Got charcoal?

I don't "poopoo" any cooking method if the out come is good.

Invite me over for Gas Grill cooking or a Habatchi or 16 hours of slow smoking and I will crack a beer with ya and enjoy the food and friends.

I grill at high heat, I grill indirectly at less heat and I slow smoke longer at a less heat but I never eat raw meat...that's BAIT. lol

peace

get enough beers in me I might eat the bait!

get enough beers in me I might eat the bait!
Well, I've munched on a "thang" or two that tasted like bait on a bad night...but I digress.

lol

Speaking of grilling, I'm thinking of getting a gas grill but don't know which brands to avoid. I know Weber is supposedly great, but their grills seem so overpriced in comparison to other brands. Help!

that's why I get "real bbq" at places like Tim's River House. I cook things like grilled vegies, lobster, fish... grilled whole garlic (excellent), and frozen burgers and hot dogs, and bbq chicken breasts. All that other stuff I leave up to you all.

mmmm tims river shore is amazing, ive spent countless sundays on the boat over there. definitley one of my favorite places to be, its just an all day party on the water with good eats.

Speaking of grilling, I'm thinking of getting a gas grill but don't know which brands to avoid. I know Weber is supposedly great, but their grills seem so overpriced in comparison to other brands. Help!

Look for one with as many burners as you can afford. Not for heat but low control.
Also get one with the trick inferred burners if you can.
Gas is all about fast but if you can get one you cane tame you can get much more use out of it.

I like coals but that's just me.

I say Go Gasers if it gets you cooking for friends and family.

peace

Thanks SBF. Any ideas about Weber, Jen-Air, Charbroil, or Charmaglow (sp?)?

I don't "poopoo" any cooking method if the out come is good.

Invite me over for Gas Grill cooking or a Habatchi or 16 hours of slow smoking and I will crack a beer with ya and enjoy the food and friends.

I grill at high heat, I grill indirectly at less heat and I slow smoke longer at a less heat but I never eat raw meat...that's BAIT. lol

peace

My sentiments exactly. I eat meat, plain and simple.

Thanks SBF. Any ideas about Weber, Jen-Air, Charbroil, or Charmaglow (sp?)?
All are cost
Jen-air
weber
Charbroil

Buy the best and biggest you can afford. You'll want it bigger and better soon. Tell the wife it's for her family. lol

I'll echo SBF's sentiments. Look for one with as many cooking elements as possible. At least three on small and medium sized grills and 4 or 5 on the big ones. This way you can have zones for cooking. One thing to look for is orientation of the elements. Some grills have the elements situated vertically and some hortizontally. I personally like the veritcally oriented burners so when I am moving meat from high to low heat I am not needing to reach over the grill too much. I just move side to side. I have had several different types of elements and so far my best experiences have been the brass ones. Not sure if that really matters but my current grill has brass elements and they seem to holding up very well.

Another aspect to look at is your cooking surface. I have used the regular old cheap stainless steel grates, cast iron grates, and tempered steel grates. The stainless steel I hate. Cast irons are great but heat slowly and are a serious pain in the ass to keep even moderately clean. Plus they tend to have very wide grates. I prefer the tempered steel ones I have now. They "clean" easily, are very sturdy and heat quickly.

When I say "clean" I don't mean actually clean. I usually just let them burn off for about 5 more minutes on super high. This chars most of the leavin's away and leaves the much desired seasoning that a good grill needs. Every now and then I can pop the tempered steel grates into the oven and run them on a self clean cycle to really clean em up. Maybe once a year for that.

As far brands I have no real advice. Pick the sturdiest you can get. Look at the actual parts and touch and feel them to see if they seem cheap. What the grill looks like is meaningless. Stainless steel is nice looking but if the elements are cheap thin steel and the grates suck and the ignition parts are cheapo then you have a great looking grill that you'll need to replace parts on within 2 years. I find that generally price does match quality all in all. I have a charbroil commercial series that is simply a horse. My last charbroil was cheapo and a piece of junk. It did the job but we burned up the element in it in less than two seasons and the ignition stopped working and so forth. One cost like $180 the other more like $400. The $400 one will probably last over twice the time so it is generally worth it to spend more. I do think Jenn Airs are ridiculously priced though. Don't know anyone who has had one but I can't see what a $800 dollar grill like that will do for twice the price of mine.

Get a good cover and use it. That will extend the life of the grill.