seems the guy they bought their house from left behind a 738 sq. inch smoker, replete with firebox and smokestack.

Would that work in the winter, they asked?

I didn’t know, but I’d find out. That’s how I came to find myself outside their house on a 32 degree morning loading two ducks, a chicken and a few sausages into their smoker.

Because I didn’t know whether I could smoke anything on such a cold day, I decided to skip the 8 pound pork butt and improve my chances with the smaller birds and Italian sausages. To help the process even more, I butterflied the birds and laid them flat on the grill.

As it turned out, the butt might've worked. I assumed it would take between five and six hours to smoke the birds and sausages. It took about three.

Unlike my little bullet smoker, which only has a small pan to build a fire in, I was able to build a big and hot fire in the firebox. I was also better able feed the fire and use larger pieces of wood throughout the cooking process. That meant the interior of the smoker stayed hot enough, consistently enough, despite the freezing temperatures outside.

The result? Smoky, delicious fowl and sausage. The sausages needed only about an hour, but came out of the smoker dark-skinned and juicy inside.

The birds were cooked thoroughly and moist. Even though they only got a few hours in the smoke, the flavor gently permeated the chicken and duck meat, standing up to the juniper beer glaze, barbecue sauce and Chinese five-spice powder that seasoned the birds.

So can you smoke meat in the winter? Absolutely. Is it a good idea to take on a project that requires you to hang out outside in freezing temperatures? Probably not.

But the results sure are good.

Smoked chicken

1 5 1/2 lb. chicken, butterflied

1 1/2 cups of barbecue sauce

1/2 cup of barbecue rub

Guinness barbecue sauce

1 cup Guinness beer

2 cups of ketchup

5 cloves of garlic, minced finely

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

3 tbs. brown sugar

3 tsp. cracked black pepper

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. liquid smoke

The night before, rub the chicken thoroughly with barbecue rub, making sure to get it under the skin as well as on it. For smoking chicken or pork, I use Steven Raichlen's barbecue rub. However, I use garlic and onion powder rather than flakes.

For the barbecue sauce, I use my own, which is a spicy Guinness-based sauce. You can also use your favorite commercial sauce. If you make my barbecue sauce, simply combine the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook uncovered over low heat for 20 minutes.

When you're ready to smoke, build a fire in the firebox and place a pot of water or apple cider inside to keep the air moist. You will have to refill the pot every couple hours. I'm not fussy about the wood I use for heat. For the smoke, I use cherry wood chips.

Butterfly the chicken and place the bird inside the smoker skin-side up. After three hours, use a thermometer to check the temperature. If it's between 170 and 180 degrees, the chicken is ready to come off.

You'll notice that the skin of the bird has turned black. It's not burned, it blackened by the smoke. This is called the bark. I usually peel the skin off the bird and dice up about half of it to mix in with the chicken.

After the bird has rested for about 10 minutes, pull the meat off the carcass. Cut into bite-size pieces and mix with the diced skin and barbecue sauce.

Juniper Duck

1 duck, butterflied

1 tbs. of juniper berries, crushed

2 tbs. of brown sugar

2 tsp. of black pepper corns, crushed very lightly

2 cans of Guinness beer

Sea salt and pepper to taste

When you're ready to smoke, build a fire in the firebox and place a pot of water inside to keep the air moist.

Butterfly the duck and season with salt and pepper and place in the smoker skin-side up. Smoke for about 3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 170 to 180 degrees.

Begin preparing the glaze by combining the beer, juniper berries, pepper corns and brown sugar in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat so the sauce simmers uncovered. When the sauce has reduced by about half and thickened, about 20 minutes, move off the heat.

After the duck has been in the smoker for about an hour, brush with the juniper glaze. Repeat every hour until the duck is done.

When the duck is cooked, remove from the smoker and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Then, carve the meat off the carcass and brush with the remaining juniper glaze.

Chinese five-spice duck

1 duck, butterflied

2 tbs. of Chinese five-spice powder

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

The day before, rub the duck thoroughly with the salt, pepper and five-spice powder, making sure to get the seasonings under the skin.

When you're ready to smoke, build a fire in the firebox and place a pot of water inside to keep the air moist.

