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Grill brand question


Trigger Mike

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Lowes has their charcoal grills for half what they were during the summer.   I then was at a different store and they have Weber instead of charqrill brand.  They even have a green egg.  

 

What makes a weber grill twice the price?  What is the deal with the green egg?  Is it really better than the rest?  

 

 

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Never used a Green Egg, but I don't see how it could be better than a Weber Kettle grill; which is by far and away the best grill I've ever owned. Missus Tyrel got me a Weber for Christmas 4 years ago and if I ever wear it out I'll buy another one. Best burgers I've ever eaten and I don't burn Chicken any more. Charcoal goes to on the sides, so no more grease fires.

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I have bought cheap grill and expensive grills. Just threw away a $1200 grill that was only 5 years old. Keep it clean and it still rotted and was going to cost over $400 to fix. I’m done with grills.  I have a nice fire pit and a $35 folding grill stand that sit over the fire. Food tastes better. More fun to cook. And when it rots it’s cheap to replace. Kind of keeping with the old ways. Works for me

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If you look at honest reviews of Webber vs Char-Griller you'll find that even the lowest rated Webber scores twice as high as the best rated Char-Griller.

 

Webbers are better made and will easily out last a Char-Griller.

 

I don't have any experience with the Kamado or Egg style grill other that I know that the design is supposed to be really good for low and slow cooking which is what you want when cooking meats like brisket or ribs.

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As SD said the egg type grills are very good at temperature  control.You can turn the airflow to practically zero (this is how  I shut mine down ).makes low heat,slow cooking much easier.

That said I  must confess I do most of my grilling on a gas grill.It's easier and much faster.

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I "bit the bullet" and bought the Weber 4 burner gas grill when we bought our new house. That was four years ago and it still looks and cooks like brand new, and that's using it 4 or 5 nights a week. Well worth the extra money, I've never had a gas grill last this long as much as we use it.

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Howdy,

I bought the char griller with the drawer that comes out so I can

tend the fire without moving one bit of food.

From time to time I give it a good cleaning and spray some

parts with hi temp paint.

In the winter it gets put out of the weather.

In the summer it is out of most rain.

I just put mineral oil on the wood parts.

Any tool will last longer with decent care.

And a little cooking oil on the cold charcoals will speed up the

process. Remember they wont heat as long so a little more may be needed.

Best

CR

 

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Rather than brand, my experience is to buy a grill with cart iron burners instead of "stainless" steel burners.

 

My first "stainless" grill rotted out. Replaced the with new "stainless" from the big box store, they rotted out. Hauled that grill to the dump.

 

Bought a closeout from Sears (1/2 price) with cast iron burner parts. Thinking about hauling it to the dump as the back cooks much hotter than the front, but it has lasted at least three times as long as the first grill with rebuilds.

 

I will take a look at it in the spring, probably clean the jets one more time... but the rotisserie motor died, a wheel is broken not that I move it, I've repainted it once already (6 years ago), and the cost and effort of making it go another 10 years is probably over half of another closeout quality grill.

 

I don't care about the brand, but I will likely pick up another quality appliance at half price next fall. I kind of missed having some good rotisserie spare ribs this year.

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I gave up on gas grills years ago.  I like charcoal grills.  I think the food tastes better and I don't have to worry about running out of gas or rotted out burners.  If I've got charcoal, I'm ready to cook.  When the grill won't hold the charcoal in any more, it's time for a new grill.

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If your referring to propane grills, the Weber is well built & the baffles are steeper so when the fat drips on them, it rolls off greatly reducing flare ups. They’re pricy but if you watch out for a sale, they’re worth the extra $.

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I have a Texas Sizzler II made by Golden Blount.  It was used when I bought it several years ago. If I was to guess I suspect it is at least 10 years old and it still is in excellent condition. Made entirely of  Stainless Steel most of which is 3/16" thick. It has two infrared burners. Wish I had the 3 burner model but I am not willing to shell out that much cash.

 

Only down side it is is super heavy and takes 3 stout men and a boy to load it into a truck.

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14 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

Texas Road House.  No muss, no fuss, no cleaning up.

My kind of grillin’ :D

 

If you ever get a chance, try out Texas Land and Cattle Company. Love that place. 
https://texaslandandcattle.com/

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1 hour ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

I gave up on gas grills years ago.  I like charcoal grills.  I think the food tastes better and I don't have to worry about running out of gas or rotted out burners.  If I've got charcoal, I'm ready to cook.  When the grill won't hold the charcoal in any more, it's time for a new grill.

I won't use anything but lump charcoal. Gas is pointless.  :D

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I got this Char-Griller Duo grill. I would say it's 10 plus years old and still going good. Love it. 

 

 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Char-Griller-Duo-Black-Dual-function-Combo-Grill/1245537

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Yes, Webber grills are that good.  I have one that is almost 40 years old.  The charbque lasted 4 years with less use and the same care.  

 

The Green Egg charges a premium for the name.  They are great for a specific use but a Weber gas does the daily burgers better.  As mentioned, slow and low is easy with the Egg.  This particular advantage is diminishing with technology integration into other cookers.  Cold weather cooking is stable with the thick walled Egg.  It does need warmed up where a traditional charcoal cooker can’t be warmed up and needs a thermal blanket.  The Egg can cook with less charcoal.  Buying the Green Egg brand charcoal is more expensive and it is a better flavor than Kingsford.  I recommend trying it in your charcoal grill regardless of the brand.  Follow the instructions.

