BBQ Grill Recommendations
Mates,
I just pulled some ribs off the grill and I am afraid my gas BBQ grill is done-for. The baffles are crumbling and the lighter went out. We have been lighting with a match, no big deal, but with the innards turning to dust its time to get a new one. I know some of you are wizards at the BBQ thing and hopefully won't mind sharing some great 'value' ideas on a new BBQ.
So this summer time question is pretty simple: What are your recommendations for a gas BBQ grill, and where might they be available?
Thank you for you suggestions.
XM
where were they made and the steel from? That will tell you. My guess if in China that’s why they rusted
One thing a friend told me, always scrape the grill off before or after cooking. The gunk encases water/moisture and speeds up the rusting process.
We have a Traeger Big Tex and a Char Broil propane grill. We use both year round. We live in Eastern Washington with temps dropping well below zero in the winter and over 100 in the summer.
We purchased the Traeger (about $600 on sale) as a 14th anniversary gift to each other. That was 5 years ago this past April. We are a family of five but have company join us about twice a week so we're regularly cooking for 5-20+ people.
The Traeger is amazing! We routinely smoke chicken, pork and beef. In general, we use the smoker for chicken and pork and the bbq for beef and vegetables. The smoker has a max temp of about 425. We like a proper sear on steaks and veggies so thus the need for the propane grill.
Pros:
Smoked chicken and pork is amazingly juicy and moist and the added smokey flavor rocks.
The Traeger is a convection oven so you can use it for more than just cooking meat. (we've cooked Papa Murphy's pizzas and other things you would normally bake in ours)
The Traeger has an auger drive that sends the wood pellets through to the burner to maintain the desired temperature.
Cons:
The Traeger is an electric machine, so you need a power source
In the colder months, it is difficult to maintain cooking temperatures so cooking times can get long. (There are insulated covers you can buy to help hold in the heat. They're pretty expensive, but worth it for some.)
Traeger pellets are about $15/20lb bag. (we really like alder, pecan and apple)
We haven't spent a lot of money on propane grills. We typically expect to get 2-3 years out of one so we just find one on sale that has what we need.
Link for the Big Tex: https://www.traegergrills.com/pellet-grills/other-grills/texas-elite-pellet-grill-34
Hope you find a solution that works great for your family, cheers!
Traegar is a good product and there is nothing like a good smoked flavor. For a more economical alternative to Traegar, look at Green Mountain.
I've got a Pit Boss 860(?). 840 maybe? Don't recall. The midsize one. Anyway, it's far cheaper than a Traeger and does the same thing. Love that smoked flavor. The past 4 years have done a 20 pound turkey for Thanksgiving. Far better flavor and juicier than baked or fried.
Have had my Weber Genesis for 10 years. I would say we use it 2-3 x per week with not much of a slowdown in winter. Frickin thing is like new. I want a new grill just to be cooking on something different but I can’t justify it. Lots of good grills out there, BBQ guys has some good reviews.
My original Weber Genesis lasted 16 years. I had to hold on to it through last summer's cooking season until the end of the season sale @lowes/HD which is around Oct/Nov. I scored a newer Genesis E410 series at the half off the regular price sale.
The only problem is there are an army of similar bargain hunters for these deals and thus be quick in action/F5 Refresh key mode to find the deal and get to it before others can.
In my experience Viking is the best. Stay away from the infrared option.
Better yet, do a deep cleaning of your grill and replace the burners if necessary, which is likely. A much more economical option
I have a weber that is around five years old. It was starting to look a little rough from being outside for so long. I used oven cleaner on the exterior of the grill. It looks brand new again. And it was so easy. Sprayed it on and let it sit for twenty minutes. Came back with a wet cloth and wiped it off. Sprayed it down with a garden hose and done. Now for the interior...
Not the most creative or fanciest pick, but my Webber (similar to spirit 300) caught on fire after 10 years of use. It was a grease/ oil fire accdue toumulation of a Summer's worth of marinaited meats, and poor cleaning. Not as bad as it sounds, but it was hot enough that it melted the plastic knobs.
I went to order some replacement parts, and ended up speaking with sales person there. She asked for some photos, and then they sent me all new internal guts along with the knobs for free.
One could argue that this is them protecting themselves against potential claims. But their interest and attention to a small incident was unexpected. Now they didn't earn any business from me because it will be another decade or two before this needs to be replaced, but now poor guests at my house have to hear my old man stories about when my grill caught on fire and how great their service was.
