"Best Cost" Grill suggestions

[Swedishchef]

Broil King. Nothing less. I don't ever cover mine and it has not rusted in 4 years. I purchased the Signet 20 model. Made in Canada. And it was $400

Andrew

 

[area_man]

What are you going to cook? Are you going to have time on your hands when you get to the 2nd house, or do you need to get things moving? Will you be there often enough that mold and nasties won't move in to the grill on you? Do you want to bring it inside when you leave the house? Do you have the ability to store dry wood, bags of charcoal, wood pellets, all that kind of thing in a relatively permanent structure? Is this a secondary cooking appliance that can not be used if you're out of supplies on a given weekend, or is this the main way you feed your family? If somebody steals it while you are away, is that a big deal to you or can you easily order another from Amazon and set it up next week? Do you have natural gas piped to this 2nd house?

 

[Nelson]

You just cant beat a charcoal grill for taste. My gas grill i think i used it twice in 3 years. Charcoal is king. There are other variations of grills such as "the green egg" and pellet grills allowing for custom pellets,hickory ,applewood ect.

I agree. Started out using gas for about 8-9 years. Recently made the switch to charcoal and I won't go back. Get a chimney starter and prep time isn't that much more than a gas grill. Can't be the taste. Plus with a little mod, I've been doing some smoking on my Weber charcoal which is a plus...

 

[Badfish740]

Thanks for the suggestion. I purchased this grill from Lowe's on Monday. I take delivery on July 3. I'll be sure to post an update once I have a chance to play with it.

Plus two on this. After consulting the thread one last time I went to Lowes this morning and purchased one, assembled it, and cooked a dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, and corn-on-the-cob tonight. My previous grill was an old cast aluminum shell Char Broil that was likely 10 years old-I had picked it up for scrap six years ago from the trash. When I got it home I thought it didn't look all that bad, so I hooked up a propane tank and lo and behold it worked. Six years later the burners were horribly rusted out and it charred everything no matter how low I kept the flame. Until I cooked on this thing I had no idea what I was missing. Hearth.com members wouldn't steer you wrong!

Duh...just realized that I didn't reference what grill I had purchased. Wenger7446 had responded to a post about the CharBroil Tru Infrared two burner for $269 at Lowes. Again, I'm very happy with my purchase.

 

[area_man]

I am a fan of the Weber Q grills. Have a Q300 home and a Q220 at the camp. Neither are good for indirect cooking though.

I have a 220 as my main grill, it's been in service since 2008. I replaced the cooking surface this year and have had no other maintenance on it other than changing the grease trap from time to time.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Charcoal Grilling tips: Dont use petroleum starter unless you want your food to taste like diesel fuel.
Dont use matchlite charcoal for the same reason.

Leftover Charcoal cooked food taste even better after a few days in the fridge as it absorbs even more of the smoked flavor.

 

[Highbeam]

Charcoal Grilling tips: Dont use petroleum starter unless you want your food to taste like diesel fuel.
Dont use matchlite charcoal for the same reason.

Leftover Charcoal cooked food taste even better after a few days in the fridge as it absorbs even more of the smoked flavor.

One more thing. There is wood is kingsford style charcoal briquettes. It's not coal. You may not need any more smoke than what the kingsfords will supply. After 15 hours over kingsford briquettes, my roasts have a significant pink smoke ring (pink on the outside, brown in the middle) and plenty of that smoke flavor. Don't overdo the smoke.

Gas is just so much faster for grilling.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Gas is just so much faster for grilling.

If i don have much time i use the gas grill and add a bit of smoke flavored salt to the food.
If its the weekend and i have the time i use the charcoal.
If you just want a quick steak a george forman style indoor grill works great as it only takes a few minutes to cook.
I also use the weber starter can to start the charcoal. With just a bit of paper or dry leaves the charcoal is ready in minutes.

 

[Jags]

I also use the weber starter can to start the charcoal. With just a bit of paper or dry leaves the charcoal is ready in minutes.

You should see what a chunk of a Super Cedar does...

 

[Highbeam]

I also use the weber starter can to start the charcoal. With just a bit of paper or dry leaves the charcoal is ready in minutes.

I use the chimney to get loads of charcoal going for the BBQ. I don't cook on the coals until they are all grey and no smoke is visible. That's not happening in minutes unless you mean 20-30 minutes. You don't want to eat any of the blue smoke.

