what ever you buy.... make sure its a weber. have had my weber charcoal kettle for 14 years. when i lived in an apartment had a bad storm one day... wind blew the kettel right off the balcony (from the third floor) and on down the street. picked it up put her back together.... she's been cooking good without a hitch. it not completely round anymore (kind egg shaped) but the grill top still fits inside and it works great. someday when i do buy another grill, it will be a weber.

 

My next grill will be two grills! A weber propane with a side burner and the weber charcoal with the small propane tank to lite it!

If you are not a "grill master" get a brand name cheapie like a char-broil or sunbeam. I have had my char-broil for over 6 years it cost me $150.00 has a side burner and a back rotsserie burner, parts are easy to find for ALL grills on the internet but make sure you shop around when I bought a new burner for mine it varried from $22-50 bucks for the same part!!

Anyway I use my grill 1-3 times a week all year even in the dead of winter, I always keep an extra full tank of propane and I use my side burner more than I use the grill because i do a lot of stir fry/saute type cooking and don't like all that mees in the kitchen!

Consumer reports rated the char-broil big easy a good grill for the money.

 

Weber has been the Consumer Reports best buy for many years. For the $300 to 400 price range, you can't find a better value. Ducane and Vermont Castings are great grills but cost a little more. If you have the $$ to spend then go for them but what ever you do, stay away from the Kmart brands and to make it last 10 to 15 years...buy a full cover. Nothing kills a good grill faster than rain...

It's just like buying a good truck. You get what you paid for...


Best ribs in town...
Take a rack of Hormell baby back pork ribs, sliced into 6 rib sections. Put into a cassrole dish with some peper\garlic seasoning, Baby Ray's or KC Masterpiece barbaque sauce and about 3/4 cup of beer. Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours at 350 or until 1/2 inch of bone is exposed at the tips. Put on grill for about 20 minutes while adding some more Baby Ray's sauce and building up a slight krispy outer crust. (the crust will help hold it together)

Shorten your time in the oven if the meat falls off the bone before it makes it to the plate.


MRiley

 

If you arn't cooking with charcoal you ain't cookin outdoors, Lump charcoal is the best. weber charcoal grill been doing it on that for 7 years looks new. nothing to replace ever.

 

Thanks for all the help!

Since we are just getting started with outdoor grilling. I may go ahead and start with an inexpensive grill. If we find that we are grilling more often, then maybe a more expensive one will be in order at a later date.

Do all gas grills use the lava rocks? Most of the ones that I have seen in the past had them. But the new ones in the stores don't seem to use them.

 

Nah, Not much lava rocks anymore. Too many flare-ups
Most now use metal plates over the burners, or even less expensive, a steel grate and ceramic blocs. the later are cheap enough to change every other year. My Old BBQ that you can see the picture earlier in this thread had the metal plates. The Original ones lasted about 4 years. the replacements only lasted about a year, so after changing the plates 3 times I bought a Universal grate (10 bucks, a box of ceramic blocks 10 bucks, 2 T-bone steaks 20 bucks, case of beer 15$. the smile on my face eating the steak... priceless)

Dpostman

 

You said it Buck! I've got family that brings steaks to my house to cook because they taste better cooked over coals than over gas. Had my grill 35 years now. Got it in the PX in Panama City Florida at Tyndall Air Force Base. Replaced the cook surface grate once in all that time.

 

I prefer real Bar-B-Q. Smoked low and slow.




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