I have the large Weber Q. Best cooking grill I have ever owned in over 40 years.
Also have a Weber Q. Great grill for our family of 4. Probably little small for a family of 9 though.
It's a bit pricey, but Weber sells at 37.5" 'The Ranch' kettle that should handle a large crowd.
I've had my Weber Q (with stand) for 3 years and I love it. I generally only cook for myself and my girlfriend, so it's not a good idea for 9 people, but it was a great purchase.
They also make a Michigan edition (or at least used to).
It's not gas, but I love my Green Egg. It lights fast and comes to temperature quickly. We find a small is big enough for two of us, and not as expensive as the larger models.
I just can’t do gas. I know all the “benefits” but I’ll always prefer natural hickory charcoal.
that being said Weber Genesis are apparently great grills without breaking the bank. I’ve heard amazing things about Lynx gas grills but they also go for thousands of dollars so ..... yea
Weber Spirit. Weber’s are a little pricey but you’ll be glad you spent the $. Great, long lasting grills.
My personal recommendation is to go with the Weber summit series. I’ve had mine for over 10 years and it still pretty much runs like brand new. We grill 2 to 3 times a week, more in the summer we grill 2 to 3 times a week, more in the summer.
Also, while it definitely adds to the price, I would recommend going with the biggest size that you can fit. You never know when you need the extra space.
As a bonus recommendation, I would also go with a weber smoky mountain smoker. It’s awesome
I have a ten year old Weber charcoal kettle that is great, and my wife just gave me a Weber Spirit 3 burner to replace the 3 year old Char Broil Infrared that fell apart. My sister has a 20 year old Weber in very good shape. Go for Weber, the Char Broil is going on the curb tomorrow.
I agree, spend what it takes for the specific Weber grill that best fits your needs. Don't even think of spending a dime on a Charbroil or any other cheap piece of junk.
I have a four year old Weber charcoal kettle grill I use for 75% of my grilling needs, and a portable Weber gas grill (with an adapter for a 20lb propane tank) for those days I'm too lazy for charcoal. I bought the propane one as a backup for tailgating (my tailgating buddies have bigger setups that suffice for most of our tailgates), so it has been with me to AAGO on several occasions.
Both my Webers are in good condition and should last for many more years of happy grilling. And while neither model is anything super fancy, it's nice to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing grill failure is highly unlikely.
Big green egg. Large. Use good charcoal.
I got a hell of a deal on 4 burner Bull. Excellently grill, heats up to 650 in less than 3 mins. Great insulation and has a excellent distribution of heat so there aren’t any light cool spots.
The exterior is stainless and doesn’t rust. Great feature for me living 2 miles from the coast.
Broilmaster for natural gas or propane. Housing is cast aluminum with lifetime warranty. Cooking grids were cast iron 10 years ago; now stainless steel. Cooking grids have a lifetime warranty. Bowtie burner provides great even heat distribution with 10-year warranty. I bought mine in 2005 and it is in fantastic shape. My dad bought the first one in the family in 1976 and it is still cooking with a second or third replacement burner over the years. www.broilmaster.com
Big Green Egg.
You're welcome.
Build your own with brick and mortar. It will never rust (may be the grill surface) and you can make the cooking surface a large as you want.https://i.etsystatic.com/7179189/r/il/983e25/1816217030/il_794xN.1816217030_jg0l.jpg
I know this industry well having worked in it for the past 2 years. I will not mention the company that I worked for (its not Weber), because they are complete assholes from top to bottom of management, and I will never speak highly of their products (which are overpriced crap) and can never recommend them.
That said...I can give you honest opinions about any other grill and what to look for. Do you have any questions?
so putting weber aside, especially after that comment you made about the recent nose dive in quality, see my OP which is basically: what do you recommend that is a good value? you said char broil is a rust bucket - and that's happening now with mine. so what would you recommend that isn't overly expensive?
It depends on budget. Under $1000 is a crap shoot because most manufacturers in that range are not using 304 stainless steel, they are using 430 or some lower grade. If under $1000, then Weber should be OK, just do not expect to get 10+ years out of it like the Old Webers used to get. Also, expect more warranty issues and problems.
