Charcoal Grills

I am looking for suggestions for a charcoal grill. I have done some research on it but it can all get a bit confusing. Some grills allow the coal tray to be raised and lowered to control heat while others have a fixed tray but control the heat through air holes/dampers at the bottom. I also have thought that it would be preferable to have the coal trays be able to slide back and forth, so for instance, you could slide the trays off the the side to put a drip pan underneath the roast or direct them off to one side for indirect heating as opposed to having to open the whole thing up and shovel hot coals over to the side. Is this the wrong line of thinking? I am looking for someting good quality that will live out on my paver patio that I could cover to use year round if I wanted. Thoughts? Discussion?

Gracias -
Dennis

Just get a Webber kettle grill. That is all you need. Nothing like it - I cannot live without mine. I have the one with an attached table, which I like, but I used the basic cheap version for many many years.

It is absolutely impossible, IMHO, to beat a Grill Dome - although a Big Green Egg, or Primo will give the Grill Dome a run for its money. The Grill Dome is efficient enough to cook outdoors even in sub-zero weather, will cook low and slow for 12 hours on one load of charcoal, can be temperature controlled and produces such tender, juicy meats you will just not believe it.

If I couldn't get one of the above mentioned, I would go with Scotto's advice and buy a weber kettle grill.

If you want to grill, get a Weber kettle grill. If you want to grill and smoke meats at low temps, get the BGE or a Weber Smokey Mountain. Don't know about the Primo or Grill Dome.

jim

Until I converted to the Weber Genesis (Gas) years ago, I would ONLY use a Weber Kettle Grill and KIngsford Charcoal. IMHO, you'll never make a mistake purchasing a Weber. They may be a little more expensive but they'll last you forever.

Big Green Egg........It'll be the last grill you buy.

http://www.biggreenegg.com/

Weber Kettle. It does it all. Every year my family 20+ pound turkey in ~3 hours. This might be my favorite year round deck toy. I've cooked it all on this baby and nothing beats that charcoal flavor IMO.

-Scott

redbike said:

If you want to grill, get a Weber kettle grill. If you want to grill and smoke meats at low temps, get the BGE or a Weber Smokey Mountain. Don't know about the Primo or Grill Dome.

jim

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Of course its a YMMV situation and never-ending debate. They all follow the same concept but generally speaking the BGE is the most popular and widely available ($$), the Primo offers the biggest cooking capacity but has firebox issues, and the Grill dome offers the thickest ceramics, best build quality and customer service second to none (the owner of the company responds to every issue personally, and will replace anything defective free of charge - sometimes even if its because of the customer's stupidity). Kamado makes a pretty good grill, I guess, but apparently their customer service is the stuff of nightmares, this in spite of the fact that their grills are even more expensive than BGE's.

slcsteve said:

Big Green Egg........It'll be the last grill you buy.

http://www.biggreenegg.com/

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Agreed, unless it is a BGE in a different size

Dennis02 said:

Is this the wrong line of thinking? I am looking for someting good quality that will live out on my paver patio that I could cover to use year round if I wanted. Thoughts? Discussion?

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Count me among the Big Green Egg fanatics.

I had a big Weber gas grill and a smoker. When it came time to replace the smoker, I discovered the Big Green Egg.

Fast forward a year later and I sold the Weber gas grill because I never used it anymore.

The Big Green Egg is absolutely awesome. It is basically a charcoal kettle made out of thick ceramic.

You can use it to grill or smoke. Also, it is an efficient wood fired oven. Cooks fantastic pizzas and works very well with a dutch oven.

It costs much more than a basic Weber charcoal, but it is in the same price range as a nice gas grill.

A good place to shop online is http://www.hearthsidedistributors.com. I believe the ship free, which is good on a heavy item.

(P.S. If you are the the kind of guy who can enjoy wetshaving as an obsession, try BGE cooking.)

Buzz said:

(P.S. If you are the the kind of buy who can enjoy wetshaving as an obsession, try BGE cooking.)

