Gas Grill

[transmaster]

Everybody stop and go here:

http://www.amazingribs.com/

This is a holy place :yes: I am serious.
Everything you ever wanted to know about grilling barbeque, smoking is to be found at this site, Grills, charcoal and gas, grates, recipes. Sauces, ribs, steaks, chops, pizza, hamburgers, chicken, there might even be road kill down there somewhere

Mulester7 the section on gas grills is extensive. I use both charcoal and gas depending on my mood. I though I knew about this stuff, well I hardly knew anything at all. Wait until you read the Zen of Charcoal I used to purchase nothing but natural lump charcoal, I don't anymore. When you get your gas grill be sure to get GrillGrates, I learned about them on the above site and I cannot believe how good they are. A trick with the GrillGrates if you want that smokey flavor just sprinkle some dry wood chips of your choice in between the grates.
If a this site was known in the Middle East there would be demands to shut it down. The pictures of naked barbequed pork spare ribs...damn.

This link ( http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumprankpoll.htm) is buried somewhere in the above site I decided to save you some time. It rates charcoal, prepare to learn:thmbsp:

“I'm not telling you, 'Never eat a hamburger.'
Just eat the good ones with real beef,
you know, like the ones from that mom-and-pop diner down the street,
And it's so good that when you take a bite out of that burger,
you just know somewhere in the world
a vegan is crying.”
Homer Simpson

 

[mulester7]

I'm like you, BBQing is a process for me, it relaxes me to get the charcoal, put in the BBQ, use the starter, control the fire, wait until the right momento to put the meat in, put the lid on, take it off, see how it's going, turn the meat around. You know, BBQing is a later afternoon thing for me, along with a few beers, it might take longer, but for me it tastes better than gas. Don't get me wrong, gas is more convenient, but i like it the other way.

Same as LPs, it's a process. You can put in a CD or stream music from the internet, more convenient, but it relaxes me to have to go through the "ride" that is playing vinyl. Same as charcoal.

.....real nice....I've loved the charcoal experiences I've had....every one of them....but I've now tasted a steak done in a gas-grill, and it's a wonderful taste considering what little maintenance it took to get it.....

.....last Wednesday evening about 7, two days ago, I was carrying 8 seasoned raw red ribeyes on a wide metal tray, with my daughter Amanda walking ahead of me toward their small gas-grill on the edge of their carport....after opening the top, she twisted a valve, turned two knobs, flicked her Bic, and said, "all yours, dad"....then she walked back into the house to deal with other parts of the meal....that's it....twist a valve, turn two knobs, and flick a Bic....my life passed before my eyes....that was the extent of the preparation of the fire in the cooker, and the end result steak tasted VERY good to me.....

.....Greg was on his way back home from working corn feeders for deer season starting this weekend in Arkansas....he loves to hit the woods on his 4-wheeler....I was glad to go ahead and start the steaks even though I knew nothing about the thing I was about to have to cook them on....well, things didn't go too bad cooking the meat, and Greg got home about the time I was taking the ribeyes up....Amanda had French fries about to come out of a big fry-daddy as we walked in the house....she also had COLD sweet tea in the icebox with plenty of ice in the freezer....at that point, all present turned into grunting slop-hogs.....

.....their gas grill is a small one with two burners....correction, the burners are a long pipe across the bottom, 1/2 of which gets gas from the knob on that side....hung from the sides over the pipe, was a piece of metal hanging in an upside-down "V" position, about 3 inches wide, and fire was visible coming around the front edge....I had trouble with the top closed....smoke would be pouring out holes nicely, but when I opened the top, fire rolled about 3 feet high....turned one burner off for a smoking section and started searing on the other burner....Amanda mighta' had both sides of the fire too high, I don't know.....

.....the Progressive insurance commercials with "Flo" are getting good.....

 

[jimbofish]

The briquettes are arranged flat on a grid above the burner. Grease and sauce drip down onto them and most of it burns off. A light, but hard crust builds up over the summer. Most of it flakes off and falls through to the bottom. If you use a lot of bbq sauce it can cover the spaces between, so you just take a putty knife and it scrapes off pretty easy. Usually I only do it at the end of the season when I clean it up for storage. Some can just be turned over and it will mostly burn off. Better ones last several years, cheaper ones only 3 at most before they start to crack and crumble.
The advantage over lava rock is that they aren't porous. Lava rock absorbs grease which then catches fire, and they can't be cleaned easily.

Edit: The amount of 'ash' at the end of a season is less than a cup.