** Weber is not what is used to be...thats all Im sayin'
Over $1000, look at Blaze (BBQ Guys website, they make that grill and sell it along with others), AOG (which is owned by RH Peterson who makes the high end grill FireMagic), Delta Heat (owned by Twin Eagles), Lynx...etc. Avoid Napoleon, they have a lot of issues with quality and use cheap parts.
Over $3000 look at FireMagic, Twin Eagles, Alfresco, DCS and more. You can get a great grill all 304 stainless which will last 20 years.
If you want to try something different go with the Blackstone 36in griddle flat top. Game changer. I also have a 10yr old weber and just got all new guts this year (burner and flavorizer bars)...its like brand new again.
I will 2nd the Blackstone, I have the grill top for it and cooks just like a propane grill. The best part is you can interchange the 2 tops to cook a very large variety of foods.
The burners never really see the grease from the food so they last a long time.
Oh yeah, travels well to tailgates!
some type of kamado (big green egg or kamado joe)
if those are out of your price range, then i highly recommend the char-griller akorn. its a knockoff kamado and not made out of ceramic but its pretty great for the price
you can even find the akorn on clearance at some walmarts for less than $100
people complain about quality control on the akorn (rusts out after however long), but as long as you take care of it, it will last. clean it, cover it, etc. i had one for 3 years and it was still in great shape.
I've had all sorts of high end grills over the years and recently downsized after our kids left the nest. At this point, I have a Green Egg, which I've had for years, and a Weber Genesis II 4-burner which does a great job. My first Green Egg was made of clay, the new ones, and its been some time now, are ceramic and aren't subject to thermal shock that used to destroy old Green Eggs by cracking. A Green Egg can be cranked up and used for pizza with a special "stone" grill insert.
I bought my Weber at Lowes at the end of the season two years ago when they go on sale, which they don't often. You can get a deal, although it might not be until well into August and I bought a red Weber, which looks nice but in Ann Arbor, blue is a better color.
I would move towards pellet grills, traeger or green mountain. We made the change about 5 years ago and never looked back.
I have a Weber Genesis (sear burner and side burner), a small Weber charcoal grill, a Weber Smokey Mountain (google WSM), and a Pit Boss Pellet grill.
Go with a pellet grill (Pit Boss is cheap and fine, but there are a ton of options). They are amazing. That thing can go from 200 to 600 degrees with a turn of the dial. You can smoke (not super smokey, unless you use a pellet tube), bake (like Mac & cheese), or high heat grill (like steaks).
I love Weber (the ones made in the USA, otherwise you are paying a premium for a name), but a pellet grill is awesome. Some models have wifi, so you can set the temp from anywhere.
We grill a lot out here on the Kansas prairie. We have a freezer full of beef...our own home-raised Angus...raised on our good grasses...custom processed and aged...really good stuff. Tomorrow we will butcher 15 chickens...again it will be of superior quality...y'all can come help...and learn!
Grilling: We are minimalists. I grill over an open wood fire with a simple Graber grill. We have our own supply of osage orange wood that we heat our house with and it is wonderful for grilling...a delightful tangy, smoky flavor. You have to pay attention and know what you are doing but we've got it down and the results are special. And what this does to a big slab of salmon is beyond a treat-it's incredible!
I know this isn't for everyone but we love and appreciate what we have. If you have the time, ability and passion...go for it.
I have a Weber Performer, which is a charcoal grill with a gas starter - best of both worlds!
Skip getting a gas grill, invest in getting a Traeger. wood pellet grills are the way to go.
This is not for everyone due to pricing, but man, the Komodo Kamado grills sure are nice. Since you're looking, may as well just take a peek.
Great question....always the same answer...Weber. Your issues would be solved, there are always repair parts available. That being said I did just chuck my 23 year old Weber in favor of basically the same Weber (two burner). Plenty of grate space, tons of heat. Main upgrade, an electric starter versus mechanical spark switch.
For Smoking, I have a vertical Smokey Mountain Series four-grate gas smoker.
Love 'em both.
The last two grills I've had were older Weber Genesis models I bought used off Craigslist for $25 and $50 from people that were moving/upgrading etc. Didn't have to replace a thing on the cheaper one - could have replaced the igniter, I just bought a box of matches - and replaced a couple of knobs on the other. As others have said, with the Webers you can replace parts as needed and they last a very long time.