Butterfly the duck and place it in the smoker skin-side up. Smoke for about 3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 170 to 180 degrees.

I served the duck with -- what else? -- duck sauce.

In these harsh economic times, decadence gets put on the backburner.

But what happens when these harsh economic times makes decadence affordable? A few weeks ago, I came across a New York Times article reporting that the price of lobster was down because budget-conscious seafood lovers were opting for fish sticks, making the crustacean not nearly as decadent a treat. So what to do? Why go buy lobsters of course.

That’s what I did last weekend. With visions of grilled lobster dancing in my head, I headed down to the wharf on Main Avenue. If you’ve never wandered down there, you’ve been missing out. Even vegetarians can fall in love with the hustle and bustle of the open-air seafood market. True, the boats that the fish mongers work on haven’t left the dock in decades, but the place looks, sounds and smells authentic.

After a bit of haggling with the guys at Captain White’s Seafood City, I picked up pound-and-a-half live lobsters for less than $20 each.

In fact, I picked up 15 of them. I wasn’t the only one who wanted to take advantage of the suddenly affordable lobsters.

When cooking lobsters on the grill, there are really two ways to do it – split them in half or leave them whole. Seeing that I was doing Caribbean grilled lobsters, splitting them was the only option.

The first time I had grilled lobsters was on my honeymoon in St. Barths. On our last evening on the island, my wife and I ate dinner at the small beach-side restaurant, La Langouste: the lobster. I ordered a rather delicate lobster and puff pastry dish. It was adorable. My wife ordered a two pound rock lobster she picked out herself. It was emasculating.

To prove to us the lobster was fresh (apparently, watching it crawl around the tank minutes before wasn’t enough), the restaurant’s owner carried it over to the table and flicked it on the head, causing the startled crustacean snap to attention. Her grilled lobster was absolutely delicious. Split in two, so the meat could roast directly on the grill, the lobster tasted smoky, buttery and incredibly sweet. For the record, the two and a half pound grilled lobster I had the first night we arrived on the island was just as good.

My goal last weekend was to recreate this experience. Although I was using Canadian lobsters, the effect was the same. This big difference was that in order to eat my lobster, I had to kill the poor bugger first. When faced with this, you can either parboil the lobster for two minutes in a covered pot before splitting it, or you can plunge a knife into its head and kill it instantly. I did the latter. I figured that if I was going to revel in its meat, I should look it in its little doll-like black eyes and kill it.

And for what it’s worth, by the time you kill and halve the sixth or seventh lobster, you don’t even think about it. Once the gory business is done, grilling lobster is really pretty easy. Brush the meat with butter and grill meat-side down for a few minutes. Flip, brush with basil-infused butter for a few more minutes and you're done.

Now, sit back, turn on CNBC, watch your 401(k) disappear, and enjoy the lobster. Remember, it’s not decadent. We can’t afford decadent. But we can afford grilled lobster.

Captain White's Seafood City
1100 Maine Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024
 (202) 484-2722       

(Tip: The more lobsters, shrimp or other seafood that you buy, the better deal you can get. You just have to be willing to haggle for a better price.)

Grilled Lobster with Basil Butter and Spicy Sweet Jícama Salad
(Makes 4 servings)

Grilled lobsters
(Adapted from Steven Raichlen's "The Barbeque! Bible")

4 live Canadian or rock lobsters (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds each)
8 tbs. (1 stick) salted butter, melted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 to 2 limes, halved

Spicy Sweet Jícama Salad

1/2 Jícama, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 yellow tomato, cut into bite-size pieces
3 plumb tomatoes (or 2 beef steak or other red tomato), cut into bite-size pieces
1 mango, cubed
1/2 red onion, cut into long slices
2 Serrano peppers, diced
1/4 cup of fresh tarragon, minced
2 tsp. of all spice
3 tsp. of dried thyme
3 tbs. of olive oil
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

For the salad, prep the ingredients and combine in a large bowl.

For the lobsters, preheat the grill to high.

If using lobster tails, cut them in half lengthwise with kitchen scissors or a sharp, heavy knife; use a fork to remove the intestinal vein running the length of the tail.

