The sweet smell of summer is food over flame.

Grilling has gone way beyond burgers, brats and hot dogs. There are stones for pizza, planks for fish, even skillets for brownies and tarts. The newest grilling cookbooks even have breakfast recipes: eggs, hash and French toast.

The news about grilling is that charcoal is starting to outsell its popular gas competitor.

Gas grills - many in stainless steel that mimic the look of kitchen appliances - have been the most popular for years because of their quick starting time. They accounted for 57 percent of sales in 2010, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. But grilling store employees and manufacturers say charcoal is on the way up.

"The first year we were open, gas was practically all we sold," says Dan Hathaway, manager of the Kansas City BBQ Store next to Oklahoma Joe's in Olathe. "But now, we're just selling a handful. You can't beat the flavor from a charcoal grill."

Perhaps that's a sign that grilling has grown up. Practically no one makes the rookie mistake anymore of dipping meat in barbecue sauce before putting it on the grill, says Carolyn Wells, executive director of the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

"They know sugar and tomatoes are going to burn," she says. "People know about dry rubs and marinades. They want sophisticated layers of flavors."

Bodum, the manufacturer of colorful, modern housewares, started making grills this past year. The company resurrected a 1962 cone-shaped design, available in colors including lime green and orange enamel. The company added a battery-driven rotisserie to make the grill "a little more fun," says Thomas Perez, president of Bodum USA and Canada.

"We plan to keep expanding because barbecuing has become year-round and used for all types of meals," Perez says. "New grilling customers are in their 20s and 30s, many of them women. So the grill has to look good, too. Fashionable, even."

Barbecue tools are being aimed at the text generation, too. The iGrill is a Bluetooth-enabled meat thermometer that works with an iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone. A free application downloaded from the Apple Store enables the griller to set alarms and timers, find recipes and remotely monitor the thermometer. The device costs $100 and comes with 4 AA batteries and one probe. A second probe costs $20.

New totable electric grills also are unfolding on the scene, filling a growing niche of apartment dwellers and condo owners who can't use charcoal or gas on patios or balconies. Hathaway says one of the popular tech tools is the BBQ Guru, which introduces air to charcoal to better maintain the temperature. The gadget (about $300 for a system) is a small but turbo-powered blower system that is turned on and off by the microprocessor's embedded control algorithm. This means, according to the company, "You can leave a large brisket or pork shoulder on your charcoal grill before you go to work in the morning. And after work, as the guests are arriving, your meal is cooked to perfection."