So, last weekend, the Weekender relented on the old grill, that was many times repaired and went to the Home Stress-pot to look at new models, Consumer Reports in hand.
Got talked into (and talked myself into) this Char-Broil “Red” thing. After arduous assembly and creation of outdoor pad (no concrete area to put it on) I fired the thing up in a typical windy El Sobrante hillside day. Couldn’t get it up to 300 even. Tried again next day, managed to barely cook a lambchop, but once again very windy. This time I blocked every hole etc etc. The chop was very moist, I’ll say. No scorchened, black, give-ya cancer parts. I kinda missed that.
This has hi-falutin’ all infrared cooking style. Flames sit under a big “u” shaped piece of metal that radiates infrared. No drying out meat, no flare-ups, no grease down the guts of the grill until you rust through the u. Then you buy a new one for $40.
So I am on the verge of takin’ it back tomorrow knowing that it will never not be windy here in the summer. So I ask, have any of you recently purchased a gas grill that you actually like??? Most of them have some crappy thing about them and the ones that don’t are out of my range. I spent $450, which to me is obscene, on the red thing, but Consumer Reports was SO sure it was a good one. Come to find out they didn’t even differentiate this very different cooking method.
I am gas-grill-impaired. I have the greatest respect for those that can get them to work at all.
I have two or three in my shed…some of them expensive. I can never get the #%!!! things to work. Last year I got a little metal fire pit wherin I toss chinks of wood and burn them to cook my meat.
Gas grills just don’t give the same results as real bbq’s … I think doc is on the right track! Gas grills are useful, though…depends on what you are expecting from them if they can make you happy.
Berti
We have a charcoal smoker. Depending on the meat - we’ve got apple, cedar, hickory, and other wood chips to add.
The biggest issue I’ve had with people that use gas grills is they don’t change the lava rocks and everything starts to taste rancid from the accumulated fat.
I’m a gas fan, and we have a fairly basic Char Broil (I think as the price goes up, all you’re really getting is doodads)
I’ll grant that charcoal provides a better taste, but I’m into easy. I can come home from work, fire up the gas and be cooking in 5 minutes. No ash to clean either. Also, I can turn half of the grill on high and half on low to cook different types of food simultaneously. Works for me.
I find that the best kind of grill is that which is owned and operated by the kind people who invite me to cookouts. I’ll bring a side dish or uncooked meat. God put a perfectly good stove in my kitchen.
I moved around too much to bother owning a grill and over 10 years ago, my brother gave me a small charcoal grill which I’ve yet to unpack so that I have it nice and neat for that occasion when it’s needed.
Thanks for ideas. Yes, I am historically a charcoal griller and smoker, big time. In fact, I have coaxed excellent food off of this old Coleman Powerhouse for years. I’ve replaced the burner and shield six or seven times because they rust each year from Bay fog and wind. But now the rest of the unit is shot.
You cannot beat the speed of gas for after-work grillin’ and the heat control for doing things like salmon. The trend has been to these bigger grills and you can hardly find the more basic ones, Cork’s being an exception.
I don’t taste the propane. The newer mondo-grills have done away with ceramic briquets so that issue (rancid fat) is now moot. But I wonder if other models (not the one I brought home) heat up as fast as the older primitive grills…
I liked the Weber Genesis, with all stainless steel, but $900?? Yikes.
I just hate to have to keep experimenting with grills, when they weigh a ton, have to be assembled, etc etc. That damn Char-Broil took me all afternoon to build. Weighs 137 lbs without the tank. I can’t even fit it in my truck (camper shell) to take it back! And I ain’t gonna take it apart…
I know, it’s not a life-changing prob, but I did want to consult the brain trust here.
I had a gas grill once and could never even get a fire out of it. For the price of a gas grill, you can buy lots of these –
I just buy a new piece of crap cheap grill every couple of years. They all work fine for burgers and dogs and the occasional kabob. As for salmon – well, we just don’t do non-mammalian based cookout fare in the Midwest.
I’m pleased with about my fourth gas grill. I had a piece of crap as a student, another piece of crap when I was getting started, and a (based on price) decent Thermos till a few years ago. The Thermos was okay, but getting spare parts, which are absolutely necessary, was a pain in the ass. So I’ve gotten a Kenmore. Several Kenmore grills share the same cast-iron burners and ceramic-coated radiators. I’ve had the grill for probably five years and am about to replace the burners and radiators. For which I’ll just have to go to the local Sears rather than to the gas-specialty shop with the model number and serial number of the grill, which of course, usually burns off.
Well, I jerry-rigged a platform behind the garage just to see if I could cook on it out of the wind and bigawd, it works. It’s still slower than flare-up flame-on old style grill but it’s so cold here that I could see my breath at 7 p.m.. Took a lot longer than instruction manual said to cook said food. Tried boneless thighs and a few burgers. Came out like restaurant-food. Guess I’ll keep it. But now I have to build a deck to hold it for out of the wind. It’s okay, I been wanting a deck there anyway. Best part of the infrared was no dried-out spots and you can really taste the spices. Guess I was used to tasting the burnt parts…
Thank you, I’ve seen the new infrared equipped grills, but I have no experience with them, and yours is the first review I’ve seen of their performance.
Grilled chicken salads are a favorite, and so maybe one of these days (years?) I’ll break down and buy one of the infrared models.
I’m not a fan of burnt stuff. The little Weber Q grill can at least be turned down, fairly low.
What’s the point of grilling if you don’t burn the outside of the meat? You might as well just bake/roast meat if you’re not going to singe it. If you’re talking turning it down low enough that you don’t necessarily burn stuff, my Kenmore, even at five years of age, when I think it needs new burners and radiators, made six grilled pizzi this evening without even scorching any of the crusts.
