New Grill!

[FizzySix]

You guys should be able to tell what kind of device the meat was made on (charcoal vs. gas), unless the meat is doused in sauce before serving. The gas side is a grill, the charcoal side is a BBQ. They're not just different tools, they're generally different cooking techniques.

There is overlap: can you grill chicken breast on a charcoal BBQ for a salad? You could, but it would be a waste of your time and charcoal, and you probably wouldn't taste the effort after going in the salad. Likewise, can you smoke a pork shoulder on a gas grill? You can expose the meat to smoke from wood chips using a little basket of them over the flame, but it's never going to develop that dark "bark" on the outside from intense smoke since you can't really contain the smoke in a gas grill, or develop that deep pink smoke ring.

It's almost as bad a hobby as motorcycling - once you get the grill/BBQ, you'll want a collection of various species of wood chips, a chimney to ignite the briquettes, racks to hold up the ribs, marinating trays, injectors, etc. But, it's a great hobby, there's a ton to learn about the BBQ styles nationwide, and your family eats well as you experiment. Win win all around! :thumbup:

 

[Fz6Sa]

It's almost as bad a hobby as motorcycling

ARE YOU SAYING THAT MOTORCYCLES ARE A BAD HOBBY??:spank::spank::ban:

 

[Botch]

My grill is crap:

I have a Weber gas grill and a Brinkman electric water smoker, love 'em both but want to get a Weber kettle (charcoal) grill and a Weber "Little Mountain" charcoal smoker; the grill because a good charcoal grill can get MUCH hotter than gas, resulting in a better crust on a steak than you can get with gas (not to mention the better flavor). I also want to try the "Good Eats" trick of blowing the ash off the coals with a hair dryer, then placing the meat directly on the coals! You get maximum sear, and minimal flareups since you're blocking oxygen getting to the grease dripping off onto the coals (neat, huh?).

I want a charcoal smoker because (a) my electric smoker, while making good meat (it uses soaked wood chips to generate the smoke) uses A LOT of electricity, especially used for 12 hours on my brisket, and (b) I can't enter the local barbeque competitions with an electric smoker.

 

[04fizzer]

My grill is crap:

I have a Weber gas grill and a Brinkman electric water smoker, love 'em both but want to get a Weber kettle (charcoal) grill and a Weber "Little Mountain" charcoal smoker; the grill because a good charcoal grill can get MUCH hotter than gas, resulting in a better crust on a steak than you can get with gas (not to mention the better flavor). I also want to try the "Good Eats" trick of blowing the ash off the coals with a hair dryer, then placing the meat directly on the coals! You get maximum sear, and minimal flareups since you're blocking oxygen getting to the grease dripping off onto the coals (neat, huh?).

I want a charcoal smoker because (a) my electric smoker, while making good meat (it uses soaked wood chips to generate the smoke) uses A LOT of electricity, especially used for 12 hours on my brisket, and (b) I can't enter the local barbeque competitions with an electric smoker.

That was the fajita episode.

I've been considering making the Good Eats smoker (clay pot and a hot plate), but if I get this grill, I won't need to do that.

 

[MikeSpeed]

This thread almost made me cry.:banghead:

[rant]
If you can swing 2 grills, that’s the way to go. Having a gas/propane grill is nice but it cannot match the heat that you will get out of hardwood charcoal.

Here are the grills that I have:
Gas: http://www.bbqgalore.com/gas_grills/turbo_elite/ this is something like an $800 grill.
Charcoal: http://www.weber.com/grills/?glid=5&mid=24 $140
And 9 times out of 10 I use the Weber!! It tastes better and gets hotter. And if you adjust the airflow on this grill you can get the temp down to 250 pretty easily. I do my thanksgiving turkey on it every year. SOO much better thank in the oven!

22” Weber for the win!!

If you need a gas grill, I would say look into replacement parts before you spend any money on a new grill. I worked in a BBQ store for several years, and you would be surprised at how hard it can be to get parts for most grills. A $400 grill becomes trash if you can't replace the parts when they crap out on you. And they will

And please don’t buy a grill just because its stainless steel. 90% of stainless steel grills out there are CRAP!! Especially if you are shopping under the $600 price point.
[/rant]

 

[04fizzer]

This thread almost made me cry.:banghead:

[rant]
If you can swing 2 grills, that’s the way to go. Having a gas/propane grill is nice but it cannot match the heat that you will get out of hardwood charcoal.