 

[Badfish740]

Gas or charcoal, anything is better than cooking on the stove or using the oven. My wife made salmon in the oven once -on the gas grill it tastes totally different. Same thing with burgers and dogs-I can make them on the griddle inside but the flavor just isn't there.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Sometimes its all about the fat content. Lean cuts of beef are pretty tasteless no matter how you cook it. Only way to "fix" it is with a good marinade. Pork steaks are awesome, seared quickly either on the grill or a george forman type grill, again its the fat.

 

[begreen]

Gas or charcoal, anything is better than cooking on the stove or using the oven. My wife made salmon in the oven once -on the gas grill it tastes totally different. Same thing with burgers and dogs-I can make them on the griddle inside but the flavor just isn't there.

My wife has a variety of rubs that make for very tasty salmon dinner, even when oven baked.

 

[bassJAM]

Sometimes its all about the fat content. Lean cuts of beef are pretty tasteless no matter how you cook it. Only way to "fix" it is with a good marinade. Pork steaks are awesome, seared quickly either on the grill or a george forman type grill, again its the fat.

Agreed. I've pretty much given up on getting pork and beef from larger chains like Wal-mart and Kroger, at best I end up with an "ok" steak. My local IGA has great cuts at reasonable prices, and hopefully by fall I'll be getting a 1/2 beef from my brother in law's family. It's hard to beat locally raised and slaughtered meat! Either on the George Foreman in the winter or the propane weber in the summer, good cuts turn out good!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Best beef i ever ate was those(white face herefords) i raised myself with help from local farmers. After that store bought stuff is just poor substitute. Must be old milked out guernseys at the local meat market.

 

[Ashful]

My 2 weber charcoal grills are out in the weather for 12 years plus. Still look new.

Ditto. I can't understand why you're even allowed to call cooking on propane "grilling." Might as well cook indoors!

 

[begreen]

A grille is a grille, be it outdoors, indoors or underground. Is a pizza oven outdoors still not baking a pizza?

 

[Ashful]

Indoors vs out of doors is not the issue, but propane vs charcoal. I argue that if you're using propane, you might as well broil it in your oven. Same thing, same (lack of) flavor.

1/4 SuperCedar and a chimney is all I use to get the charcoal going.

 

[begreen]

I don't eat steak so I don't qualify with any form of expertise, but apparently 90% of steakhouses prefer gas grilles according to this article.
http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/grills/charcoal_grills_vs_gas_grills.html
I prefer gas grilling for chicken and salmon. I think each have their strengths. Kind of like a PC vs Mac deal. Some seem to agree.
http://www.wired.com/2013/07/gas-grilling-is-objectively-scientifically-better-than-charcoal/

 

[Ashful]

C'mon begreen, you know better than me that popularity is almost never a measure of what is good or right. Must I post the stat's on Milli Vanilli album sales?

Propane has several advantages, such as easier control of temperature for an inexperienced operator, and obvious start-up convenience. However, for taste, I'll take charcoal or wood over propane, ten times out of ten.

 

[Jags]

Agreed that by taste alone a charcoal/wood grill is far superior. On that note - there can also be no denial that after a long work day, the convenience of gas has its merits. Thats why I have both. Actually a couple of both. Actually, 3 gas, 3 charcoal, and two smokers, but who is counting.

 

[Highbeam]

I too have an oven that broils, a gas grill, and a weber charcoal grill. A gas grill is different that broiling or baking because the drippings are designed to drop down and burn to create a smoke that adds flavor. My gas grill smokes, my oven does not. The same thing happens with charcoal of course but the added smoke from the combustion of wood brings more flavor to the table.

So I say boo to the theory that a gas grill is the same as an oven.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Its all good. Gas grills are supposed to flavor with the fat dripping down and igniting. My gas grill smokes quite a bit depending whats on it. ANd a cold beer goes good with em all on a hot day. We can all agree on that

 

[maple1]

I too have an oven that broils, a gas grill, and a weber charcoal grill. A gas grill is different that broiling or baking because the drippings are designed to drop down and burn to create a smoke that adds flavor. My gas grill smokes, my oven does not. The same thing happens with charcoal of course but the added smoke from the combustion of wood brings more flavor to the table.

So I say boo to the theory that a gas grill is the same as an oven.

Boo from here too. I likely wouldn't claim gas gives as good a taste as charcoal - but no way in heck is it the same as an oven.

 

[Badfish740]

You guys all beat me to it. I mean, I don't want this to turn into dogpile on Jotul but...