On Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at 10:58:19 AM UTC-4, bob haller wrote:
Lava rocks have fallen out of favor because they did just what they
were advertised to do - smoke your food by heating fat droppings to a
very high temperature which then smoked. That helped flavor the food,
but some believe heating meat fat until it smokes creates cancer
causing molecules that end up in you. I don't know how much of a
problem that really is, but it is why you don't see many lava rocks in
grills these days.

no different than smoke from those bars.


I guess the theory is that withh rocks there is more area for the
fat to hit compared to the flames spreader bars. But how much
difference that really makes, who knows. Plus I thought the big
issue with the possible carcinogens was from actually charring the
meat, I don't recall hearing that the smoke was the main culprit.



I have my moms old gas grill with lava rocks, i have taken it apart and put many of the parts in my self cleaning oven on a short cleaning cycle, even the lava rocks.

my old gas grill bought early 80s works far better than new ones sold today. i am thinking of getting a old friend with a machineshop to make me a forever burner for it.


I had a weber, bought long time ago. It lasted
a long time, 10+ years When it finally went, I decided to try replacing
it with one that cost less than half what a Weber would have
cost. It's a Charmglow or Charmbroil, can't remember which. The
theory was that if it lasts even half as long, then maybe it's
a better value, you get a new grill sooner, etc. Well, it only
lasted about 3 years before the burners and bars were shot. Even
worse, and what I wasn't expecting, the heat distribution was very
uneven. Weber was very uniform. So, bottom line is I think Weber
is worth the higher price. But then I haven't bought one recently,
so IDK if the Weber today is the same quality as ones from the past.
Anyone have recent experience?

Also, the talk about lave rocks got me thinking. If you have
a grill where the heat is uneven, I wonder if using rocks would
even it out?

And on the smoke flavoring the meat from rocks, I saw a recent
taste test of a bunch of the widely available burgers. Burger
King won on flavor. And while BK isn't my typical choice for
a burger, I have to say that there burgers do have a taste like
they came off a charcoal grill. IDK how exactly they cook
them, they say they are flame broiled. I recall years ago they
had a conveyor that took them through a broiler. Whatever
they are doing, it does give their burgers a different taste.
But maybe they are putting some secret flavoring on it that's
a factor too, IDK.




stanless comes in both magnetic, it rusts, and NON magnetic THAT NEVER RUSTS.

most gas grills made today are magneticstainless, they still rust but calling it stainless creates sales

i have replaced the burner perhaps 20 or more times over the years