Gas Grill Q's

[mjs408]

I Know this is like asking about Rice Burner's on a Muscle Car forum, but my wife doesn't really like messing with coal' grills and doesn't care to learn. I'm in the market for a new gas grill and was wondering what you all have/think. What should I get. ANY input would be great.

Thanks

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

Anything Weber. If you'll only be doing small stuff I have a Weber Q 100 and it is a great gas grill. If you need something bigger the Weber Q 300's are great also. If you have the money you can get the Weber Genesis series. Good luck and convince her charcoal is the way!

 

[Bushwacker]

Hey Mjs, I'll agree to what Smokey Said..If your looking for something bigger, I have a "Charm-Glo" 3 inside burners and the side burner, Mostly stainless. had it for 4 years now, and still works like a charm...got it at lowes..it was $489. got it on end of summer clearance for $369. Also check on CL, if your not in a hurry. you might find a deal...

 

[DeoreDX]

I have a Chargriller Duo and bought the optional side fire box.

3 burner gas grill
Charcoal grill
Smoker
The smoke box can be used as a small charcoal grill (use it all the time when cooking for just the wife and I to minimize charcoal needed)

Not my picture but I did steal it off the internet.

 

[82muchhomework]

I understand the convenience of gassers and love mine. We use it almost everyday... veggies, steaks, fish, chicken breasts, appetizers. It helps to add some wood chunks in a smoker box for a bit of flavor.

I bought a Weber Genesis EP-310 (the "P" includes stainless cooking grids and stainless flavorizer bars). Doing some research, I found a coupon code for Rainbow Appliance (http://www.rainbowappliance.com/EP310-Genesis.html). After shipping, I paid $100 less than I would have for the standard model with porcelain grates from HD or lowes.

Its a great grill! It's very efficient and holds temp forever. It puts out even heat and I find it hard to burn something on it. I don't know why but even when I forget to check to the food, it comes out great!

Almost any brand of grill you buy, other than weber, will only last a few years. A weber will last 10 or more. If you pay $300 for a grill, you will likely need to replace it in 4 years or so. If you buy a quality weber, you get to enjoy a nice grill for much longer. In the end you will probably save money buying the weber after adding up replacement parts or replacing a grill every few years.


+1 for checking CL. You can get weber gassers for great deals on there too, especially now since people are moving more and its the end of summer.

 

[Northwoods Smoke]

Someone has to do it, so I will play devil's advocate:

First: If you will be doing the grilling, she doesn't have to learn how to use charcoal.

Second: You should control your grilling destiny. You would never tell her what shoes she can or cannot buy.

Third: If she does have that much influence over your activities, get a Duo so that she can use the gas side and you can use the charcoal side.

Fourth: Charcoal rules and gassers drool. As you get better you will find that you use gas for convenience mostly or only, but hardly ever for maximum flavor. (Of course this is debatable, but not very).

Fifth: Good luck on your journey in grilling and Que. You've found a great forum filled with knowledgeable folks that will give you much to think about.

 

[Grillman]

I worked for Home Depot for 6 years...and built nearly every grill they sell.
Webber Grills are solid, durable, quality grills. They will last you a very
long time if you take care of them.
What's wrong with Webber Grills?
They are expensive...(because they are very good quality)
The burners are Front to Back...instead of Left to Right. This helps eliminate
cold areas....but; it makes it hard to cook by indirect heat.
Webbers are smaller and it's hard to fit a rack of Spare Ribs on them;
let alone two racks...unless you use a "Rib Rack" of some type.

"Char-Broil" brand grills are good quality as well....but; not quite as good of
quality as Webber. If you take care of the Char-Broil grill; it will last a long
time though.
IF it doesn't come with a cover..BUY one; to keep Snow and Rain off it
when it isn't in use...that will greatly prolong it's life.
Get one with at least 3 burners...this will give you greater temperature
control and; allow you to just use 1 burner if you want to cook by
"indirect heat"... no matter what you are cooking.

The Patent ran out on the "Infrared Grills" technology a year or so ago.
So everybody can make Infrafred grills now. I don't know much about
them as they are fairly new. They are supposed to eliminate "cold" areas
on the grill and give more even heat over the cooking area. It looks like
they do work quite well in that manner.
But; they will of course be more expensive.

Lowes, Home Depot, and other places should start marking down some
grills right now because Summer is pretty much over. So ....you can
find some good deals....but; the selection may be a bit thin.

 

[ljh34465]

I have an older Weber Genesis and it has done me well. I think the replacement is called the Weber Espirt - last I looked at one at Lowes, think it was $499.

I agree with previous posts about quality and ya get what ya pay for.

