ARKLA Gas Grill - Anyone know anbout them?

[CaptnKirk]

Recently bought a house in the River Ridge area of New Orleans, about 10 miles West of the city,
only a 1/4 mile from the bank of the Mississippi river - only a ling block from the river.

In the back yard ther was an intact double top (two burner) natural gas grill,
but one burner was corroded and the other side was missing.

It has a pair of covers that have the ARKLA GasGrill logo on them, but ARKLA quit making gas grills
in 1982, and some other companies have been making gas grills from this design since then.

It appears to have been manufactured sometime in the late 60's, but before 1972 when they
changed from single line feed orifices to dual feed design.
There is no data plate, the data plate shows up in the parts list of the GRFF model, but not the GRAA.
I found this information on line, and it matches to all of the features that the grill has.

http://www.clagrills.com/allgrillparts/arkla/arkla-model-graa-partspic.htm
http://www.clagrills.com/allgrillparts/arkla/arkla-model-graa-partslistpic.htm

I have replaced the 2 control knobs, fire grates and cooking grates, put in new lava rock on one side
and porcelain briquettes on the other side, lit it off and it seems to work fine.
There are many of the original parts still available, as theis type of grill has been the blueprint
for sucess for the design of almost all of the grills that are being made even today.

Most of my grill cooking experience has been with the Weber Kettle type of charcoal grill,
http://www.weber.com/explore/Grill_details.aspx?glid=6&mid=21
and I am planning to go ahead and get a Weber Smoker for long slow cooking.
http://www.weber.com/explore/Grill_details.aspx?glid=8&mid=27

What I would like is some information so I can make the best use of the ARKLA that I now have
and use it to make additional goodies to support things while the smoker is doing it's magic.

So, basically, help me figure out the ARKLA grilling techniques.

 

[Kevin Whisler]

Hi Captain,

My situation is quite similar to yours, so my experience may be helpful.

I purchased my current home in St. Louis about 12 years ago. In the back yard was a pole mounted, natural gas fired, dual sided, Arkla gas grill. The home was built in the early 70's and I think the grill is original to the house. We use the grill often and have been very pleased with it.

The grill is of quality, solid construction. On mine, both the body and the lids are heavy aluminum castings. Even after 40 years there is no corrosion and the parts are solid. I repainted the exterior once, several years ago, and it still looks good. The mounting pole (set into concrete) shows minor surface rust but is still very solid. So the basic structure of the grill is very solid and durable. I have never replaced the gas valves. But the other various parts have lesser lives.

I have replaced the burners a couple of times. They seem to be good for about 5 years before they start burning through. I have replaced all of the cooking and rock grates a couple of times. I have replaced the handles on the lids. I have replaced the radiant (rock) material a couple of times. For the radiant material, I highly suggest that you do not use cheap lava rock. The porosity and irregular shapes of this stuff allows grease to pool up and cause flaming. Any of the readily available ceramic materials are far superior. You should also clean this material whenever it accumulates excessive ash/gunk. It is far more likely to create fires when it gets covered with crud.

I have been very fortunate in finding parts for my grill. My local hardware store carries grates, handles, and burners that fit my grill. I suspect this may be because the builders who originally built the homes in my neighborhood installed many Arkla grills, so the local store is carrying parts. None of them are labeled as "Arkla" parts, but they fit perfectly. If that is not your case, I have seen many sites on the web offering Arkla parts. I don't think you will have a problem with parts.

As far as using the grill, my favorite addition has been a rotisserie. Several years ago I purchased a low cost "universal" rotisserie kit from my local Home Depot. I had low confidence that it would actually fit my old grill. But I figured I would give it a try, and if it did not fit I could return it. Well, there is a cast-in mounting pad on the left side of my grill body, including tapped mounting holes. The mounting bracket included with my rotisserie kit fit perfectly. We use this often.

I have been very pleased with my old school Arkla grill. I hope you like yours also.

Kevin

 

[Perknose]

Hi Captain,

My situation is quite similar to yours, so my experience may be helpful.

I purchased my current home in St. Louis about 12 years ago. In the back yard was a pole mounted, natural gas fired, dual sided, Arkla gas grill. The home was built in the early 70's and I think the grill is original to the house. We use the grill often and have been very pleased with it.

The grill is of quality, solid construction. On mine, both the body and the lids are heavy aluminum castings. Even after 40 years there is no corrosion and the parts are solid. I repainted the exterior once, several years ago, and it still looks good. The mounting pole (set into concrete) shows minor surface rust but is still very solid. So the basic structure of the grill is very solid and durable. I have never replaced the gas valves. But the other various parts have lesser lives.

I have replaced the burners a couple of times. They seem to be good for about 5 years before they start burning through. I have replaced all of the cooking and rock grates a couple of times. I have replaced the handles on the lids. I have replaced the radiant (rock) material a couple of times. For the radiant material, I highly suggest that you do not use cheap lava rock. The porosity and irregular shapes of this stuff allows grease to pool up and cause flaming. Any of the readily available ceramic materials are far superior. You should also clean this material whenever it accumulates excessive ash/gunk. It is far more likely to create fires when it gets covered with crud.

I have been very fortunate in finding parts for my grill. My local hardware store carries grates, handles, and burners that fit my grill. I suspect this may be because the builders who originally built the homes in my neighborhood installed many Arkla grills, so the local store is carrying parts. None of them are labeled as "Arkla" parts, but they fit perfectly. If that is not your case, I have seen many sites on the web offering Arkla parts. I don't think you will have a problem with parts.

As far as using the grill, my favorite addition has been a rotisserie. Several years ago I purchased a low cost "universal" rotisserie kit from my local Home Depot. I had low confidence that it would actually fit my old grill. But I figured I would give it a try, and if it did not fit I could return it. Well, there is a cast-in mounting pad on the left side of my grill body, including tapped mounting holes. The mounting bracket included with my rotisserie kit fit perfectly. We use this often.

I have been very pleased with my old school Arkla grill. I hope you like yours also.

Kevin

One of the best, most helpful first posts ever!

Congratulations, Kevin, and welcome to AnandTech! :thumbsup:

 

[ManBearPig]

One of the best, most helpful first posts ever!

Congratulations, Kevin, and welcome to AnandTech! :thumbsup:

Seriously.

I lold at the sheer luck of the guy who posted originally that someone had such an in-depth post about such a random subject haha.

 

[Kevin Whisler]

Ah yes, the beauty of the web. Hope I helped.

Kevin

 

[CaptnKirk]

Here's what I'm working with -

Picture 1: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/captnkirk/Arkla01.jpg

Picture 2: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/captnkirk/Arkla02.jpg

Replaced burners with an oval on the left, and an 'H' on the right, new orfices too.
Fire grate both sides & cooking grid both sides.
Lave rock on the left, porcelin briquettes on right.

 

[etrin]

I have a single unit in my back yard.
I believe it was installed around 1980.
After years of use I gave up on it and turned it off 10 years ago.
Always going to buy some new parts and turn it back on
Its funny but the steaks from this unit tasted a lot better than a charcoal grill.


The copper from the main to the pole and the pole are ok.
but last summer after looking I realized it was a basket case the lavarock and its grate are trash, the burner and igniter are bad and the top hinges are worn out....

can you still buy these?
are parts expensive I need to see if I still have the papers on this thing maybe its under warranty LOL

 

[BUTCH1]

I had one of their gas ones I got at a garage sale, had it for quite a while, quality casting so I just replaced parts as needed..