Gas Grill - What to Buy
 

So ... I'm looking at all the nice new shiny gas grills (LP, that is) out there ... and
wow, there's a *lot* of choices. Been a long time since I've bought one of these things.

Let's see .....

Burners: Stainless Steel vs. Cast Iron vs. Brass vs. Aluminum (I think) ..... what's
better, and why?

Splash Shields / Flavorizer Bars: Some of the burners have them, some don't. Why?
Does it really matter?

Cooking Grates: Stainless Steel vs. Porcelain over something vs. Enamel over something
What's better, and why?

Lava Rocks and other ceramic / cement briquettes seem to have gone the way of the dodo
bird. Is the "new" model just cooking directly over the burner?

Firebox? What do you look for?

Thanks ... Phil

Alot are cheap in cost and dont last. Weber is good, there are of course
better but you pay. Consumer Reports rated quite a few of them, go
online. For good quality units find a store that carries higher end
units only. Price is a big factor in quality,

"Phil" wrote in message
...
So ... I'm looking at all the nice new shiny gas grills (LP, that is) out
there ... and
wow, there's a *lot* of choices. Been a long time since I've bought one
of these things.

Let's see .....

Burners: Stainless Steel vs. Cast Iron vs. Brass vs. Aluminum (I think)
..... what's
better, and why?

Splash Shields / Flavorizer Bars: Some of the burners have them, some
don't. Why?
Does it really matter?

Cooking Grates: Stainless Steel vs. Porcelain over something vs. Enamel
over something
What's better, and why?

Any of the better brands will have a good setup. I have a VC series Vermont
Castings with SS burner tubes and SS flavorizer bars. Holding up well after
about five trouble free years. www.vermontcastings.com Other good brands
are MHP www.modernhomeproducts.com Ducane, Broilmaster, Broil King, Weber.

Much of the grates is personal preference. I have a heavy cast iron with
porcelain coating. plain CI is prone to rust.

Go to a propane dealer or a store that specializes in outdoor furniture for
the better brands to choose from. Make a list of what is important to you.
Rotisserie with infrared burner? Wood chip box? Side burner?

"Phil" wrote in message
...
So ... I'm looking at all the nice new shiny gas grills (LP, that is) out
there ... and
wow, there's a *lot* of choices. Been a long time since I've bought one
of these things.

Let's see .....

Burners: Stainless Steel vs. Cast Iron vs. Brass vs. Aluminum (I think)
..... what's
better, and why?

Splash Shields / Flavorizer Bars: Some of the burners have them, some
don't. Why?
Does it really matter?

Cooking Grates: Stainless Steel vs. Porcelain over something vs. Enamel
over something
What's better, and why?

Lava Rocks and other ceramic / cement briquettes seem to have gone the way
of the dodo
bird. Is the "new" model just cooking directly over the burner?

Firebox? What do you look for?

We like our three burner Weber. Important features to me include fuel guage
(by weight, or line guage) thermometer, flavorizer bars (keep the drippings
off the burners), resistance to corrosion (we are on the coast). St Steel
will not cook better but s.s. key parts last much longer. Had I to do it
over, I would buy St steel flav. bars and st steel body, plus heavy cast
iron grill (cooks more evenly) vs current stamped-sheetiron porcelained
grill.

Phil wrote:
So ... I'm looking at all the nice new shiny gas grills (LP, that is)
out there ... and wow, there's a *lot* of choices. Been a long time
since I've bought one of these things.

Wellll..... about five years ago I needed an LP gas grill for a weekend
party I was hosting at a friend's beach house. My plan was to 'donate'
the grill to my friend after the party was over.

I considered buying a high-end grill with stainless steel, etc., but
after thinking about how rough the salt air was on anything metal I
decided on a lower priced cast aluminum grill with porcelain cooking
racks. I recall it was a Char-Broil that I bought at HD. My
expectation was that my friend would throw it away after a year, maybe
two at most.

We had a party last night at his house and the grill is still going
strong. He has to light it with a match because the ignitor quit a
couple of years ago, but with two sets of new cooking grills over five
years, it was a bargain at about $250. It still gets used about once a
week, and he cleans it out a couple of times a year with engine
degreaser and a wire brush.

Hope this helps.

In article , Phil
wrote:

So ... I'm looking at all the nice new shiny gas grills (LP, that is) out
there ... and
wow, there's a *lot* of choices. Been a long time since I've bought one of
these things.

http://www.kamado.com/index.html

Yes, you can get a gas model, although why would you want to? Buy one
of these and you'll never need another grill, ever.

-Frank

--
fwarner1-at-franksknives-dot-com
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/

I'd also recommend getting a natural gas grill if you have gas heat.
Once the line is run, you
never have to fool around with LP tanks again.

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 17:47:20 GMT, (Phil) wrote:

So ... I'm looking at all the nice new shiny gas grills (LP, that is) out
there ... and
wow, there's a *lot* of choices. Been a long time since I've bought one
of these things.

If you want to cook chickens on a rotissarie be sure to get the back
burner. I can put a bird on and forget it. You get a golden brown bird
back in an hour or so with no fires. Roll it in lemon pepper spice
first and you got ya something. You can also do a great job on hot
dogs brats etc if you get a rotissarie basket. I can put a pack in
there, turn it on and 20 minutes later they come out just like the
ones on the roiller grill at the 7-11. Put a smoke pack over a burner
on the side for extra flavor.

The one I bought can burn charcoal or gas grill.
its pretty nice but I have seen some at costco that were stainless so
they wont rust out.

the important thing is to have more than 2 burners
4 would be very nice. it allows you to turn off the middle burners so
you can cook with indirect heat.
its good for cooking large roasts and turkeys without them burning