Here are the grills that I have:
Gas: http://www.bbqgalore.com/gas_grills/turbo_elite/ this is something like an $800 grill.
Charcoal: http://www.weber.com/grills/?glid=5&mid=24 $140
And 9 times out of 10 I use the Weber!! It tastes better and gets hotter. And if you adjust the airflow on this grill you can get the temp down to 250 pretty easily. I do my thanksgiving turkey on it every year. SOO much better thank in the oven!

22” Weber for the win!!

If you need a gas grill, I would say look into replacement parts before you spend any money on a new grill. I worked in a BBQ store for several years, and you would be surprised at how hard it can be to get parts for most grills. A $400 grill becomes trash if you can't replace the parts when they crap out on you. And they will

And please don’t buy a grill just because its stainless steel. 90% of stainless steel grills out there are CRAP!! Especially if you are shopping under the $600 price point.
[/rant]

You did catch the part where the grill I'm looking at is 2 separate grills on one frame (not a gas/propane), and it's not stainless, but rather heavy gauge steel, right?

 

[FizzySix]

To expand on the stainless comments (which doesn't apply to the one 04Fizzer is considering), I've never seen one that gets any amount of actual use that still looks good.

To the Weber kettle guys (threadjack warning), how hot are you getting the grill? I do mostly BBQ on mine (250+ degrees) but the hottest I've ever seen it is like 400, while my gas grill climbs to 600. Anyone use one with the thermometer in the lid, what do you run at, and do you use hardwood charcoal rather than briquettes? I'm surprised at the "charcoal is hotter" comments.

 

[MarinaFazer]

I've never gotten complicated with my grilling...sadly. I have yet to bust out an 8 hour pork shoulder indirectly over mesquite on my own. I have eaten them and they're fantastic!

 

[Jedi]

My grill (or barbeque as they are called in the uk... Don't ask) consists of a galvanized oil drum laid on it's side and split to make a clamshell style, with a rack for the lumpwood charcoal and a stainless steel mesh to cook on. And because it's nearly three feet wide and a foot and a half front to back, I can bank up the charcoal high at one end for fast cooking and searing, and anything that needs slow cooking goes down the other end where it cooks through convection. Needs a bit of forward planning as the charcoal takes about half an hour to go White all over, but when it does and I've chucked a handful of soaked herbs on the coals, the taste is fantastic. Ghetto, but it works and it cost me precisely nothing

 

[AJ_rider]

Whatever you decide to buy, you should celebrate it by having all the Rochester/Buffalo FZ6 forum members over for a cookout!! Amirite! Where's the keg? I'll pump!

 

[04fizzer]

Whatever you decide to buy, you should celebrate it by having all the Rochester/Buffalo FZ6 forum members over for a cookout!! Amirite! Where's the keg? I'll pump!

Ya know, that's not a half bad idea. Y'all would have to ride the bikes though because I don't have a lot of room for parking (6 cars, maybe, but plenty of bike parking.)

 

[wolfc70]

All I have is a Weber kettle. Had a gas grill and hated it. I love doing Turkeys, ham, roasts and many other things on the Weber. With indirect heat, you can cook anything you would cook in an oven. I grill alot, even in winter. Adding soaked wood chips can add lots of flavor to longer cooked items. If you do lots of brats and burgers, then maybe a gas is the best way to go. However, my brother in law has a dual fuel set up too, and for the most part, he uses charcoal. But using the propane to light the charcoal is very cool.:rockon:

 

[AJ_rider]

Ya know, that's not a half bad idea. Y'all would have to ride the bikes though because I don't have a lot of room for parking (6 cars, maybe, but plenty of bike parking.)

Of course we'd bring the bikes. I think it would be cool, maybe as it gets warmer out we can start planning something out.

Sorry didn't mean to :hijack: Back to grill discussion.

 

[04fizzer]

Of course we'd bring the bikes. I think it would be cool, maybe as it gets warmer out we can start planning something out.

