What to look for in buying a gas grill?

[davidamarkley]

Mods - This was the best place I could think of putting this, but you can put it wherever you think is best. Thanks!

Ok, I'm looking to buy a gas grill... I know a lot of you guys use/have them, so what are some things to look for in order to get a good grill and any advice you have on them. This will be the first one for me to buy, so I'm pretty clueless on what features and everything would be nice to have. What is a good price on one, and if you know of a certain Brand/Model that is particularly good, I'd be very grateful to know what has worked for you.

Thanks!

David

BTW, I know this isn't quite tech, so that's why I put it in the IMO Community!

[caddmannq]

Originally posted by davidamarkley
What to look for in buying a gas grill?

Charcoal.

I've seen two of these catch fire on a hot day when the extra heat of the grill itself caused gas to vent from the tank and ignite. As that causes the tank to heat even more, the flame from the vent continues. If it's directed toward a hose, you could have a "serious event".

OK, if gas is a must, I'd find one that had the cylinders as far from the burner as possible.

Second, I would never fill the tanks until they actually vent. This is the typical method to tell if a tank is full when you charge it, but as the temp increases, a full tank will continually vent more gas.

I'd only fill them to 75% capacity, or 60% on a cold day, particularly if you are going to barbecue on a hot day. (Don't we all? )

[thekingofpain]

A neighbor just bought a Weber Genesis (silver) and its about the best one ive ever seen/used---id start there for basic info and buying advice---cant go wrong with Weber no matter which one you choose...
http://www.weber.com/

[davidamarkley]

Thanks, now you know I meant propane gas right? I'm sure you did...

Thanks again!

Anthing else?

David

EDIT: Thanks TKOP! I really like those Weber grills... I'll have to see if a local store carries them. Also, what about Sunbeam? Is that a good brand?

[Blazer06]

Go with the Weber. I have assembled about 9 of them in the past week. Never fail. Cost more, but have a life-time warrenty. I can put a silver-a together in about 7 minutes.

no bricketts needed.


Blaze

[Brainchild]

Mom bought a run of the mill WalMart job last year, it's fairly nice for the $$,although I prefer charcoal myself.

I like the grills that have the large built in tables on the side,nice for holding all the fixins while ya cook.

[davidamarkley]

Would they sell the Weber at, say, a Lowe's? Or Home Depot?

David

EDIT: I just called around and Lowe's has some Weber grills. I'll be going there a little later. Thanks everyone!! I'm sure I'll like it!

[thekingofpain]

There is a dealer locater by areacode within the Weber website, then just make a couple phonecalls and que up!

[RedFury]

It's probably too late by now, but what the heck...I love grilling!

I just bought a Fiesta brand grill for 200 bucks and love it. They make some crappy run of the mill grade ones like Charbroil, but I got on of their better models, and for the price, I love it to death.

What I look for in a gas grill....Cast Iron cooking surface-no steel rods coated with porcelain for me. Dual or better burner control with self ignition ( Mine is automatic like a gas stove, not the clicking button ignition...runs off a 9v battery ). Side burner is nice, but not necessary. For me, it's nice to have when I want to cook fish, because the wife hates the smell, and this way I can cook it without her dry heaving all around the place )

Mulitple levels are awesome features, especially if you have a good sized second rack...keeps the food warm, but gives you space for grill management-great for cooking steak and chicken at the same time. A temp gauge isn't necessary, but nice. If it doesn't come with one, don't worry. Home Depot carries them for 7 bucks and you can just drill a 3/8ths hole and put in your own.

The most over looked feature on any grill, and one of the most important is the actual burner itself. The stamped stainless steel burners "H" type don't last forever. If possible, get that in heavy steel or cast iron. Webers almost exclusively use them, and the Webers generally have extremely even heating. Mine has "flavor" bars that sit over an H burner which distribute the heat evenly, and help avoid grease flares. I can cook 73% lean hamburger without the burgers getting burnt ( although they cook like shrinky dinks ).

I used to use a small compact charbroil with lava rock and propane and would burn almost everything if I didn't tend to it at every moment the gas was on. When I dismantled it and sent it to BBQ heaven, I noticed that the H burner didn't have any of the normal holes around the perimeter anymore...I basically had a sheetmetal sandwhich that spread the gas...that could have been nasty if something went wrong.

My new grill...lovin' every minute of it.

[desmocat]

I just bought a Brinkmann 2500 from Wally world and I love it.
cost about 300 bucks but made from stainless and has cast iron grates and burners.
As far as over filling the cylinders, all new grills have to have by law an OPD, overfill protection device. This prevents filling them too full, even though you might have a 5 gallon tank, it only fills it to about 75 to 80% to allow for expansion of the gas.
If you bring an old type cylinder in to fill, they are not supposed to fill it. The new types have a triangle shaped handle on the valve.

Brinkmann doesn't have a very good site, but if you have a WalMArt near you, give it a look, it has a side burner ana small box to put wood chips in to add smoke flavor to stuff you cook on it.
The suckers heavy too, about 200 pounds.. it evem comes with a little wrench and a screwdriver to put it together with.