Tailgating?

Bring enough food and beer for no less than 5-6 extra people. Always good to treat a fellow fan you meet.

Get to the parking lot early... as early as it opens. Plan on at least 2 full meals, or all day grazing. Whichever you prefer.

Only cook what you plan to eat on the grill. Cook as you go. Keep everything else chilled.

Have one cooler separate for you meat. It should be thawed a day ahead and kept packed in ice. If you plan on grilling chicken, parboil it the night before and chill. The LAST thing you want is an unexpected bout of salmonella in the third quarter.

Forget hotdogs. That's for rookies. Cook sausage links instead. What kind? Go nuts. You can't really go wrong. (But Sweet Italian and/or beer brats are always clutch)

Don't forget cups, paper plates, utensils, etc. And bring trash bags. Be a good guest and clean up after yourself. You're representing Steeler Nation.

Bring lawn chairs. If you start at say... 8 a.m., you're going to want to sit eventually.

 

How could I be so remiss?

A few other things I forgot. If you're doing sausages, parboil those also the night before. Not that you have to worry about them being cooked all the way through. But it makes cooking them much faster, and they'll stay juicier. All you really need out of the grill is that good carmelization. (sp?)

You can also sautee onions and peppers the day before. Wrap them in aluminum foil, and just pop the foil on the grill to reheat them (with just a touch of butter or olive oil so they don't dry out). Just don't cook them to death on the day before. They should still have just a bit of crunch to them.

If you're doing chilli, you can always go pro and get a bunch of 2 day old smaller loaves of good crusty bread. Cut them in half, and hollow them out. Edible bowls! Eliminates the need for more trash (plastic bowls or cups), and the crust is a tasty treat after spooning out the chilli.

If you can do a good barbeque/cookout, you can tailgate like a boss. Just plan ahead and adjust for your setting.

 

So do I!

I haven't had a good tailgate in years. The last 2 games I got to go to I didn't have the opportunity to tailgate.

My favorite tailgate ever was a really simple one though. My cousin and I outside the GA Dome. All we had was a 12 pack of cheap beer and venison backstraps on the grill. But it was amazing. That was in 1996. I was in the USAF back then and neither of us was very well off at that stage of our life. He got a deer a couple days before the game so he brought the backstraps. It was a fair deal. I bought the tickets.