Vegetarians/Vegans & BBQ

So apparently the grilling season is upon us (here in the Western Hemisphere at least), and this is the first time I find myself living in a place where I can own a grill of my own and have friends over to barbecue.

However, I'm the type of guy who is usually concerned about how what I am doing is affecting others around me (for better or for worse). For example, I smoke, and am very conscientious about not blowing smoke around non-smokers.

I've started to become concerned that when it comes to barbecuing, the fumes of burning animal flesh will inevitably waft into the nearby homes of some vegetarians/vegans, and I can safely assume this won't be a pleasant experience for them. Being a meat-eater, I never really thought about it before when I'd smell other barbecues. But now that I have the opportunity to start cooking outdoors, it made me think about the fumes I'd be creating and how that might affect my neighbors who have chosen not to eat animal products.

So my question is to the vegetarians/vegans among you: is this a pet peeve of yours -- the smell of neighbor's barbecues? Do you feel that meat cookouts are infringing on your right to not have to breathe in the fumes? Do you feel that it is something so offensive that carnivores shouldn't be cooking outdoors at all? Or is it something you've learned to live with and feel that outdoor meat cookers should continue to cook, unabated?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

(P.S. please don't say "well, maybe you shouldn't eat meat". that's an entirely different discussion altogether -- not one that i want to get into here. thanks.)

I'm a vegan and our neighbors BBQ every summer. I simply close the windows, as I would do for any other temporary form of noxious air pollution.

Well you have to weigh both sides of it. How much should you suffer to prevent people around you from "suffering". I think your neighbors should just live with the fact that you are going to be grilling up some flesh. It's not your problem that they don't eat meat. It's a nice thought, but there have to be limits to that kind of thing, or no one gets to do anything fun.

what a thoughtful question. never occured to me.

When I was a veggiesaurus, I didn't much mind the smell of meat, so long as someone was grilling me up a bocaburger. Maybe it's different if you're a vegetarian for a very long time?

I never would have thought of this either. And it is very considerate of you to ask.

I don't like the smell, but it's not a big deal. It doesn't offend me at all, or anything.

Never bothered me either.

If you're cooking on your oen property...and aren't purposely wafting meat fumes to ther people...I'd say....have at it.

Outdoor cooking is a perfectly normal thing to do....and any vegetarian/vegan should be prepared to live next to a meat eater

Doesn't bother me at all. I live in a city where the smell of barbecue is always in the air. I've learned to deal with it.

Probably. To me, meat smells either like cat food (when fresh) or like diesel exhaust (when cooking). Neither of which are particularly appetizing.

I've been a vegetarian for over 15 years and if a neighbor's barbequeue is bothering me, it's just as likely to be because of the woodsmoke or charcoal smell as anything else. Like s5, I just close the windows.

It's the same level of annoyance as, say, a neighbor mowing their lawn when I can smell the gasoline from the lawnmower and the smell of the lawn clippings (lawn mowing generally sets off my allergies). I don't hold it against them. I don't enjoy it, but it's part of living in a city with neighbors.

Cooked meat smells like dead carcass to me. I don't like smelling it at all, but I'm not of the opinion that other people should go out of their way to accomodate my personal choice. I try to avoid smelling it, but I'm not going to get mad at someone for their decision to eat meat.

as long as your not simultaneously wafting cigarette smoke through the neighborhood your cool

i usually don't mind it, but that's mainly because i grill with my buddies. i drink beer, i socialize, and i bring my own flesh-free burgers. if i can help it though, yeah, i stand upwind of the grill. burger meat is an especially cheap and groady smell.

i general though, i think veggies are either used to it or can cope with it. i mean we live in a world of meat eaters... if you can't deal with the occasional smell of meat, you're up the creek in more situations than just bbq'ing.

Vegetarian here for 15 years. I actually get more grossed-out from the sickeningly-sweet smell given off by barbecue sauce than from the smell of meat cooking itself. Otherwise, the smoke seems to smell the same, whether there's a platter of veggie burgers or a rack of ribs on the grill. *shrug* If particularly aromatic charcoals or woods are being used, I might actually enjoy it.

Then again, I worked fast food for a few years after going vegetarian, so I'm not weirded out by burning flesh smells.

Anyway, as stated by others, nice of you to be concerned; many BBQ-ers seem to relish the concept of "sticking it" to vegetarians. Enjoy your cooking!

Twenty seven years vegetarian and its never really bothered me. I will say that if I am in certain areas of the world, and certain forms of viscera are being cooked/rendered, the smell can be pretty awful, but the local BBQs, naw.

I may have misunderstood the question... But I think it all depends.

Sometimes it smells nice. Sometimes it makes me regret recently-made decisions...

Wow........... how thoughtful!

Anyway -- I rather like the smell of BBQ. It must be a childhood thing.