If using live lobsters, keep the rubber bands on the claws and kill each by inserting a sharp knife in the back of the head between the eyes; this will dispatch them instantly. However, this is messy business, so do this outside, or lay down newspapers or something else to absorb the liquid from the lobster. Cut the lobsters in half lengthwise and remove the vein and the papery gray sac from the head. Break off the claws, remove the rubber bands and crack with a nutcracker. 

Brush the cut sides of the lobster tails or lobsters with some of the melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Add the chopped basil to the remaining butter.

When ready to cook, oil the grill grate.

Arrange the tails and lobster halves and claws (if any), cut sides down, on the hot grate and grill for 6 to 8 minutes. Turn, using tongs, and grill on the shell sides until the flesh is firm and white, 6 to 8 minutes more, squeezing lime juice over the lobsters as they cook and brush generously several times with the basil butter.

Transfer the lobsters to serving plate or a platter and serve immediately, accompanied by the remaining basil butter in ramekins on the side.

Labor Day, the official end of summer and the unofficial end of grilling season.

Well, screw that!

The sun's still hot and my grill still works, so I'm going to keep on cookin'.

However, in the spirit of the holiday, I plan to labor as little as possible. (How else will the beer get drunk?) So I'm planning a pretty simple, straightforward menu that'll keep the friends and the missus happy, but won't keep me tied to the grill all afternoon.

By this time of the summer, the burgers and dogs have rolled across the grill, and chicken seems -- at least to me -- at bit done. That's why I'm thinking lemon grilled Cornish hens with a spicy grilled corn, onion and tomato salad.

It's an easy and pretty light menu. However, because everyone gets their own half bird, the dish is visually and physically satisfying. (The trick is that hens don't have that much meat, so even your most modest eaters won't be overwhelmed by the half bird.) The grilled corn salad is a sweet-heat compliment that works well with any kind of bird, but especially grilled hens dripping with tangy, sweet lemon juice.

I'll also serve this with soft taco shells, brushed with olive oil and warmed on the grill because they’re good.

If this dish takes you more than an hour start to finish (45 minutes if you have a gas grill) then something's gone wrong. Remember, the idea of Labor Day is to keep the labor to a minimum.

With that in mind, go forth and do little.

Lemon Grilled Cornish hens with Grilled Corn Salad

(Makes 4 servings)

2 Cornish hens

2 Meyer lemons (or regular lemons) halved

4 ears of corn with the husks on

2 sweet yellow onions cut into thick disks

1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 jalapeño

1 package of soft flour taco shells (three shells per person)

7 tbs. of olive oil

2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

If you have a gas grill, begin by prepping the hens. If you have a charcoal grill, get the coals started and then work on the birds. Make sure you build your fire in the middle of the grill. You'll need the sides to be cooler so the birds' skin browns without burning and the vegetables cook properly.

Using kitchen sheers, cut the back bone out of the hens so they lie flat. Rub each bird with 2 tbs. of olive oil and apply the salt and pepper.

When the grill is ready (coals are ashed over and very hot or gas grill has been warming for 5 minutes and set to medium heat), splay the birds out over the hottest part of the grill skin-side up. Place the corn ears, still in their husks, on the sides of the grill. Do the same with the onion slices, lemons and jalapeño. 

Cover the grill and cook for 4 minutes. Open the grill, flip the birds so they're skin-side down and cook for another 2 minutes uncovered. Now move the birds to a cooler part of the grill, close the lid and cook for 20 minutes.

Open the lid and check the birds. If their skin has browned and crisped up, pull them, the corn and the jalapeño off the grill. Allow the birds to rest for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, flip the onions and begin warming the taco shells. Toss as many on the hottest part of the grill as will fit, brushing them with a table spoon of olive oil and seasoning with a bit of salt and pepper. Warm each side for a minute or two per side, making sure they don't burn.

By the time you're done with that, the birds will be rested and the onions will be ready.

To make the salad, remove the husks from the corn and using a sharp knife cut the kernels off. Dice the onions and combine in a bowl with the corn, tomatoes and diced jalapeño (seeded for less heat, unseeded for more). Add the crushed red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss it all with the final two table spoons of olive oil.

Plate the corn salad and hens or serve it all family style. Just make sure to  split the hens in half, divvy up the lemons halves to squeeze over top and soak up the accolades.