BBQ Recommendations

PBinWA · May 31, 2005

Now I'm sure there will be some recommendations on a new BBQ/Grill. I like the flavor of charcoal but the convenience of propane is beckoning.

Maybe some sort of hybrid gas/charcoal unit?

I'd like something easy to clean and not too big. I don't think I need any side burners but lets hear what y'all have to say about your favorite set up.

This could be an interesting thread.

BTW - the CFO has committed to pay for this capital expense from her budget so I don't need the cheapest grill (although under $500 will get me some brownie points).

Mith · Jun 1, 2005

You cant possibly whoose out and get a gas! Some of there 'BBQs' are better than our main cooker in our kitchen (we still cook on wood). Nothing can substitute the carbonised on the ouside and undercooked on the inside of good old normal NON GAS barbies. Talk to Goodoleboy, i think hes got some spare oil barrels for you to make into a proper barbie (think thats the right guy)
sorry i didnt answer your question /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Egon · Jun 1, 2005

I'm with Mith. Wood ! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mines a large flat rock with some bricks to support the grill. It'll easily get you buget brownie points! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon

txdon · Jun 1, 2005

PB, The setup I have, and like, is a pit with a separate fire box using Post Oak wood. It smells like grandpa's smokehouse when I'm BBQing.

jeffinsgf · Jun 1, 2005

I currently use a Big Green Egg. It is a ceramic, dome-shaped affair that can grill or smoke. A couple of good handsful of charcoal will burn for 10 hours at 200 to 250 with just a little attention to the dampers. Or, you can open the dampers and get a fire up to about 700 degrees, if you like to sear your steaks (just watch them closely!).

The speed of start up of a gas grill calls my name from time to time (usually when the fire is being contrary), so I have done some investigation on hybrids, and found the Kamado. It can cook with gas, or start charcoal or wood from gas, or you can skip the gas altogether. It has the same ceramic dome design as the Big Green Egg. Both are an adaptation of an Oriental design several hundred (thousand??) years old. The ceramic holds the heat in better than anything I have ever used, and holds up better than anything on the market. How many people can say that they have been cooking 3 or 4 days of the week, 10 months of the year for 7 years on the same gas or charcoal grill? I have, and the BGE looks as good as the day we brought it home.

If I were buying today, I would probably get a dual fuel Kamado. In fact, as soon as some other capital expenditures are forgotten by the CFO /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif , I plan on getting one. But, you won't go wrong with either a Kamado or a BGE.

ronjhall · Jun 1, 2005

Here is link to a similar thread from last year. Should help with your selection. Click Here

Bob_Skurka · Jun 1, 2005

I think you need to find OKEEDON to give you your answer. Prior to his retirement, he sold and installed premium grills, built outdoor kitchens and is probably more familiar with this topic than ALL of us combined. I can tell you he owns a Phoenix brand grill.

I also own one of the stainless steel Phoenix grills. I would recommend it, but I also strongly suggest you check one out before you buy, because they are not quite normal and you may not like what they do and how they do it.

My observation is to be careful. There are a lot more grills out there than there used to be. Many of the Stainless Steel grills are very lightly built, many of grills have substandard parts inside (I rusted out the guts of a "Ducane" grill twice before I tossed it out and replaced it with the Phoenix. Weber Silver series is a very good basic grill, I have one of those down by the pool house. They are not fancy, but they are very well made and stand up to neglect.

PBinWA · Jun 1, 2005

I figured their might be a link to a past thread some where but I think there has been an explosion of grill varieties in the last year. Maybe I wasn't looking that hard last year but it seems like there are tons of different grills around now.

I do want to avoid the cheap parts and rusting out if possible so hopefully there will be some good advice.

I'm thinking of doing a big fire pit in the back yard for serious wood cooking but this BBQ will be on the deck and used for the quick nightly dinner.

Thanks again for the wisdom and experience - keep it coming!

PBinWA · Jun 1, 2005

Those Kamado grills are funky! Might be a little too funky for boring old me (how about a flat black model) but they also look to have all the features I would like.

Thanks for pointing out the link.

PBinWA · Jun 1, 2005

I just read through the old thread and soaked up all OkeeDon's wisdom. I think I like the idea of Propane for this grill since I was going to plumb it into the house propane tanks anyways. I'd like to have this on a one story up deck near the kitchen so it is easily accessible.

I'll probably build a BBQ pit out back for wood and charcoal grilling or maybe even get a big green egg and put it under the deck on the ground floor (easier to clean up the charcoal).

It looked like OkeeDon was big on the Weber Genesis Gold B as a good mid level grill in my price range.

Weber Genesis Gold B at Amazon

Does anyone else have one of these? Anything bad to say about them?

After reading the other thread and seeing the cabbage and onion recipes I think I need to start a thread on interesting regional BBQ recipes. Just in time for summer!

OkeeDon · Jun 1, 2005

OkeeDon's been out in Okeechobee for 3 days and his motor home is parked just far enough from his daughter's wireless router that connections are hit and miss. An outside antenna is definitely on the agenda.

Several people mentioned the explosion in grill variety; especially in stainless steel. I've been out of the business 3 years now, and am still ridiculously happy with my Weber, so I haven't kep up. I can tell you that the Weber is not the prettiest grill, and maybe not the longest lasting one, but it is THE standard against which ALL grills are judged, regardless of price, when it comes to cooking. And, after all, cooking is the reason most of us have a grill (although the $6,000 grills I used to sell were great status symbols).

gsxr1100 · Jun 2, 2005

Weber baby! Parents have a weber since 1988 and works mint no problems. I have had mine since 2001 and no problems and works fine also. We do alot of BBQing of it, turkeys (3 to 4 hours), brisks (15 to 20 hr), etc. Again the price is cheap in the long run since it last and lasts....