 

[MunchsUncle]

I bought a really solid grill at Sears during the non-summer months for $199.99. It had a stainless steel lid and was one of those squared off deals. Sears used to sell all the things to replace in that grill as is written in this thread, including the rocks and the metal triangular rails. I think it had a thermometer built in to the lid too. It came in a box in pieces and required assembly. It was fun for me and it came out perfect. All I can say about the flames from the lava rock is to have a spray bottle of water that will squirt it in a narrow spray to put out the fire as you turn off the gas. There is nothing wrong with getting fat drippings on the triangular rails, and using that smoke to your advantage. Be brave as you put the lava rock on the triangular rails even if the fat causes a fire, you have the option of turning off the gas after you discretely put out the fire spraying only the rock if they are on the rails. You don't want to make the fire spread, and with all devices that use fire and with the price you pay to configure a grill that does make flames, a fire extinguisher is not a bad idea, and it would not take much of one to make the experience safe. Also considering how much you are going to pay for beef in Arkansas in the next few years, you should take advantage of Sears supply of parts every year.

 

[VinylHanger]

Everybody stop and go here:

http://www.amazingribs.com/

This is a holy place :yes: I am serious.
Everything you ever wanted to know about grilling barbeque, smoking is to be found at this site, Grills, charcoal and gas, grates, recipes. Sauces, ribs, steaks, chops, pizza, hamburgers, chicken, there might even be road kill down there somewhere

Mulester7 the section on gas grills is extensive. I use both charcoal and gas depending on my mood. I though I knew about this stuff, well I hardly knew anything at all. Wait until you read the Zen of Charcoal I used to purchase nothing but natural lump charcoal, I don't anymore. When you get your gas grill be sure to get GrillGrates, I learned about them on the above site and I cannot believe how good they are. A trick with the GrillGrates if you want that smokey flavor just sprinkle some dry wood chips of your choice in between the grates.
If a this site was known in the Middle East there would be demands to shut it down. The pictures of naked barbequed pork spare ribs...damn.

This link ( http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumprankpoll.htm) is buried somewhere in the above site I decided to save you some time. It rates charcoal, prepare to learn:thmbsp:

“I'm not telling you, 'Never eat a hamburger.'
Just eat the good ones with real beef,
you know, like the ones from that mom-and-pop diner down the street,
And it's so good that when you take a bite out of that burger,
you just know somewhere in the world
a vegan is crying.”
Homer Simpson

Great site. I see me spending a lot of time there.

 

[Billfort]

I bought a Weber Genesis a while back and aside from a couple problems, absolutely love the grill and I use it 3 - 4 times a week, year-round and up here, that means when it get's damn cold outside.

One problem is just a nuisance thing where the control knobs have a very light touch and putting the cover on can sometimes turn the outside knob on - if you are one to leave the tank valve on, that can mean emptying the tank. Easy enough to deal with - either check it after covering or turn off the tank valve when not in use.

The other problem I had was a touchy regulator that could sometimes refuse to open for unknown reasons - you could usually re-set it and use but there was a few times I just couldn't get the thing to re-set without leaving it overnight. Just took one time for this thing to leave me looking at a dead grill with a plate of fillets to cook to motivate me to replace the damn regulator.

Great cooking machine though, and I'd buy another Weber - worth the premium to me.

 

[mulester7]

.....I'll call them for sure....

.....maybe not ....will call Monday....had to watch Razorback football and charcoal 10 pounds of leg quarters this afternoon....concerning Arkansas Razorback football, I will say at this point of their season, the emperor has no clothes....we'll see what we have next Saturday against Rutgers.....

 

[hbrocks]

Good Post thanks for the review and the tips!
I'm so Ready to purchase one of these.
Will probably stick with basic black.
Might have to check out the grill grates....those seem interesting and make sense from the video I just watched.

I bought a Weber Genesis a while back and aside from a couple problems, absolutely love the grill and I use it 3 - 4 times a week, year-round and up here, that means when it get's damn cold outside.

Great cooking machine though, and I'd buy another Weber - worth the premium to me.

 

[Rockyhill]

Slightly off topic... Last night I spent 4 hours standing at a gas grill. It was at our high school marching band home show. I cooked approx 175 burgers!

 

[John James]

Slightly off topic... Last night I spent 4 hours standing at a gas grill. It was at our high school marching band home show. I cooked approx 175 burgers!

Good for you! Support you local High School Band as well as the sports teams.

 

[transmaster]

On the same vain as Rockyhill;
In Cheyenne, We have Frontier Days which is billed as the largest outdoor rodeo. As you know PETA does not think too highly of rodeo so every year we have a contingent of these clowns protesting. Back in the early 1980's this bunch was walking a picket line and a bunch of us got the bright idea of setting up charcoal grills up wind from them. We did, and we where cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, braut's, the usual. The smoke with all of these luscious smells started to waft over the protesters. They complained to the law enforcement doing security. A couple of them walked over to see what was going on and they got Hamburgers, hotdogs, braut's whatever they wanted for their trouble and we told them to send their fellow Police, and Deputies over for eats. The look on the faces of the PETA protesters was priceless as they watched the law enforcement, and other public service types one by one come and get their groceries. I love the grilling, barbeque thing.

 

[transmaster]

Might have to check out the grill grates....those seem interesting and make sense from the video I just watched.

