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Talk to me about grills.

JM Aggie08

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
As mentioned in a recent thread (probably one which no one remembers or cares about), I just purchased my first home. Now that I have adequate space, I'm starting to shop around for an outdoor grill. I'd really like to get a propane setup, and something that is not larger than 5-6 ft. in width. What are some reputable brands? I saw some Webers at Lowes, but suspect those are heavily over-priced.
 
I bought a cheap $99 grill at Walmart and it works fine for me. You have to spend a bit to see a jump in quality. For what I do, it's just not worth it.

I have 4 burners + a side burner.
 
Webers are the end all be all until you spend a lot more money. They are good quality and have excellent warranties.
 
tumblr_m51dkwNx6S1qza6bio1_500.jpg

Grill.
 
Buy a Weber or higher grade grill (e.g., Vermont castings) if you want your grill to last. Otherwise by a cheap one as you will be replacing it every 2-3 years.

Also - get three burners, minimum. Anything less and you will not be able to indirect cook very well.
 
Webers are expensive but IMO they are worth it. They use good quality steel, have thoughtful features and perform very well. It is the hottest grill I own and in minutes can get up to over 600 degrees. It leaves sear marks on my food alot better than other propane grills I have had. Weber also has excellent customer support and stocks replacement parts for their old models too.

I have never had an issue when needing to deal with weber customer support for replacement parts or warranty issues. They are customer oriented and deliver good results.

I bought a 10 year old weber grill for $75 off of craigslist; it retailed for over $350. 3 burner setup with a side burner for a pot too. It even came with a cover. it has not even rusted one bit despite spending all of its time outdoors. I do cover it after it cools off. Although I sometimes forget and it gets rained on; I do try to take care of the grill. This grill has outlived every propane grill I have had and still not a spot of rust on it.

Stay away for the walmart grills $99 made in china grills. They will last 3 seasons tops before rusting out. We had a "Thermos" brand grill that had the knob valve suffer a leak/blowout and the grill started leaking unlit propane from underneath while I was grilling. Eventually enough propane built up where the entire thing caught fire and burned my legs, I was standing in front of it.

I'm the type of guy that spends more on tools, items etc... in the hope that they last longer or not have to be replaced at all. I also have a weber smoker that I am delighted about too. If you are of this type of mindset, you will like a weber grill. Yes they are more expensive but I feel you get what you pay for and you buy into a company that delivers great customer service.

if you dont want to spend $$$ on a new weber grill, then look at craigslist for a used one. My experience has been great
 
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JM Aggie08 said:
As mentioned in a recent thread (probably one which no one remembers or cares about), I just purchased my first home. Now that I have adequate space, I'm starting to shop around for an outdoor grill. I'd really like to get a propane setup, and something that is not larger than 5-6 ft. in width. What are some reputable brands? I saw some Webers at Lowes, but suspect those are heavily over-priced.
Click to expand...

Here's my experience with my first gas grill: (I'm a charcoal enthusiast)

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2355061

As a quick updated review on the el-cheapo Home Depot gas grill I purchased: it doesn't get hot enough. Either that, or the heat output has gone down over the last year, in which case...it still doesn't get hot enough. I want to do more hi-temp cooking (make crispier burgers, for example) but it just doesn't get up to the temps I want. Webers are expensive for a reason - they're usually pretty solid machines, will last a long time, have lots of accessories, and give you good temperatures. I don't grill with gas often enough to warrant buying a replacement at this point, but if I were to buy again, I'd definitely invest in something a little better (have had no problems with build quality or anything - I only expect it to last a few seasons at most for the price).

Right now I have a cheap Walmart charcoal grill, a cheap Home Depot gas grill, and a Traeger pellet smoker (which is amazing btw). I also use a bayou burger for doing super hi-temp stuff (500-1000F) with my cast iron pan, and I'm looking at getting an outdoor griddle (36" Blackstone) to be able to cook more at once. Do you have an idea of what you want to cook? The griddle option is pretty cool because not only can you do breakfast foods (a dozen pancakes plus eggs & bacon all at once), but you can also do steak, chicken cutlets (where you flatten the chicken breast first), smashburgers, etc. Here's a link: (check it out on Youtube as well - search for "Blackstone griddle")

http://www.blackstoneproducts.com/prodinfo/36griddle_com.html

Honestly if I was limited & had to pick only say two units, I'd go with the Traeger (which is basically a convection oven with a smoker...everything comes out amazing on it) & an outdoor griddle because that would pretty much cover all the bases. I mean, if I had a huge budget, I'd go with a Fire Magic gas grill, a Kamado Joe egg-style charcoal grill, a Memphis pellet smoker, etc., but that's getting into the "many thousands of dollars" range. A basic Traeger (Junior Elite with digital controller) is around $450 shipped and the griddle is $280 shipped online. Food for thought.
 
I second the natural gas. If you can get the hookups for NG, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble.

As far as grills go, your best bet is to store it indoors or somewhere out of the pollen and elements. Rust and spiders are two of the most common causes for grill rot. If you have a good place to store your grill, you can buy a cheap one and it will last 3-5 years easily. I've seen the cheap stainless finish grills rust and dent and I'm going to stick with traditional grill materials. I also notice a lot of the knobs are cheap and have seen a lot of $400 grills require new knobs after a year or so (friends' grills). Make sure you check floor models for look & feel before ordering one blindly online.

Also look for burner layouts. Some grills have zones mounted vertically or horizontally. If you're cooking more than just one kind of meat or multiple things, having more zones gives you far more control.
 
First it depends where you can keep it. It makes no sense to spend $500 on a grill that will only be covered with a tarp outside.

In that case, a used grill or a $99 Home Depot/Lowes special should get you 3 years....You'd have to replace it 3+ times before you break even on a Weber and if a Weber is left out the same way it too will deteriorate.
 
Get a Weber.

With that said, I'd go look at a local liquidation place and see if you can find a scratch and dent there. I bought one last year for about 50% off because the front door had been beat up. Works great. I use that front door just to open and close when operating the propane tank so it's not even an issue.
 
JM Aggie08 said:
The grill will be kept outdoors under the covered patio.

This model caught my eye:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1
Click to expand...

Thats a good unit. I have the premium SS model (comes with a sideburner and a searing burner) and it is great. Only recommendation I have is to suggest that you see if there is a local non-big box store that sells weber grills. A Weber at Lowes may not be the same as a Weber at a local store. Just like an ariens snowblower at homedepot is not the same as an ariens snowblower bought from a local store, despite being marked with the same model number.

Note - the price of a Weber grill is largely set by the manufacturer, not the store. So - the local guy may sell a "better" Weber than Lowes, but for the same price. This is because the Lowes unit likely has some cheaper parts thrown in that will drive drive down the wholesale price to the store, and thus increase Lowes' profit margin per grill (i.e., Lowes buys the more cheaply made units for less than they would pay for standard spec). The local guys don't command the negotiating power that Lowes does, so they get a higher quality unit (weber standard spec) than Lowes.
 
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