I have the cast iron crates and works nice. Just need to season them everyso often...Does not eat fuel at all...We do cooking about 8 times a month. Will be doing a brisk next week..slow cooking at 250 F for about 20 hours....hmmmm.

Gets used ALL year long. Nothing like having a grilled turkey or 1 lb burgers on the grill after plowing the driveway with 12+ of snow..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Love the Weber baby...

Call me weird, but using charcoal and the starter fluid does not appeal to me with all the wonderful fumes going into my food...... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

jeffinsgf · Jun 2, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Those Kamado grills are funky! Might be a little too funky for boring old me (how about a flat black model) but they also look to have all the features I would like.

Thanks for pointing out the link. )</font>

Yeah, the look is definitely different.

See if you have a Big Green Egg dealer in your area. Take a close look at the ceramic concept. Good dealers almost always have something cooking, so you can see exactly what's going on. Once you're sold on ceramic, I think you'll lean toward a dual fuel Kamado. The "textured" finish is a little less flamboyant than the mosaic tile.

Jagmandave · Jun 2, 2005

I have our grill hard piped to our nat. gas line, my wife cooks year round with it, and the instant on is a real plus. If you want wood flavoring, you can add some chips to the fire to get the flavor and smell................

I understand why people like the charcoal grills, but for my money the gas does a wonderful job, easy to clean, always works regardless of weather and is so much less hassle that I think it gets used more.............

I know if I had to build a charcoal fire every time I wanted a burger, I'd be buying them at Wendy's instead of cooking out.

Docsknotinn · Jun 2, 2005

I have the same setup with a gas grill built on to my deck. I looked at new grills today. I have never been a Weber fan especially when you crack the $500 mark but that's just a personal choice. I did see some very nice SS offerings from Vermont Castings today for just a little over the $500 mark.

Highbeam · Jun 2, 2005

I think there's a place for both gas and charcoal. A nice big t-bone over a bright red pile of charcoal is hard to beat and tastes just as good off of a 20 dollar grill as a 200 dollar grill. The flavor really is different. Of course you don't cook over the coals until they are all grey so that the icky stuff is burnt off.

It seems that the expensive grills are all gas. Really an outdoor appliance rather than a grill. Speedy cooking is the main benefit followed by not having to mess with fuel or ashes as often as charcoal.

To be picky, the BBQ is what cooks meat at 225-250 for lots of hours. I have attached a picture of my BBQ cooking a chuck. It took more than 5 hours and runs on charcoal. A grill is for high heat items like steaks and burgers.

OkeeDon · Jun 2, 2005

If you use natural chunk hardwood charcoal, I might buy the charcoal argument. But, if you use the processed charcoal briquettes, you might be kidding yourself. Natural hardwood charcoal is made by charring chunks of wood in a kiln. When it's complete, the hardwood is placed on a shaker screen and some of the charred material falls off and is collected. These "fines" are the "hardwood" component of briquettes. The other components are coal dust, limestone (as a filler) and cornstarch (as a binder), borax, sawdust and sodium nitrate. Most of the glowing coals comes from the coal dust. In my opinion, that's a yuck.

I used to sell the natural hardwood charcoal in 10 pound and 20 pound bags. There is a price difference -- the processed briquettes go for under $3 for a big bag, the natural charcoal runs about $1 per pound, or $10 for the 10 pound bag.

Highbeam · Jun 3, 2005

I have run both the natural chunk and the kingsford. Both are available at Walmart with the natural a bit more expensive. The natural burns hotter but goes away quicker. No significant taste difference noted, but more effort and cost.

There is enough wood type product in the briquettes to do the job well. I know there is some petroleum but my experience is that once all the coals are grey there is no taste or odor problem. I use both and find that the extra time spent with charcoal is worth it unless it is raining or it is already getting late for dinner. If I was going to spend 500$, you can bet it would be a gas fired grill. The 80$ dollar Weber will always have its place and the charcoal fired smoker I pictured is about ideal for whole chickens, ribs, and other big stuff.

I can set a chicken in that puppy for 3 hours with nothing but charcoal and the pink smoke ring plus flavor is quite evident without adding extra smoke producing debris.

Poppa · Jun 7, 2005

Seems that loyalties for BBQs run like those for tractors. Personally I have never meat a BBQ or Grill I didn't like. I have a fifteen year old Thermos grill in the backyard that is on it's third burner and is so close to being declared legally dead that the garbage man asks about it each week. But it will still grill a steak...assuming the outside temp is over seventy degrees.

I have been dreaming for years about a brand new Weber grill. Something that I can step outside on a seven degree afternoon in December and still get a five hundred degree grill going.

Lately though I have been leaning more and more towards charcoal or wood fires. Something extremely relaxing about sitting upwind of a smoker slowly turning a cheap piece of meat into a scrumptuous feast. Last year, when my son was about a month old I was able to get one more brisket in before the snows flew. He had a cold and didn't feel like sleeping and his momma was dead tired so he and I spent the night watching Band of Brothers DVDs and running outside to tend the fire every half hour to an hour. Now while that was a fond memory it did take more work than I wish. Probably cause half way through the operation a cold front blew in and the outsdie temp went from fifty to thirty in a matter of minutes. I can't help but believe that a nice heavy gauge dedicated smoker with offset firebox would have done a better job of keeping a stable temperature than my little kettle Weber.

So what is a man to do? Well, I give you "The Compromise"

And for just three hundred dollars more you can get the Rotisserie attachment, just the thing to allow the creation of Lamb loaf for your Gyros.

Of course I can't quite swing the compromise with the wife. Seems that by buying a tractor last year I was in effect saying Honey I never want anything else again. Still, a man can dream.

Mike