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Well said.

Well, good food for thought. I was thinking along the lines of cast iron grates which was why I had not thought about Weber. I just remember those thin, wire grates from when I was a kid and how hard they were to keep clean. I will have to reconsider them and take a look. I requested info on the BGE and I looked at the Hearthside site - they carry both Primo and BGE and seem to push the Primo as being the better value. I will need to do a bit more research especially since the Weber looks to be about ~$300 and the BGE and Primo at least $650 or more.

Dennis

I'm also very happy with my weber. This picture is from last summer.


I also recomend to buy a chimney starter.

Lars

I use an electric wand starter for charcoal. Two if I'm in a hurry and it's a big load of charcoal. Alas, my charcoal grill bit the dust after many years of service a couple of years back and my wife generously bought me a shiny new gas grill. No complaints, just different approaches and with the current busy schedule it helps when I come home and I get elected to cook supper and they're "starving". I have a water smoker to compliment it.

I want one of these babies:

http://www.ezqueinc.com/californiadual.htm

Anybody have any experience with their rottiseries?

My experience with charcoal grills is that it is the cook, not the equipment.

Gas, on the other hand, is a whole other animal.

FriscoSoxFan said:

My experience with charcoal grills is that it is the cook, not the equipment.

Gas, on the other hand, is a whole other animal.

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I can't argue with you. My preference is charcoal but I'm adaptable. If the end result is the same, everyone is happy I used to cater horse shows for fun and some profit and had to use whatever was available on-site plus some standard equipment I brought with me. Anything from a couple of Webers or gas grills up to some huge Texas style mesquite charcoal behemoth that could cook fifty bone in chicken breasts and twenty tri-tips at once. God, those were the days. Now, it's just the family and a few friends on occasion plus the July 4th block BBQ

FriscoSoxFan said:

My experience with charcoal grills is that it is the cook, not the equipment.

Gas, on the other hand, is a whole other animal.

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To a point that's true. I mean, if you can't cook, no grill will change that. But if you can cook, having good equipment makes it much easier to get good results in my opinion.

Case in point - given my cooking ability, I ought to be able to make great tasting food on any of the four grill-type devices I've owned: bullet smoker, gas grill, weber kettle, or grill dome. However, my wife will tell you - and my inlaws will confirm that the meats I grill on the grill dome are in a completely different league from anything I can make on the other three. The meat that I make on the other 3 grills is good, don't get me wrong. But the meat from the grill dome is great.

I can also easily bake wood fired, clay oven style pizza or bread (I've done both) on the grill dome, and there's no way that could be done on a weber or gas grill.

YMMV,

Gas is great for convenience. Some folks take this stuff a little more seriously than me, but my two cents is I have yet to see the gas grill (not that I have any doubt they exist, I just haven't seen them yet) that could put the sear on the outside of a steak that I like to see while still keeping the inside a nice medium rare. I've had planty of good steaks cooked on gas, but all the 'great' steaks I've had came from a broiler in a restaurant or a charcoal grill. Again, I have little doubt that there are gas grills that will fill the bill, I just haven't personally had the pleasure yet myself.

I found the trick with a gas grill to get a better sear is clean and oil the grill and then turn it all the way up and let it sit for 10 minutes before any food touches it. A lot of gas grills just don't put out enough heat. The newer ones are starting to address that problem. My biggest gripe with my gas grill is it has a U-tube gas element that I can use front or front/back so it lacks good functional area heat control. Again, adaptability is the key. It was a gift bless her heart.

I have an inexpensive gas grill. I hate cooking on it - I have a great gas range and electric oven. The gas grill is not offering me much of what I can't already get in the kitchen - no flavor boost and the complications and clean up is boosted each time I use it. Ugh. So I am looking at charcoal for all those obvious reasons including smoking, roasting up legs of lamb or other roasts, and general hot as can be searing and all that fun stuff.

Dennis