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FRPLG · 05-30-2007, 11:52 PM

I'll echo SBF's sentiments. Look for one with as many cooking elements as possible. At least three on small and medium sized grills and 4 or 5 on the big ones. This way you can have zones for cooking. One thing to look for is orientation of the elements. Some grills have the elements situated vertically and some hortizontally. I personally like the veritcally oriented burners so when I am moving meat from high to low heat I am not needing to reach over the grill too much. I just move side to side. I have had several different types of elements and so far my best experiences have been the brass ones. Not sure if that really matters but my current grill has brass elements and they seem to holding up very well.

Another aspect to look at is your cooking surface. I have used the regular old cheap stainless steel grates, cast iron grates, and tempered steel grates. The stainless steel I hate. Cast irons are great but heat slowly and are a serious pain in the ass to keep even moderately clean. Plus they tend to have very wide grates. I prefer the tempered steel ones I have now. They "clean" easily, are very sturdy and heat quickly.

When I say "clean" I don't mean actually clean. I usually just let them burn off for about 5 more minutes on super high. This chars most of the leavin's away and leaves the much desired seasoning that a good grill needs. Every now and then I can pop the tempered steel grates into the oven and run them on a self clean cycle to really clean em up. Maybe once a year for that.

As far brands I have no real advice. Pick the sturdiest you can get. Look at the actual parts and touch and feel them to see if they seem cheap. What the grill looks like is meaningless. Stainless steel is nice looking but if the elements are cheap thin steel and the grates suck and the ignition parts are cheapo then you have a great looking grill that you'll need to replace parts on within 2 years. I find that generally price does match quality all in all. I have a charbroil commercial series that is simply a horse. My last charbroil was cheapo and a piece of junk. It did the job but we burned up the element in it in less than two seasons and the ignition stopped working and so forth. One cost like $180 the other more like $400. The $400 one will probably last over twice the time so it is generally worth it to spend more. I do think Jenn Airs are ridiculously priced though. Don't know anyone who has had one but I can't see what a $800 dollar grill like that will do for twice the price of mine.

Get a good cover and use it. That will extend the life of the grill.

05-30-2007, 11:52 PM	#20
FRPLG MVP Join Date: May 2004 Age: 47 Posts: 10,164	Re: Got charcoal? I'll echo SBF's sentiments. Look for one with as many cooking elements as possible. At least three on small and medium sized grills and 4 or 5 on the big ones. This way you can have zones for cooking. One thing to look for is orientation of the elements. Some grills have the elements situated vertically and some hortizontally. I personally like the veritcally oriented burners so when I am moving meat from high to low heat I am not needing to reach over the grill too much. I just move side to side. I have had several different types of elements and so far my best experiences have been the brass ones. Not sure if that really matters but my current grill has brass elements and they seem to holding up very well. Another aspect to look at is your cooking surface. I have used the regular old cheap stainless steel grates, cast iron grates, and tempered steel grates. The stainless steel I hate. Cast irons are great but heat slowly and are a serious pain in the ass to keep even moderately clean. Plus they tend to have very wide grates. I prefer the tempered steel ones I have now. They "clean" easily, are very sturdy and heat quickly. When I say "clean" I don't mean actually clean. I usually just let them burn off for about 5 more minutes on super high. This chars most of the leavin's away and leaves the much desired seasoning that a good grill needs. Every now and then I can pop the tempered steel grates into the oven and run them on a self clean cycle to really clean em up. Maybe once a year for that. As far brands I have no real advice. Pick the sturdiest you can get. Look at the actual parts and touch and feel them to see if they seem cheap. What the grill looks like is meaningless. Stainless steel is nice looking but if the elements are cheap thin steel and the grates suck and the ignition parts are cheapo then you have a great looking grill that you'll need to replace parts on within 2 years. I find that generally price does match quality all in all. I have a charbroil commercial series that is simply a horse. My last charbroil was cheapo and a piece of junk. It did the job but we burned up the element in it in less than two seasons and the ignition stopped working and so forth. One cost like $180 the other more like $400. The $400 one will probably last over twice the time so it is generally worth it to spend more. I do think Jenn Airs are ridiculously priced though. Don't know anyone who has had one but I can't see what a $800 dollar grill like that will do for twice the price of mine. Get a good cover and use it. That will extend the life of the grill.