My neighbor might hate me (she wants a bike in a bad way), but whatever. She can dealio.

 

[FizzySix]

Whatever you decide to buy, you should celebrate it by having all the Rochester/Buffalo FZ6 forum members over for a cookout!! Amirite! Where's the keg? I'll pump!

I'm in!

 

[DaveOTZ]

Boiled hot dogs are nasty.

and from a NYer too???

Thar goes the NY pride... It is a NY belly that can consume a Dirty Water Dog from a place called Papaya made from a higher, lower or port authority... rip a satisfying burp (that those around you think is a fart) then pretend your dieting by eating a salad and washing it down with a 400 calorie beer...

Cool idea having the charcoal and gas... with a side burner... I will have dreams about smoking my own bacon then making BBQ breakfast... Nothing cooks bacon better than a grill...

Damn where are you summer???

 

[MikeSpeed]

You did catch the part where the grill I'm looking at is 2 separate grills on one frame (not a gas/propane), and it's not stainless, but rather heavy gauge steel, right?

Yes, I saw it. I hope you didn’t think my rant was directed at you. It was more just a rant. Not targeting anyone specifically but to serve maybe as a warning to anyone buying a new grill.

As far as the grill you are looking at, I’ve never seen it before. The ones like it that I have seen I didn’t think too much of, but I couldn’t comment about this particular grill. One of the thing I mentioned before is to look for replacement parts. You wouldn’t buy a new bike if you knew you wouldn’t be able to buy parts for it later on would you? When it’s new it shouldn’t need any parts, but that’s not the point. The point is three years from now after the grill has well loved and has been outside for a few winters, you may need to replace some parts on it. Next time you’re at Lowes or Home Depot look at what parts they have for the grills.

As far as the stainless comment, that was really just part of the rant. I know it came out of left field, but it’s a huge pet peeve for me, and I just had to put it out there.

 

[MikeSpeed]

To the Weber kettle guys (threadjack warning), how hot are you getting the grill? I do mostly BBQ on mine (250+ degrees) but the hottest I've ever seen it is like 400, while my gas grill climbs to 600. Anyone use one with the thermometer in the lid, what do you run at, and do you use hardwood charcoal rather than briquettes? I'm surprised at the "charcoal is hotter" comments.

If you keep it around 250, it sounds like you know how to use your vents. But, just in case: If you open the vents all the way (or grill with the lid off) you will let in more air. With more air comes more oxygen. Without oxygen fire cannot exist. That’s why when you put the lid on, and close the vents the temp goes down. I know when I first started using the kettle I thought that if I put the lid on it would keep the heat in and it would get hotter, but that’s only part true. By closing the lid you limit the air flow to the fire to however large the vents are. Lid down with vents open will be hotter than lid down vents closed.
As far as how hot can I get my kettle, I couldn’t really say. But I know it’s hotter than the gas grill. Both grills will peg the nettle on the temp gauge over 600, but the gas grill it take longer to do it. (Assuming both grills are at temp when the gauge goes in.) Hard woods like oak and mesquite will burn hotter than briquettes, but if you look at the manual on the Weber kettle you’ll see that hardwoods void the warranty because they can get so much hotter.

 

[04fizzer]

and from a NYer too???

Thar goes the NY pride... It is a NY belly that can consume a Dirty Water Dog from a place called Papaya made from a higher, lower or port authority... rip a satisfying burp (that those around you think is a fart) then pretend your dieting by eating a salad and washing it down with a 400 calorie beer...

Cool idea having the charcoal and gas... with a side burner... I will have dreams about smoking my own bacon then making BBQ breakfast... Nothing cooks bacon better than a grill...

Damn where are you summer???

Not NYC, though. Up here, we have the best hot dogs on earth...Zweigles! Natural casings that pop when you bite into them. They taste best when grilled. Anything shy of that is just disgusting.

 

[AJ_rider]

Not NYC, though. Up here, we have the best hot dogs on earth...Zweigles! Natural casings that pop when you bite into them. They taste best when grilled. Anything shy of that is just disgusting.

You know it, Zweigles White HOTS FTW!