Inexpensive propane gas grill recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

The ancient hand-me-down gas grill I’ve been using for the past few years finally died tonight. Honestly, it came to me in very poor condition and I was thrilled to get three solid years out of it. Unfortunately, even though it was once a top-rated Weber, given it’s condition it’s just not worth putting any further time/money/effort into repairing.

But I also am not prepared to buy a really nice, long term solution type of replacement. I’m in a rental home I don’t expect to be in for more than another year, and I’d like to defer buying a really great grill until I know where I’m going to be - the long term goal is to get one that I can just run a gas line from the house to and be done with refilling propane tanks once and for all.

But for now, the weather is nice, I have two propane tanks that are both in reasonably good condition and full, and I’d love to spend as little as possible to just make it through this summer’s grilling season and maybe next year’s. A short term solution that won’t fall apart after being used twice or getting hit with a little inclement weather, that doesn’t need to have all the bells and whistles that the deluxe models offer.

I usually trust Wirecutter recommendations for this kind of thing but their “budget” pick is $600. I see Amazon has loads of $175-200 options, but there are almost too many to be able to figure out what’s worthwhile and what’s total junk.

Any recommendations (or “avoid at all costs” warnings) appreciated!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

We bought one of these Dyna-Glo small grills for our condo in South Carolina. The Home Depot down there even had them pre-assembled! My mother has the same one (I had to put hers together). Both have worked fine for the past 2-3 years. I think they have larger models, too.

 

[ChristopherG]

The ancient hand-me-down gas grill I’ve been using for the past few years finally died tonight. Honestly, it came to me in very poor condition and I was thrilled to get three solid years out of it. Unfortunately, even though it was once a top-rated Weber, given it’s condition it’s just not worth putting any further time/money/effort into repairing.

But I also am not prepared to buy a really nice, long term solution type of replacement. I’m in a rental home I don’t expect to be in for more than another year, and I’d like to defer buying a really great grill until I know where I’m going to be - the long term goal is to get one that I can just run a gas line from the house to and be done with refilling propane tanks once and for all.

But for now, the weather is nice, I have two propane tanks that are both in reasonably good condition and full, and I’d love to spend as little as possible to just make it through this summer’s grilling season and maybe next year’s. A short term solution that won’t fall apart after being used twice or getting hit with a little inclement weather, that doesn’t need to have all the bells and whistles that the deluxe models offer.

I usually trust Wirecutter recommendations for this kind of thing but their “budget” pick is $600. I see Amazon has loads of $175-200 options, but there are almost too many to be able to figure out what’s worthwhile and what’s total junk.

Any recommendations (or “avoid at all costs” warnings) appreciated!

If it's really only needed for a year - then I think even the cheapest one would last that and then you won't mind getting rid of it. In fact, it was most likely bring you relief.....

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have to swing by Home Depot or Lowes anyway so I think I’ll go and look at what both stores offer (including Scott’s Dyna-Glo recommendation).

@Scott Merryfield , really appreciate the first hand comment - on the product reviews for Dyna-Glo and other similarly priced models there’s a lot of good reviews and a lot of bad ones and almost nothing in between so it’s really useful to hear from any actual person whose opinion I can trust

Whenever I see schizophrenic reviews like that I tend to think that the item is probably totally fine for what it is but that some of the people are expecting $1000 quality for $100, and I wouldn’t necessary hold that against the grill.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Prices have gone way up in the past few years. The Broil King I bought for $500 a few years ago now sells for $1000! Weber has apparently outsourced its manufacturing to China and the reviews are not as good.

Both Lowes and HD have $200 specials: Char-Broil at Lowes and Nexgrill at HD. I recognize Char-Broil as an older established company dating back decades.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I have to swing by Home Depot or Lowes anyway so I think I’ll go and look at what both stores offer (including Scott’s Dyna-Glo recommendation).

@Scott Merryfield , really appreciate the first hand comment - on the product reviews for Dyna-Glo and other similarly priced models there’s a lot of good reviews and a lot of bad ones and almost nothing in between so it’s really useful to hear from any actual person whose opinion I can trust

Whenever I see schizophrenic reviews like that I tend to think that the item is probably totally fine for what it is but that some of the people are expecting $1000 quality for $100, and I wouldn’t necessary hold that against the grill.

For the money, I think those Dyna-Glo grills are decent. At $150 for the small unit (I think we paid about $120), if they last 5 years you probably got your money's worth. My mother's had hers for three years, and it sits out on her patio year-round -- even through the Michigan winter. She has a grill cover when it's not being used. It still looks new. We also leave our grill out year-round in South Carolina, with a cover when not in use. The ocean salt air has led to just a little rust around the handle in the 2+ years we've owned it. We spend about 25% of our time in SC, so we didn't want to spend much on a grill.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. I do tend to grill a lot during the summer months, but I’m really hoping for decent to last a year or two until I can get a permanent home and run a gas line direct to a grill. This sounds like the exact kind of stopgap I’m looking for.

The grill that just died was a $700 or so hand-me-down Weber but by the time I got it, the ignition didn’t work and the whole frame was rusted out so it’s not like I was having a premium experience.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

That sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. I do tend to grill a lot during the summer months, but I’m really hoping for decent to last a year or two until I can get a permanent home and run a gas line direct to a grill. This sounds like the exact kind of stopgap I’m looking for.

The grill that just died was a $700 or so hand-me-down Weber but by the time I got it, the ignition didn’t work and the whole frame was rusted out so it’s not like I was having a premium experience.

If you are just looking to get a couple of years out of the grill, any of the cheap brands sold at Home Depot or Lowes will probably do. I would get one that's already assembled, if possible. I have assembled a few grills over the years, and they can take up an hour or two of your time. That small Dyna-Glo that we bought in SC was assembled, and fit easily in my GMC Acadia.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Scott, I got your grill.. so if anything goes wrong I’m calling you

I haven’t been a Home Depot (or “home creep show” as my contractor ex-stepdad used to call it) in ages and now I remember why. They had the grill right by the entrance and it took half an hour and four different employees to figure out how to sell it to me, and another two to figure out how to unlock it so I could take it home. I wasn’t sure the assembled one would fit in the car so I was going to take the boxed version, but none of them even knew if they sold them in a box, so assembled it was. Just complete lack of interest across the board in providing when the minimal amount of customer service.

 

[John Sparks]

The saying in the fire service was, "Please come over, we're BBQing a few friends."

The problem we always encountered was "over filling", which caused leaking...which makes the flames get BIGGER!!!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The place that refills my propane actually seems to know what they’re doing with regard to filling to tank to capacity rather than past it, fortunately

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Cooking on it now. Chicken cutlets and burgers. This is the first brand new grill I’ve ever owned. Feels good.

Big thanks to @Scott Merryfield and everyone else!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The place that refills my propane actually seems to know what they’re doing with regard to filling to tank to capacity rather than past it, fortunately

No place around here refills tanks anymore. We can only exchange them.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That’s a bummer! It seems like there are fewer places here than when I was a kid, but that a couple landscaping/garden places still over it seasonally.

 

[Sam Posten]

Check Costco!!!!!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Already taken care of. Also not a Costco member, but good suggestion otherwise, John Dirk is always singing their praises too.