We Bought A New Grill... Sort of

[whirlcool]

We decided that it was time to replace our 15 year old Weber kettle grill the other day. I am getting tired of dealing with the charcoal and when you cover the grill the charcoal seems to go out almost immediately. I think it's because these things need a little bit of wind to work right, and there isn't any here in Houston in the summer.
So we went to Sears, and didn't see any we liked. Then we went to Home Depot and looked at the Weber gas grills. They were nice, but seemed pretty basic for a rather steep price. We also didn't like having the burner controls on the TOP of one of the side tables, we felt that was a waste of space.
So we looked at a few models from the Charmglow brand. I'd never heard of it before, but the salesguy said they sold a lot of them. They seemed pretty heavy duty so we ordered a 4 burner model and arranged to have it assembled and delivered as it wouldn't fit in my Mazda Tribute. HD said they's have it to us in about 10 days.
Wel, I decided to go online and check out reviews of Charmglow products. I was horrified! It seems that Charmglow was once a respected mfg. of grilling equipment, but in 2004 or so, HD bought them out and Charmglow is now HD's "House Brand". What makes it bad is that these things have been exploding/catching on fire all over the place! See my link. What Home Depot did was to send the manufacturing of Charmglow to China.
So I decided not to take any chances and I looked at some reviews online and it seems that CharBroil had the best price/performance models. Then I went to Lowes and we bought a midline Char-Broil grill. At least they are still made here in the USA. Home Depot happily refunded out money for the Charmglow without any questions. Just for kicks I looked at one of the Charmglow models on display and it had the owners manual sitting inside of it, sure enough it was that mangled English/Chinese that you sometimes find in cheap computer parts manuals.
Has anyone else heard of these problems with Charmglow?

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/charmglow.html

 

[mattl]

Weber

I'm pretty happy with my 20+ year old Weber gas grill. The thing I like most about it is that I got a natural gas model. Has a nice 15' hose so I can move it easily too. About 8 years ago the porcelain "flavorizer" bars rotted out and I replaced them with the stainless version. A couple of years ago i replaced the grills with cast iron and I think I'd put it up against most any grill on the market now for performance.

The only thing I'd like to try out is a grill with the infrared burner. Does the Charmglow you bought have that feature? I looked at a few grills when I was walking into Lowes a few weeks ago, and man are those things loaded up with things. Don't know if I'd ever use some of the options but they sure look nice.

Enjoy your new grill!

 

[neptunebob]

That sounds sad what happened to Charmglow. My parents bought a Charmglow around 1970 and left it with the house, it was on top of a pole and connected to natural gas as most were at the time. Never was there a problem with melting as CR found on a grill. You could even bake a cake in it. The gas company sold them and most people in our neighborhood who did a lot of entertaining had the double version, we only had the single. I often had to clean the grill, but the briquettes it used were hard pink stones that self-cleaned over the flames. The burner itself was cast iron, and it did flake, but it looked like it would take 50-60 years to have a problem. The Kenmore grill we had at the next house had icky lava rocks and was never as nice as the Charmglow but still sounds a lot better than what HD is selling today. Maybe because the gas companies got out of selling gas appliances?

 

[toggleswitch2]

Four words (to start with).
100 % stainless steel



Personally, for safety:

=> I'd install a second pressure regulator.
=> I'd extend the hose connecting the grill to the propane tank to be able to keep the propane tank both away from the house and out from under the hot grill.
=> If extended as above, I'd add a second cut-off valve [there is already one on top of the propane tank] near the grill for safety.

If a feature-laden MOL (well lower end of it!)indoor stove/cooker is around $350 to $400, its hard for me to pay more for a stupid seasonal appliance. BTW have you guys seen the ones with a small gas oven below? (Over $1,000).

BTW natural gas floats/dissipates up (is lighter than air), propane flows down (is heavier than air) like water. Be very careful upon trying to start your grill if upon first attempt your grill burner does not light/ignite; the (propane) gas colllects in the body of the grill. Needs time to dissipate.

Much luck. I can't seem to find one that is all-stainless, realtively small [I have a nice-sized deck I'm told, but its not huge *LOL*], and affordable.

 

[58limited]

I have a four burner Uniflame (Wal-Mart house brand I think) with side burner. Got it at the end of season for $50 off, normal retail was $249. Grill lid, controls, and body are stainless, side shelves and storage cabinet are painted steel (cabinet doors are stainless). The grill and drip shields over the flames are porcelin coated. The drip shields are starting to fall apart, but they have lasted over two years of salt air and poor cleaning habits. I kept a cover over it until hurricane Humberto tore it (no damage to grill).

The porcelin grill is OK except that I cranked the flames to maximum and then the phone rang - forgot about it for awhile and the temp gauge was pegged over 600 degrees. Some of the porcelin bubbled but no rust yet. I have a cast iron wood chip box that I place over one of the burners when I want a good smoke flavor (almost every time I grill).

