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About Eddie van Aken (aka The Grilling Dutchman)













































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Home

Recipes Hubs







Beef

Chicken

Pork

Turkey

Rubs

Sauces

Grill Recipes

Smoker Recipes

BBQ Sides


BBQ Basics







Grilling Basics

Smoking Meat Basics







Offset Smoker Guide

Pellet Grill Cooking Guide


Meat Preparation Guide







How To Make Bacon

How To Make Sausage

Online Meat Delivery


Gear I Use


Grill Reviews







Pellet Grill Reviews







Pit Boss Pellet Grills

Z Grills Reviews

Traeger Grill Reviews


Charcoal Grills Reviews

Kamado Grill Reviews

Flat Top Grill Reviews


BBQ Thermometers







INKBIRD IBT-26S

Chefstemp FinalTouch X10


















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The Grilling Dutchman has been the #1 resource for everything grill and BBQ-related since 2014.

I am Eddie van Aken, the guy behind The Grilling Dutchman. I owned and ran my restaurant for many years.

Before that, I worked as a grill and buffet cook in a few restaurants, including some well-known big chain ones.

For most of my life, I used my BBQ and grill at home like many others by grilling some burgers, hot dogs, and chicken on a simple charcoal grill.

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How It All Got StartedWhy You Should Trust MeRecipesCollaborationNaardenElktonContact Me

When I’m not cooking outdoors, testing grills, or working on new BBQ recipes, you’ll usually find me working on backyard projects or trying out new tools around the house. That’s why I also run Practical Backyard, where I share practical advice on patio upgrades, garage tools, outdoor equipment, and backyard improvements based on my own hands-on experience. If you’re looking to improve your outdoor space beyond the grill, be sure to visit Practical Backyard.

How It All Got Started

In June 2014, I was looking for a new grill at home.I love to grill and BBQ all types of meat and even vegetables, but because of my full-service restaurant, I never did too much at home with the grill.

However, now that I was looking for a grill, I decided to use it as much as possible.

This ended with cooking outdoors each time I had a chance and testing as many methods, grills, and recipes as possible.

I decided to share all my experiences and expertise on a website. That was the start of The Grilling Dutchman.

Although I try to be as thorough as possible in my reviews and tips, I still advise you to research yourself. 

Why You Should Trust Me

Through my restaurant experience, I am used to dealing with and using all types of quality kitchen equipment and cooking methods.

I use my experience in this field to give my personal and professional opinions about the features of the equipment I use. Or any other item I have.

I am also active on several forums and Facebook groups to find more information and share my experience there.

Every small thing I can find to help you and me make better use of our grills and cook better meals, I will explore.

Don’t worry about me sharing only my positive experience, I will also let you know what mistakes I made in the past and still make.

I also review meat delivery services and look at not just the quality of the meat but also at packaging, delivery, and sustainability.

The reason for this is that I believe that even if you have a great grill, but not good quality meat, the result would still not be the same.

Recipes

The recipes I cook, test, or try are most of the time shared here. I have no secrets and will give you the full recipe and ingredients I use.

Collaboration

I work together with many of the top brand grills and food delivery services. Some of them sent me products to review, and I always do that in an unbiased way.

I use affiliate links in my recommendations, and sometimes I get a small fee when you buy something through my link. This will never raise the price you would pay without my link!

For more information on this, you can read my affiliate disclosure page.

I live in Kentucky and enjoy living here, but I was not born here, so here is my history.

Naarden

I was born in 1955, in a small town in the Netherlands called Naarden. It was part of the defense system of Amsterdam, and it still has all the walls and moats around it.

City of Naarden in birdseye view

After living I Holland for my whole life, I moved to the USA right after my 50th birthday.

I opened up a restaurant and ran that for several years. At that time, I got more interested in outdoor cooking on a grill and smoker.

Elkton

After selling the restaurant, I moved to Elkton and am planning on staying here for the rest of my life.

Elkton, Ky, on the map of Kentucky

I am retired now and have more time to spend on my website and testing recipes and cooking techniques.

So, that was my history in a nutshell, and now you can maybe understand why some people call me the grilling Dutchman. A title I wear with pride.

Contact Me

Contact me by email at: eddie@thegrillingdutchman.com

Contact me by regular mail at 1212 Pond River Rd. Elkton, KY, 42220.

You can call me at 270-350-0856.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddie-van-aken/

Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eddievanaken

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eddievanaken.

I also started sharing more content on my personal website https://eddievanaken.com/.

Thank you for taking the time to read this page, and feel free to contact me with any questions you have.

Eddie van Aken – The Grilling Dutchman

Eddie van Aken is the founder of The Grilling Dutchman, where he shares practical BBQ tips, smoking techniques, recipes, and grill reviews based on real-world experience. After years of cooking on pellet grills, charcoal grills, smokers, and kamado cookers, he focuses on helping backyard cooks get better results with less guesswork. Learn more about Eddie van Aken. Learn more about Eddie van Aken.






















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1212 Pond River Rd.
Elkton, KY
270-350-0856




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The Grilling Dutchman is a US-based BBQ and outdoor cooking brand specializing in grilling, smoking, and meat preparation guidance for backyard pitmasters who want real-world, experience-driven advice.










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