You will note Grillgrates are cheaper if purchased at http://grillgrate.com/
They connect together so you can fit them to whatever grill size you have. These things are particularly good if you have a low cost gas grill that don't have the features you find on higher priced grills.

A really interesting thing to do is get a oven ready pizza from Papa Murphy's http://www.papamurphys.com/Home crank your gas grill up for all of the heat you can get 800-900 degrees, preheat either a pizza stone, or a Grillgrate. Using the Grillgrate if you want the taste of a pizza that has been baked in a traditional wood fired oven put a small amount of dry wood chips between the grates the smoke flavor will infuse the pizza , no soggy crusts. Either way excellent!!!! The Pizza's cook so fast that you can have quests waiting at the table, put the pizza on to cook and in 10 minutes, usually a lot less, you are sliding a hot, melted cheese, crusty pizza out in front of them.

 

[Rockyhill]

Good for you! Support you local High School Band as well as the sports teams.

My son is a senior so this was our final home show :-( Marching band has been a wonderful experience for him (and his parents!) BTW, under the new football coach, the Marshwood HS football team won their 3rd straight game Friday night , 54-0!

 

[mulester7]

.....guys, will I be happy with flavor-bars for searing?..flavor bars like in the Weber unit pictured in this thread, the Genesis E-310?....can you turn up the heat and make the flavor bars produce fire from fat dripping on them with the top open?....the flavor bars would surely come to temperature much quicker than lava rocks....

 

[JRSBat]

Weber customer service is fantastic. We bought a Summit Gold six years ago. Around three years ago the igniters stopped working. They had rusted out. I think I had to pay a small amount for the new igniters - can't remember if they were out of warranty. I called on a Sunday evening - got the parts just a few days later. Added bonus - as I spoke to customer service I also mentioned one or two screws in the base unit were rusting. The customer service rep said she would send the entire screw/washer,etc. package that came with the grill - for free. I replaced all of the originals with the new, shiney screws/washers/etc. The grill looked new!

Even better customer service - the igniter went bad again a few weeks ago. I once again called Weber customer service on a Sunday evening. I was ready to pay for the replacement. The customer service rep checked my records. She said I paid for the replacement igniter less than 3 years ago so it was still under warranty. She sent me an entire igniter system replacement from the push button to the igniters for free - and again I received it within a few days.

She did not have to mention I was still under warranty - I was ready to pay for the new unit. I really appreciate Weber's customer service approach.

 

[JRSBat]

.....guys, will I be happy with flavor-bars for searing?..flavor bars like in the Weber unit pictured in this thread, the Genesis E-310?....can you turn up the heat and make the flavor bars produce fire from fat dripping on them with the top open?....the flavor bars would surely come to temperature much quicker than lava rocks....

You should pre-heat the grill to get it up to full temperature before you begin grilling. If you do, the flavor bars will definitely ignite the fat creating big flames. At least that is what I have experienced.

 

[JosephH]

The flavor bars work great once hot. I picked up a Weber Silver a few years ago on CL for $100, and it has been a great buy. It is old enough that the build quality is still exceptional, I got some new stainless flavor bars and grates and it has been smooth sailing since. The grill is amazing, getting to 700+ degrees in short order, with the flavor bars and grates glowing red. Great for steaks of pizza. The 3 burners also allow low and slow, and help me avoid flareups. I fabricated a wood chip box from stainless steel and can smoke with it as well.
Charcoal is great for items which will be on the grill for a while, but for shorter on and off meats like steak, tenderloin, and sausages, gas is tough to beat.

 

[KFCrosby]

Not Lava Rock but ceramic brickets

http://www.alfrescogrills.com/LX242.html

Levin

 

[mulester7]

.....guys, I was looking at a Weber Genesis for $599, but I want to go with something not as tall....I work my charcoal Weber sitting in a plastic patio chair, and I'd like to do the same for a gas grill....are there shorter gas grills that have some stainless steel involved?.....

 

[transmaster]

You are not alone in this the site below has some solutions;
http://www.brightlivinggear.com/blogs/mobility-blog/2055542-wheelchair-accessible-grill-hack


There are these grills they are small but can turn out large amounts of you basic grill grub. The Solaire grills are pure infrared grillers.

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CGG...r=8-5&keywords=tabletop+gas+grill&tag=yjtv-20

or better:

http://solairegasgrills.com/products/accessories/portable-grills/

The wheel chair grilling forums like the Performer Charcoal
Grill With Touch-N-Go Gas Ignition. I have used this grill and they are marvelous. Load your charcoal hit the gas ignition system and you are ready to go in about 15 min's. It has a ash pan on the bottom that collects the ash and when cool you just remove it and dumb the ash into a metal trash can you don't really even have to handle it. They remove the wheels cut the bottom most part of the cart off reinstall smaller wheels and it lower the grill down by 6 to 8 inches depending on the wheels you fit.