I would like to try the Big Green Egg. I've heard that they are great. I have plans to build something similar if and when I start the outdoor kitchen project.

I had a friend whose propane tank exploded - the grill was struck by lightning. Other than the grill there was no damage but it scared the hell out of him and his wife.

 

[thomasortega]

I´m sorry for my honest opinion but...

gas grills will never be able to make a real tasty barbecue.
I hope someday you have the oportunity to try the brazilian (southern) traditional barbecue, prepared in wood or charcoal grills.

 

[nmaineman36]

Last year we bought the Blue Ember model from Homo Depot that was a CR best buy. So far its been ok but the stainless steel is now rusting. If we get another year out of it I will be lucky. We should have bought a Weber.

 

[polkanut]

My parents have a Charmglow which is about 30yrs. old. That thing is built like a tank, they bought from our gas company, but it uses propane. Too bad HD went and trashed such a well-built product.

 

[58limited]

~gas grills will never be able to make a real tasty barbecue

I agree - to a point. I much prefer cooking over wood, and I especially like good slow smoked meats, but I often do not have time to deal with wood. When I use the wood chip box on the gas grill, I'm able to grill very good food, especially fish, shrimp, and other faster grilling fare. I admit, though, steaks are better when cooked over wood than on a gas grill.

 

[perc-o-prince]

its hard for me to pay more for a stupid seasonal appliance

I use mine seasonally as well. If there's a season, I'm using it!!

Chuck

 

[rpm]

I worked one summer at the Weber BBQ Factory in Kitchener.
The heat from that plant was unbelievable.

 

[jasonl]

Show me yo grillz, daddy!

I'm in the charcoal camp. You just can't get "the taste" with a gas grill, even with lava rocks installed.

Nothing works better than a Weber Kettle grill. I use a Weber charcoal chimney starter and get 'em good and hot. Spread the coals out and apply meat. A few minutes later and you'll forget all about gas until the beans kick in.

 

[gansky1]

We always had Webers growing up the last one I inherited when my parents moved away was 24 years old when I finally got rid of it. I bought the smaller 18" Weber last year at an estate sale (where the best deals are for things like this) and we used it for the first time last weekend when Pat and Fred were here. It works perfectly and I don't mind using the charcoal - I agree it gives a better flavor but then, I'm not much of a carnivore so most grilled flesh is all the same to me ;-)

 

[toggleswitch2]

~I hope someday you have the opportunity to try the brazilian (southern) traditional barbecue, prepared in wood or charcoal grills.

In my city there are many of these places. Awesome barbecue!
The waitors come around with the meats on the spit, all else is self-service buffet style.

Wood and charcoal are certainly flavorful ways of cooking.
Have you ever tried food cooked on pine cones? YUM.

 

[whirlcool]

In Houston we have one of those Brazillian/Argentinian meat houses that is very upscale. We've gone a few times. The meat is cut at your table and you have tons of choices of it! It also comes on Kabob skewers too. It is very good!

We used to use flavored wood chips (cherry, apple, hickory and mesquite) in our Weber Kettle to impart a nice flavor. We had a Sunbeam gas grill in the early to mid 80's and when it rusted out we went with a Weber Kettle. I always thought the taste of Barbarque came from the wood and the fat dripping on the heat source, not the type of fuel used.
This Charbroil gril we bought is about 60% Stainless Steel. It will be sitting outside all the time. It's a long way around the house from the cooking location to our garage. Will a vinyl cover be enough to protect it?

 

[angus]

One note of caution on the Char Broil brand- a recent consumer reports review rated the tested model unacceptable becuase the firebox melted during their tests. Subsequent tests revealed similar results with fireboxes buckling from the heat. Can't remember the models tested, but with something like this - worth the research to find out.

 

[tolivac]

I was just reading the CR July 2008 issue and they mention the Broil King Signet 90 sereies grill-cookers were the dangerous models-their fireboxes burned out-also the Sovereign models.The Broil King cookers are on the CPSC recall list.Not a grill-but a robotic mower-the LawnBott is mentioned in the same recall article-its blades still spun when lifted off the ground-on robot mowers the blade is supposed to stop immediately when the mower is lifted.So if you have a Broil King grill or a LawnBott mower-they are on the recall lists.Don't use 'em.

 

[bajaespuma]

Steve,

What a great idea!!! Is cooking over pine cones a Greek method?Greeks seem to be the masters of using pine products,(chewing gum, booze, mastic)in the kitchen. I'm going to try this!

 

[bajaespuma]

I'm in both camps. I have a cheap gas grill (that came with my house) that I renovated and an old charcoal grill that came from Mom's garage. Best of both worlds, because there are times when you just don't want to have to f**k with the damn charcoal. And IMHO cooking on the gas grill is always better than cooking indoors. Does anyone know where you can get an old-fashioned heavy duty real Japanese Hibachi?