Re: Got charcoal?
 

[QUOTE=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;314438]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![/QUOTE]

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

Re: Got charcoal?
 

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

Re: Got charcoal?
 

[quote=Sammy Baugh Fan;314430]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[/quote]

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

Re: Got charcoal?
 

[QUOTE=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;314443]Thanks SBF. Any ideas about Weber, Jen-Air, Charbroil, or Charmaglow (sp?)?[/QUOTE]
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

Re: Got charcoal?
 

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.

Re: Got charcoal?
 

Thanks for the advice guys, I could use all the advice I can get. Sorry to semi-threadjack Matty.

Re: Got charcoal?
 

I love my grill. It's the Weber Performer, charcoal grill with a gas ignite system.
[img]http://www.weber.com/bbq/img/Performer_large.jpg[/img]

Toss the coals in, turn on the propane and ignite. Leave the gas on for 5 minutes to heat up the coals and get them burning, turn it off, and in another 20 minutes or so, the fire's ready to go. I can get home from work at 5pm, get the grill going, and by 6, we're sitting down to eat.

But as Mike said, doesn't matter how the meat's cooked, as long as it's good, and there's a cold beer in my hand, I'm set.

Re: Got charcoal?
 

THat's a sweet combonation of coals and gas.

On the cooker I ordered for my partner Tim that I cooked on last weekend it I had them put a 180,000BTU gas burner in the fire box. I used it to start the coals but he cook just cook with that if'n he wanted.

For my 2 cookers I have weed burners to get them started.
[url=http://www.flameengineering.com/Red_Dragon_Propane_Torch_K.html]Red Dragon Propane Torch Kits - The best weed burner available! Vapor Torches, Liquid Torches, Jet Torches and The Weed Dragon.[/url]

Re: Got charcoal?
 

[quote=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;314478]Thanks for the advice guys, I could use all the advice I can get. Sorry to semi-threadjack Matty.[/quote]

I just bought one a couple of weeks ago...

Costco in my town has a 399 deal on a nice, beautiful NexGrill with 3 main burners, a searing burner, and a rotisserie burner...

it took some time to get used to cooking with the searing burner, but it is awesome!

Steaks, Burgers, Salmon, etc... a hell of a deal... its a two tone grill with stainless and is very high quality as far as the steel its made of and sturdiness..

oh, it also has one of those 13000 btu side burners....


and I used the rotisserie to spit cook a creole butter injected chicken the other night... f'in beautiful...

Definately check out Costco... Much better deal than anyone else and I shopped for a while...

Re: Got charcoal?
 

[quote=BDBohnzie;314500]I love my grill. It's the Weber Performer, charcoal grill with a gas ignite system.
[IMG]http://www.weber.com/bbq/img/Performer_large.jpg[/IMG]

Toss the coals in, turn on the propane and ignite. Leave the gas on for 5 minutes to heat up the coals and get them burning, turn it off, and in another 20 minutes or so, the fire's ready to go. I can get home from work at 5pm, get the grill going, and by 6, we're sitting down to eat.

But as Mike said, doesn't matter how the meat's cooked, as long as it's good, and there's a cold beer in my hand, I'm set.[/quote]

That is awesome. How much does something like that cost?

Re: Got charcoal?
 

Here are the specs on that bad boy.
[url=http://weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2007/charcoal/Performer.aspx]Welcome to Weber.com[/url]

Looks like about $350 when I googled it.

Re: Got charcoal?
 

$350 isn't bad at all for that.

I use gas myself out of convenience, but with something like that it looks like you could have the best of both worlds.

Re: Got charcoal?
 

Ya'll ALL just promise me on the grave of Jack Kent Cooke you will NEVER EVER use Charcoal lighter fluid.

I will stalk you down and make you wear a TO jersey if I find out any of you use that wicked and ever so hated stuff.

peace

Re: Got charcoal?
 

I'm house-sitting for my buddy while he's on his honeymoon, and he just got an unbelievably nice charcoal grill but I've been too intimidated by it to use it. He got it the day before he left so if I did use it I'd be the first. I guess I would feel sort of guilty popping the cherry on it for a couple of hot dogs or Johnsville brats.
I swear it mocks me from the deck, but I still consider myself somewhat a of grill rookie even though I ran one on a golf course for an entire summer when I was in college.

Re: Got charcoal?
 

The Performer looks to be coming down in price ($299). I got it as a wedding present from my best man and a few others. They got it at the Barbeques Galore in the Kentlands.

Lighter Fluid was a big contributor to many a summer time cookouts at the beach. Somehow, my Dad was able to use it, and you couldn't taste it in the meat. There is something about a nice roast slow cooked on the grill, with Thrasher's Fries and salad that brings back fond memories.