Gas BBQ grill recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

Coming soon, my own Weber Cook's Deck

Hoa approval done. County paperwork next. Then get it built late May.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I know people with Spirits who swear by them. My parents have one that's lasted for years. The impression I get is that the Spirit is still superior to any other grill in its price range.

 

[ChristopherG]

I'm curious about whether anyone here has considered going with a Big Green Egg, other ceramic cooker, or simply a charcoal grill? In the old days, a "top end" gas grill might cost $275, which was less than half of the BGE and ilk. But today's gas grills seem to start at the cost of a ceramic cooker and then just go insane after that. I made the switch 8 years ago and I love it and it was all about the cost as I finally had enough money to buy one. My previous one had rusted out and I just didn't care to get a new one. To me, meat on gas grills at best taste like cooked meat and at worst taste like gas and would never mistake it for the the taste of meat cooked over lump charcoal. Not to start a debate about which is better but more of an observation that gas grills seem more about the size of the grill than the quality of it or the food it cooks.

I am definitely considering a ceramic cooker. The one I want is the Primo Oval XL. It is quite expensive....

 

[ChristopherG]

DaveF - congratulations! That will change your life.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Dave, I don't see that deck being offered on the Weber site as an accessory.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Gee whiz Dave, don't go cheap on us now!

http://kalamazoogourmet.com/products/hybrid-fire-grill/gas-grills-not-hybrid/

 

[DaveF]

Dave, I don't see that deck being offered on the Weber site as an accessory.

I'm the beta tester. Being rolled out in select markets next Smarch.

 

[DaveF]

Gee whiz Dave, don't go cheap on us now! http://kalamazoogourmet.com/products/hybrid-fire-grill/gas-grills-not-hybrid/

I'm trying to execute a Dennis Nicholls:Step 1) bought house and build awesome deckStep 2) ???Step 3) ProfitStep 4) buy wang doodle super grillIf Step 2 requires house in Cal, and a law degree, I'm boned.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm trying to execute a Dennis Nicholls:

That is clearly illegal in most areas.

You'll notice I said most.

 

[schan1269]

I'm glad I don't have an HOA.My big room upstairs(above the garage) has a sliding door to a 10x15 deck, on stilts.Built by the prior owner....not big enough for anything.I'm tempted to build a two story deck and possibly put in a backside rock/stone patio that goes around the entire back side of the house to the current(and falling down, it is 50+ years old) front porch.The house has no back door...other than the upstairs.The house used to sit east/west. When it was built on the first time, the front east...then became the side east(hence why the front porch became neglected).The 2nd build on created the garage/upper room with upstairs and downstairs "connector".House now sits north/south, with the original 1910 house being the entire right side. The garage/upper room are bigger than the original house.Grand plan...Put in an entire 2nd floor deck around all of the original house, extending the back side. Put sliding doors in all the bedrooms.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I hooked up the propane tank this morning and ran all the burners for 30 minutes. The manual didn't say it was necessary, but I'm glad I did. With no food on the grill it smoked for the first 5 minutes or so. Not heavy, but it was obvious. All the burners lit easily. One thing I don't like is that the flavorer bars pretty much hide the burners and it's very difficult to see if a burner is lit. I could hear them light.

I was looking at my porcelain coated cast iron cooking grates. If you take a cross-section of the grates, you'd get a triangle. The manual doesn't refer to which is better, facing the flat end up, or the pointed end of the triangle up. Seems to me if the latter, you'd get very small grill marks. I would think the flat end should be up.

Perhaps for delicate things, like fish, the pointed end might be advantageous. Less grate touching the fish, less sticking, easier to turn.

What say you gang?

We are going to debut the grill tonight and have our neighbors over. We are doing cherry/pomegranate baby-back ribs and corn on the cob. We got the recipe out of the Weber iPad app.

BTW, there's also the same app for the iPhone, but one of the reviewers in the app store noted that buying one, doesn't get you the other. That almost kept me from buying either one. I'm used to buying an app once for both devices.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Overall impressions, Johnny? Materials, etc.

How long did it take you to put it together?

 

[schan1269]

Corn on the cob, cooked in the husk?

That is the best...mmmhhhhmmmm.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Overall impressions, Johnny? Materials, etc.

How long did it take you to put it together?

Impressions are good. Top notch materials, at no time during the assembly did I or my neighbor think, that's cheap. It took the two of us about 3 hours. I'm a klutz with stuff like that, but my neighbor Steve is sharp with things like that. I have no buyers remorse.

Some of the time was us looking at the assembly diagram (very large and no text, just numbers for sequence) with us thinking does the part face this way or that way. As long as we studied the instructions, we were ok. We never had to take something apart because we goofed.

Just put the ribs on. There so many they are going out a bit to far and getting over the left and right burners. They are being cooked in indirect feet, so left and right are on and center is off. Aiming for a temp of 325F. I may have to rotate the outside ribs to the inside so they don't cook too fast.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I was just thinking, if need a bigger indirect cooking area. What if I turned the left burner off, turned the only lit burner (the right) up more to maintain the temp I want. Than put the ribs over the center and left burner for the duration.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Corn on the cob, cooked in the husk?

That is the best...mmmhhhhmmmm.

Don't forget grilled asparagus, which is cheap this time of year. Use direct heat for the stalks and indirect heat for the flowers. Rub some peanut oil on them first (highest flashpoint cooking oil).

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

That is clearly illegal in most areas.

You'll notice I said most.

I understand there's a price on my head in certain jurisdictions, such as MA and NY.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Hmmm. I checked at my local post office and couldn't find any evidence of that.

Unless you are one of these fellas:

 

[DaveF]

I was just thinking, if need a bigger indirect cooking area. What if I turned the left burner off, turned the only lit burner (the right) up more to maintain the temp I want. Than put the ribs over the center and left burner for the duration.

That should work. (It's what I would do) youay have to play with settings and timing a couple of tries to get it just so. Maybe rotate the ribs to gel even cooling, since there will be some heat gradient from middle to side. As for the grates: I saw that triangle shape at the store. I think you want flat side up. But I'll have to play with it this summer.

 

[DaveF]

Corn on the cob, cooked in the husk?That is the best...mmmhhhhmmmm.

I haven't cooked this way, despite recommendations. For net effort, I like to husk, liberally salt and butter, and grill wrapped in foil. Comes out good. I should try the in-husk method this year.