If you really have to get a gasser, think about a mini egg for those times you want something really, really good. Two of the questions on the Big Green Egg about where you learned about it - tasted food off one at a dealer, tasted food off it at a friends. Sort of indicates the food is pretty tasty.

The big trade off is ultra convenience vs. real bbq, IMO. Try to figure out what you will be cooking most of the time before you make a giant leap.

 

[smokehunter]

I was always a charcoal guy myself, but received a Brinkman Pro Series 7231 as a gift. Honestly, unless I'm smoking something or have buddies over and have plenty of time, I use the gas grill for my wife and I and it does just fine. It is well seasoned so really the flavor loss is kept to a minimum in my opinion. (I know you can't beat charcoal, but for 2 chicken breast it sure is convenient.) It does have two racks which is nice to keep the done pieces warm on or drip some bacon down on a leaner meat and the side burner to make sauces while grilling is nice too.

 

[landarc]

Hard to beat a Weber, but, I would look at the idea of getting burners that go left to right, if you want to be able to smoke/low and slow on a gasser. Webers front to back burners make it tough to do.

 

[BBQ Grail]

They make gas grills?

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

I had a Char Broil. it lasted 10 years without a cover on the back deck and I'm pretty sure I only refilled the tank once. Bought it when I got the house in '99. When I rolled it to the curb earlier this summer, I took the tank for the fryer and have already used it three times.

The gasser was great for cooking corn, veggies, keeping things warm while waiting for everything to come off the real grill. I mostly used it to cook burgers, and to store my spatula, tongs etc. I'm still kicking myself for getting rid of it. It would have come in real handy for my UDS builds and now I'm looking for another.

 

[NorthwestBBQ]

Hard to beat a Weber, but, I would look at the idea of getting burners that go left to right, if you want to be able to smoke/low and slow on a gasser. Webers front to back burners make it tough to do.

Weber makes plenty of grills with burners that go left to right: http://www.weber.com/grills/default.aspx?glid=3&mid=12

 

[landarc]

I did not know that, all the ones I have used went front to back.

 

[NorthwestBBQ]

I did not know that, all the ones I have used went front to back.

This is the big one you see Steve Raichlen use on his PBS shows...

 

[landarc]

Wow! 'blink' 'blink' fancy, so many shiny knobs...

 

[nmayeux]

The Weber Genesis is the way to go. We have a 10 year old Ducane (now owned by Weber), and even though we are not quite in the market yet, our next grill will be a Genesis! It is one of the very few gas gtills on the market that can properly "Pittsburg" a steak.

 

[mjs408]

I have a charcoal weber (standard model), Im building a UDS. I think an green egg would be awesome, but I doubt I can sell my wife on a 700 dollar charcoal grill. I not giving up on fire and smoke, just need something that she can use and likes. Keeping her happy makes my life easy.

 

[gtsum]

If you are dead set on a gas grill, first thing to do is establish your budget - why? Because for anything under 1k, Weber is the place to be looking. Do not get sucked into the shiny SS units at home depot or lowes, etc. They are very cheaply made with inferior SS and will pit and discolor easily. Weber cannot be beat under 1k - they cook well, last a long time, and have fairly even heat, plus their customer service is fantastic.

If you are looking at higher end grills, and really want a showpiece SS grill, look at Fire Magic and Lynx - these will start around 3k -I had a Lynx for a couple years and a weber genesis before that and there is most certainly a difference between the two...the Lynx will last 20 years easily...lifetime warranty, much heavier construction (the burners are 1/4 inch thick solid brass...the burners on a weber are thinner then the edge of a quarter), and the SS is true American SS that is welded together. The heat output was much much higher on the Lynx as well, and it had more even heating. All that being said, I sold my gas grills (even the Lynx) and now cook on a ceramic cooker and could not be happier!

 

[Texas Turtle]

For some reason the "stainless" Charmglows don't seem to last down here. Just trashed a Commercial series four-burner model after just over three years because the firebox burned through and melted the control knobs and the cabinet was rusted to pieces. Parts to rebuild would have run me $350. Went to Lowes for some 2 x 4s and found a Brinkman 4-burner with twin sideburners and infrared for $269 with free assembly. I know, it ain't a Weber but at that price I can continue to throw them out every three to four years and the cast iron grates from my Charmer fit perfectly as replacements for the porcelain ones that came on the Brinky. The cover from the old one fits pretty well, too. I use the gasser for burgers and breasts for the wife and I during the week when I don't want to take the time to build a fire in one of the other three cookers. The Brinky is mostly black enamel with "stainless" trim. We'll see how long it lasts, I guess.