 

@Trigger Mike what/how do you plan to cook?

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I like to cook steak and usually a mess of burgers and hotdogs for the next day.  The branches I put on the charcoal are either oak or pecan.  I use natural wood charcoal after I get the fire going with a handful of Kingsford matchlight.   

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The best gas grill I ever bough was a commercial unit that was on sale at a store that only sold high end gas grills.  It had three 30K BTU burners plus radiant & had two side burners.  It was made out of 16 ga 316 stainless.  The burners were made out of thick stainless round tubing.  To reduce grease flare ups it had inverted vee shaped shields over the burners plus ceramic rods between the guards and the heavy cast stainless steel grill.  The grill grid had dished shape to catch grease & channel it to channels that drained it to a pull out grease pan.  It also had a burner to heat a box for seasoning wood.   Couldn't have taken it with me when we sold the house; since, I built a barbeque island for it.  The brand was DCS.  I believe it is an acronym for Dynamic Cooking Systems.  P.S. It was expensive, $3,200 in 2003.   I am sure it won't rot ou;t because, the burners & shields didn't show a spec of rust or corrosion after 9 years of use.  I only wanted a two burner; however, the 3 burner floor model was less expensive than a factory order 2 burner unit.

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Weber charcoal is briquettes and Green Egg is lump charcoal.  Both have pros and cons but are different.  I’ve not used the Weber natural to compare.  It may have a similar flavor because of the base wood but it still needs binders to form the briquettes.

Does your cooking method eliminate the lighter fluid taste from starting with the match ready briquettes? 

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Yes, I don't have the lighter fluid taste by using a few match lite coals and a lot of normal coals.  The natural coals i usually find are cowboy brand and they burn fast but the wood chunks and branches I put in help extend it some.

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I have a Home Depot gas grill and a Big Green Egg.  The grill gets 80% of the use for burgers, tenderloins, and the like.

 

The Egg is perfect for low and slow, but also super hot cooking.  I can open the vents and run it at 700f and make dandy wood fired pizzas all evening long. That’s one of the kids’ favorites when they’re here.  But I’d look at other kamodas that have come on the market that were not available ten years ago.  Same quality but much less expensive.

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I have a large 3 burner Members Mark (Sam's Club) Monarch that I bought in 2006.  The stainless cabinet is still in like-new condition, but the inside of the firebox is showing some corrosion from the decade and a half of heat cycling 3 to 4 times a week.  The original burners were cast iron.  They burnt out at about 3 years.  I replaced them with cast stainless which lasted nearly 10 years.  I'm a couple of years into my second set of cast stainless and expect that when they go, so will this grill since it's getting harder to find parts and the firebox will probably had enough by then.  I've been happy with the design and its reliability, especially given the original price was about 60% of the brand names of equal size.  

 

I will likely replace it with a Weber when the time comes since the MM grills are no longer the quality they used to be.

 

And like many of you, I prefer charcoal, but living on the fourth floor of a condo building, they are banned.  I get my charcoal and woodfire cooking fix when camping.

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For burgers and steaks, I use a cheap folding walk about grill.  for 40 bucks it will give a few years of service and is easy to clean and put away for the winter, and can pull out from storage in a moment with no effort.

 

I use a vertical smoker from Brinkman for brisket or ribs, it takes some getting used to as temperature control is more difficult, but if I do my part it works wonderfully.

 

One of my friends has had a Green Egg for many years and it is very economical to operate and the heavy insulation really does make for stable temperatures and low fuel usage.

 

I use lump charcoal and split hickory for most of my outdoor cooking.  Gas is fast, but the flavor is never quite as good in my opinion

 

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If you use charcoal and want to avoid the lighter fluid taste,try a charcoal chimney.One crumpled sheet of newspaper in the bottom,fill the top chamber with(lump) charcoal and light.Good coals in a few minutes.

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I gave up on all of those and bought a Yoder pellet smoker.  Temp range is 150 to 650.  Grills steaks, burgers, etc really well.  It's a really good smoker, brisket, pork butt, pastrami, ribs, chicken, turkey, sausage, etc.  We're also using as an oven (since our oven failed).  Pizzas, cookies, pies, lasagna, bread, even a quiche.  My wife wasn't sure it was worth the money, but she's come around and really happy with it.  She said it's one of the best things I've ever bought.

 

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I started with the simple Weber, but graduated to the Weber Performer series.  I have two, one at each house, and use primarily Cowboy Lump Hardwood charcoal.  The great part about the Performers is that although their primary fuel is charcoal, they have a propane fueled ignition system, giving a quick and complete start of the charcoal with no starting fluid, no newspaper and no aftertaste.  I think I bought the first one about 15 years ago, the second about 10 years ago; they are both going strong, despite one being in a salt air atmosphere.  The best accessories I put on the grills are the Weber covers.  They include a molded table/work surface, a tool rack, a charcoal container (hinged under the table and holds about a bag and a half of charcoal), an integral thermometer, and a piezo igniter.

 

The only time I use a gas grill is when we are on the boat or the beach - easy to carry, and no need to lug charcoal, lighter fluid, etc.  I prefer the taste of charcoal gilled meat.

 

LL

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