Tis the season fro some good old brew drinkin and grillin. My Wal-Mart gas grill grates are all rusty and I don't know what to do. Are there grates that are stainless or ceramic coated ? Also, my Dad just told me to scrap the gas grill and go by a good old Weber charcoal grill. He said they can't be beat. Does anyone else agree. Now what should I do ? Any advice ? Thanks, Iowa883
Your Dad is right. I wouldn't trade my Weber kettle for 3 brand new gas grills. It's a little more work and mess, but the food tastes better and it doesn't ever flare up. Go charcoal.
You wanna lick charcoal or just flip a switch wait 2 minutes and go.
Wal-Mart grills are generally crap, if you want gas thats going to last go for one what has cast iron or brass burners. Make sure that the grills arent just thin stamped steel either. If you dont want to spend the money on a good gas webber, go for a sears (kenmore) grill. Some of the higher end ones (200+) are real nice and i'm real satified with the one I bought from them.
What you reallly want is a Weber GAS grill. Now you're cooking. THough there are some decent deals on cheaper grills if you check out Consumer Reports. I bought the Weber though.
Dad, Is that you ? :-) He said the exact same thing and has had gas grills before and wouldn't trade in his Weber Charcoal kettle style for any brand/kind of gas grill. Iowa883
Both!
After years of compromise, I decided I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. Now have a Weber gas grill (10x better than the cheesy ones I owned before) and a Weber "smokey joe" charcoal.
When I want the best flavor and am willing to put up with the hassle, I fire up the charcoal. When I'm in a hurry it's the gas one.
Eric Law
Either way, gas or charcoal, Weber can't be beat IMHO. My wife and I received a pretty good Sears LP grill for a wedding gift, however, every season it needed burners and venturis. We eventually replaced it with a Weber LP grill. After over 7 years, all I've put into it, besides gas, is flavorizer bars. These are the bars that go under the cooking grates and above the burners. They last me about 3 seasons and cost about $35 or so to replace.
I use the grill year round at least three times a week. I opted for the cast iron cooking grates because they last longer and retain heat much better than enamaled steel. I even rigged up a smoker box for it and use it as a smoker as well.
Weber customer service is outstanding as well. When the finish began to flake off the lid, I emailed Weber about it, and rather than just send me a replacemnt panel for the lid, they sent me a completely assembled lid (handle and all)!
The burners are stainless steel and waranteed for 5 years. I've had my grill for over 7 years and the burners are just now starting to show some deterioration. Keep in mind that I also completely clean the entire grill twice a year and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it's durability.
I highly reccomend any weber product.
Les
"Gina and Les Armstrong" wrote in message news:wai_d.133$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.columbus.rr.com...
Sure you can., Weber is good, but so is Broilmaster, MHP (Modern Home Products) Vermont Castings VC series, Ducane, and a few others.
Best bet to buy a grills avoid the big box stores and go to a specialty shop or a propane dealer. The carry the better brands.
Since buying a Weber Charcoal Kettle, the only thing we use the gas grill is for rotisserie.
I agree with your dad only 1/2 way. Get a Weber, but get a gas model. 10 year warranty on the burners. I've had mine for 4 years and it still works/looks like brand new. A good cleaning each spring brings her right back. Who want's to fuss with charcoal when you can push a button and get heat in 5 minutes? If you want "flavor", you can get that with small wood smoke boxes.
I think I must be in the minority since I actually like my meat to taste like meat.
Last year I was able to clean most of the greasy stuff off the grill using a steam cleaner. This year I am going to first spray the racks with oven cleaner and then use the steam cleaner to see if it speeds up things. It is a big job. The rust comes off along with the burned on grease.
After you clean the grill if you spray it with Pam or something, it helps slow down the rust.
At times, either type is better. Charcoal does cook hotter and crisps the food better. You can't beat the instant on of a propane grill too, start cooking 5 minutes after lighting, try that with charcoal or keep it going for 3 hours at a big party without adding more charcoal.
Folks here sure do like weber but I found it quite expensive (for gas models). I have no problems with the sears unit I bought a year ago (not sure who really makes it though). The one feature I have that you should make sure you get is cast iron racks and burners. I rusted through the crome plated steel racks and steel burners on my old grill one per year but this cast iron one (it has porcilin coating on the grates but not the burner) shows no sign of rust anywhere.
The big home center stores are just starting to advertize grills for this year. You should have plenty to choose from. The stainless steel look has come down in price this year too. Good time to upgrade.
I have a gas grill only now but plan to get a charcaol smoker type grill soon for variety.
I agree with your dad, they are great.
Unless you want to make real barbecue, then get a Weber smoky mountain smoker.
I too bought a POS grill from walmart last year. I''m gunna try and get it working(cover rust and clean up) for this summer. I think because it was charcoal is the only reason why it worked well, and the food tasted great.
So, put my vote down for charcoal, and I might be getting a weber this year too.
later,
tom
I originally looked at the weber gas grills myself. I found them to be rather flimsy. My price range was about 400-600.00. The genisis line is OK, but if you look at the grills they look somewhat thin. The "flavorizor bar" looks like a cheap piece of metal that needs to be replaced every year.
I am telling ya, go down to sears, look at their "higher level" gas grills. Cast iron burners (never will die) real thick grates. I could not believe what a great grill I was getting. While looking (and debating) every guy went by this one grill and said, wow nice grill. I went back and forth to that one too. In the end I bought it and never had a problem with it. Love it, 4 burners in there and will probably last longer that i'll be around. If they have brass burners in there go for that, commercial quality stuff then that will last forever!
Just one thing, do NOT go for a cheapie grill. They will only look great for a year before they start to fall apart.
Go to sears and just check things out!
I've a webber charcoal grill with gas lighter -- no more lighter fluid/newspaper, et. al. Sure, it's not at temperature in 5min but it's a *lot* easier to light.
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