Gas Grill Advice?

[Saltheart]

Get one with a cast burner manifold. They will outlast the sheet metal manifold models by 10 years or more.

I was given a Charbroil for a present one year and I got to say i am surprised how well its holding up. It does not have the cast manifold which is too bad cause the rest of the grill still looks new.

A stainless one is raelly nice. I imagine a stainless one with the Nickel.iron cast mnifold would probably go 20 years with no p[roblems. Its a case of you get what you pay for. What I do is find the ideal model , then shop for as low a price as possible on it.

[striperman36]

weber, 10 years no problem.

[spence]

I don't think there's much difference between the Weber and Vermont Castings. Both are still good but I doubt either is as good as they both once were.

Agree on the stainless burners, that's what mine are and they're very durable. Nearly every part on my grill is stainless and carries a lifetime warranty which is nice. It's an old Kitchen Aid made by Lynx.

Even better are the bronze cast burners. Stainless steel when heated won't last forever.

If you cook with a lot of high heat a cheap burner won't last more than a few seasons.

-spence

[luds]

If you do go the weber route try to stay away from homies or lowes. If you compare the features that those grills have against what they carry at ace or independant stores you will be surprised at the better quality you get for a small fraction of a cost increase. the most notable thing being better cooking surfaces.

[Mike P]

I had a Vermont Castings which was purchased from Home Cheapo---it lasted a whopping year and a half. It was used all winter, too--never sat idle. The company went bankrupt shortly after we bought it, and we couldn't get the parts to fix it

Vermont Castings in under new ownership now, and they're supposedly much better---but our next grill is still going to be a Weber.

[spence]

Interestingly enough, I think a lot of the big name grills at the big box stores are just purchased names. Pretty sure both Ducane and Jenn-Air are...

I didn't know VC went under, but it doesn't surprise me if they couldn't navigate the storm after HD started to price squeeze them. When my father bought his Vermont Castings the price difference between HD and the local retailer was more than 50% more. Big difference in quality...

Here's a nice photo of my grill, at least the top of it


-spence

[Raven]

with Gas grills outdoors except for not
cooking inside the house ect. mess and smoke

because i prefer to BBQ with 100% WOOD charcoal
for the flavor imparted to the meat that you
can never get from a gas grill.

It's almost as if the gas grill has become a
sort of status symbol like a second car
every year they are bigger
soon they'll have TV's built into them

right now they are adding fridges to them
side burners for steaming corn or lobster ect...

and Spence is advertising his favorite Brew on them
like they are a sexy girl in a Bikini with sushi on her Belly.

Just my woodsy opinion though....never mind. )

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by spence

Interestingly enough, I think a lot of the big name grills at the big box stores are just purchased names. Pretty sure both Ducane and Jenn-Air are...

I didn't know VC went under, but it doesn't surprise me if they couldn't navigate the storm after HD started to price squeeze them. When my father bought his Vermont Castings the price difference between HD and the local retailer was more than 50% more. Big difference in quality...

Here's a nice photo of my grill, at least the top of it


-spence

The box stores order in such volume that they can jam their specs down a manufacturer's throat, and offer "name" brands of inferior quality. A locksmith showed me the difference between a HD Schlage door lock, and the "genuine:"one that hardware stores sold--same was true of Delta faucets. Much cheaper components inside.

I understand that the new owners of Vermont Castings are not allowing their grills to be sold at HD and Blowes.