I can't speak to the quality of current models. I know Weber introduced the made-in-China Spirit line for a cheaper option, then a couple years ago they redesigned the Genesis so that the burners run front-to-back instead of side-to-side. I'd think that the new design - especially in a 4 burner model - would make it more flexible, but haven't tried it.
I've never seen one in the wild as far as I know but from the commercials the Napoleon grill looks pretty epic.
Charbroil and other cheap brands are disposable and should be treated as such, if they last 2 or 3 seasons you've done well.
Very smart move on getting an older used Weber for cheap....and then replacing any parts that are needed!
Napoleon has nice marketing and bling, but the grills are trash.
FWIW, after having my previous Weber for about 15 years, I got a larger Weber 4 burner, the Genesis II SE-410:
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/grills-and-smokers/gas-grills/8532921
I got the Special Edition (harder to find) because it has the stainless cooking grates and flavor bars rather than porcelain. I also got the iGrill thermometers so up to 4 temperature probes connect to my phone and allow monitoring. Only a year or so into use but I am very happy with the quality and the evenness of the cooking along with the convenience features. I would buy it again.
Grill: Weber Summit 400 series
Age: ~5 years
Features: smoke box and burner, searing burner, rotisserie with infrared burner, four standard burners, tank level sensor, side burner.
My review:
I purchased Weber because of their reputation. I bought the Summit series to acquire the smoke box and burner. It has other features that are nice to have, but I don't use them for reasons.
Smoke box - works to add some smoke flavor to meats, obviously not as good as a true smoker. The smoke box sits on the far right of the grill so you have to plan meat placement and burner rates accordingly.
Searing burner - adds more heat to the center of the grill. Yup
Rotisserie - didn't use this feature until the second year or so. The motor had seized in that time. I blame myself for leaving it in the elements. I have not tried replacing it because it's not the reason I purchased the grill.
Infrared burner: there has been something wrong with this since day one and I haven't tried to fix it. It will only stay lit if you hold the knob in a little. Must be something with the gas flow? I blame weber for this and myself for not fixing it, but again, this isn't why I bought this grill.
Burners: These work great. I like the way they light as well. They don't use a battery operated lighted. You provide the power to create the spark by pressing the knob in when you turn it.
Tank level sensor: this is nice, you just press a button and it shows lights on a small gauge indicating the approximate level in the tank. The tank hangs on a scale so it uses the weight for this measurement.
Side burner: Not sure if I've ever used this now that I think about it.
There are also burner knob lights. After five years, the rubber/plastic cover for this button has worn through. It looks nice when lit up, but I don't use this feature. If it dark, then it is easy to see the flame to judge intensity.
Overall I like the build. As someone said, it is built like a tank and there are available spare parts. Someone mentioned bad wheels, I have no problems with the wheels on mine. I just moved it across my deck yesterday with no problems. Coasted beautifully. It also has door to hid the grease catcher and rotisserie accessories. I would recommend this grill.
I had a Weber Genesis for 25 years - never failed to fire. Only reason I had to scrap it was the gas line connector finally became obsolete and it couldn't be modified to fit the current tanks. It was indestructible. Only thing I ever replaced was the cooking surfaces - which took about $30 and 5 minutes. Shame to see that thing go. Now I have another.
If you're willing to spend some money on something that will be both a smoker and grill, and that is built to last using 430 stainless steel (or 304, should you so desire, but that's overkill), then I highly recommend the Memphis Pro. Coming from a Weber or other gas grill it will take a little time to get accustomed to grilling on it (direct heat on this can get way hotter than most grills), but this thing has such great temperature control that it really makes outdoor cooking/grilling/smoking so much easier than on most other devices. And the beauty of a smoker means that you can cook large cuts of inexpensive meat and turn it into fantastic meals.
304 is not overkill....its absolutely needed if one wants the grill to last 10 years, especially if you are near the ocean or in a wet area like Michigan.
If you're gassing, I'd recommended a ceramic convection plate grill, gives even heat, just put foil on them so it stays cleaner.
If you're using charcoal I'd recommend using black diamond charwood. It's lump birch, heats very even and clean as its almost pure carbon, and you can reuse the coals several times. Had 1 box last me all season last year.
I was limping along with a 40 year old Arkla grill that still worked quite well, but decided to treat myself to a new one about 2 years ago. I replaced it with a Broil King Signet stainless 3 burner propane for around $400 and couldn’t be happier.
Big Green Egg is the only way to go.