How to Choose the Right Grill

Barrel smoker I've gone over 24 hours on a load of charcoal, great smoke, and super cheap to build/buy

Forget Gas, Electric and charcoal... get a Trager and cook over real wood (pellets)!

My two cents...I have had a Weber Genesis B gas(three "horizontal" burners) for 12 years. It has held up well and still works "well" to this day with little in the line of replaced parts (stainless flavorizer bars).

It has sufficient cooking area for burgers brats and hotdogs, but if you want to cook something on indirect heat you're rendered about a third of the cooking area which might be ok if cooking for a couple, but that's about it.

My second complaint about it is it's inability to maintain a low temperature for things like ribs or pulled pork. On most occasions I have to manually cool it by opening the lid or even propping it open with something.

Not all that bad, I guess, considering I paid perhaps $350 for it 12 years ago, but they are now so outrageously priced that I would never consider it now given my experience.

For me I'd rather have the natural way of grilling food. That is using charcoal! The food tastes better but of course, a little precaution so as not to burn your steak and avoid carcinogens.

Big Green Egg all the way.... Had a Gas Grill since the stone age, but once I became an EggHead I've never gone back to Gas method.... Even compared the two while I still had the Egg and Gas Grill.

I am very happy with my Weber Spirit.

Webers are expensive... the cheapest Webers was like $350, 2 burner...

i ended up getting a Char King 4 burner grill for $200.

This was like last week...

I had a Sears Grill, total junk, lasted a year. My Weber is over 10 years old, good as new. Once, I had to convert to the standard type of gas since my son exchanged the tank for a different tank. The part - from some grill store did not work. I called Weber and they sent the part next day for zero shipping and it works great. Get a Weber, buy it once.

Quote from ibm650 : I had a Sears Grill, total junk, lasted a year. My Weber is over 10 years old, good as new. Once, I had to convert to the standard type of gas since my son exchanged the tank for a different tank. The part - from some grill store did not work. I called Weber and they sent the part next day for zero shipping and it works great. Get a Weber, buy it once.

Pay for a Lexus Grill and enjoy grilling for years to come... Only problem is the wife loves to use it too... Taking away from my manhood a bit...

$1805 is a pretty penny for a grill though....

http://bbq.about.com/od/webergasg...20108a.htm

Quote from Albort : Webers are expensive... the cheapest Webers was like $350, 2 burner... i ended up getting a Char King 4 burner grill for $200.

I agree, Webers ARE expensive -- BUT -- they last more than twice as long as a Brinkman or Char King, so you will save money in the long run -- and the environment (by not dumping that old crap grill in the landfill).

If Webers are too expensive for you (sorry, I just couldn't fork over the $600 for the one I wanted), try Craigs List. Got my natural gas 4 burner grill for $75 and it was only 2 years old. Going strong 4 years later...

Quote from ph123 : I agree, Webers ARE expensive -- BUT -- they last more than twice as long as a Brinkman or Char King, so you will save money in the long run -- and the environment (by not dumping that old crap grill in the landfill). If Webers are too expensive for you (sorry, I just couldn't fork over the $600 for the one I wanted), try Craigs List. Got my natural gas 4 burner grill for $75 and it was only 2 years old. Going strong 4 years later...

everything last twice as long as long as u maintain it. :]

I bought my Weber off of Craigslist a year ago for $100 and replaced the grates with parts from Weber. It works better than any new Char Broil or other Home Depot /Lowes $300 grill out there.

"Be sure to take a look at the catch pan that your grill comes with. A small catch pan might overflow and catch on fire when you forget to empty it."

Definitely look at this feature. The Weber I have has a sloped pan with a cutout at one end that lets the drippings collect in a aluminium tray for easy cleaning. When you need to clean the pan I just use a painter's scraper tool and lightly scrap off the burnt residue and ashes.

My previous grill was designed by a moron with a perfectly flat drip tray. Perfect for spilling drippings everywhere.