GWJ BBQ Catch All

mindset.threat wrote:

This exactly. On the 4th some friends of ours invited people over since they'd just gotten a propane grille from Home Depot at what they thought was a great price. By the time the party was over he was ready to take it back for all the reasons that Mrwynd mentioned. The back right section was an inferno while the front left section would hardly cook anything through. If your grille is going to see heavy use I'd be willing to pay more for the quality.

So, follow on question.

What kind of money should I be budgeting for a not-crap propane grill?

I have *never* owned a propane grill before, so I'm completely in the dark, but I'd like to get something that lasts me at least 5 years, if not 10+, and is middle-of-the-road in terms of quality. I don't want crap, but I'm not willing to drop several thousand bucks on it.

mrwynd wrote:

I'm not exactly a pro but I've used both crappy and high quality propane grills and the biggest difference is heat distribution. On every cheap propane grill I've used 1/3 of the grill is twice as hot as the rest and 1/3 is even colder so after using it for a while you figure out where the good spots are for what kind of meat. Some spots being unusable for certain cuts. On a nice grill there's even heat or at least there's supposed to be.

Or you've also got the option of a charcoal grill which are generally much cheaper than propane.
If you know how to use it properly, you can get the right charcoal bed/heat distribution for any type of cooking you want to do and the flavor is much better.

Haakon7 wrote:
mrwynd wrote:

I'm not exactly a pro but I've used both crappy and high quality propane grills and the biggest difference is heat distribution. On every cheap propane grill I've used 1/3 of the grill is twice as hot as the rest and 1/3 is even colder so after using it for a while you figure out where the good spots are for what kind of meat. Some spots being unusable for certain cuts. On a nice grill there's even heat or at least there's supposed to be.

Or you've also got the option of a charcoal grill which are generally much cheaper than propane.
If you know how to use it properly, you can get the right charcoal bed/heat distribution for any type of cooking you want to do and the flavor is much better.

Also somewhat better browning due to the combustion not creating any water vapor. Also also, there's just something very manly about wearing welding gloves and dumping a chimney-starter-full of glowing red coals into a grill.

Haakon7 wrote:
mrwynd wrote:

I'm not exactly a pro but I've used both crappy and high quality propane grills and the biggest difference is heat distribution. On every cheap propane grill I've used 1/3 of the grill is twice as hot as the rest and 1/3 is even colder so after using it for a while you figure out where the good spots are for what kind of meat. Some spots being unusable for certain cuts. On a nice grill there's even heat or at least there's supposed to be.

Or you've also got the option of a charcoal grill which are generally much cheaper than propane.
If you know how to use it properly, you can get the right charcoal bed/heat distribution for any type of cooking you want to do and the flavor is much better.

I've already got a cheap charcoal grill - I'm an old hand with that.

My plan is to have a propane grill on the deck, right outside the kitchen door, for quick grilling and year-round stuff, and the charcoal grill down in the garden for when I can be bothered with the extra work involved.

I'd say the best bang/buck is the Weber Q line, JonMan.

Jonman wrote:
mindset.threat wrote:

This exactly. On the 4th some friends of ours invited people over since they'd just gotten a propane grille from Home Depot at what they thought was a great price. By the time the party was over he was ready to take it back for all the reasons that Mrwynd mentioned. The back right section was an inferno while the front left section would hardly cook anything through. If your grille is going to see heavy use I'd be willing to pay more for the quality.

So, follow on question.

What kind of money should I be budgeting for a not-crap propane grill?

I have *never* owned a propane grill before, so I'm completely in the dark, but I'd like to get something that lasts me at least 5 years, if not 10+, and is middle-of-the-road in terms of quality. I don't want crap, but I'm not willing to drop several thousand bucks on it.

Check out the Weber Genesis. They run around $650-700. We used one of the 10 or 20% coupons Home Depot sends out periodically.

The cart is a little flimsy (a trait not uncommon to Weber) but the grill itself is a tank. Three burners which heat evenly and the heavy, thick lid helps it reach and stay at temperature.

One of my personal quick checks is a heavy lid. If the lid is really thin and light, the grill probably isn't worth looking at (with exceptions for "special" ridiculously priced models).

Serengeti wrote:

What model do you have? I've been doing some research and they all seem to be low quality (CharBroil) or super expensive (TEC).

I have last year's Charbroil RED, three burner + side burner. I chose it over the Weber E series because of the gas control knob placement. I typically use both sides of the grill for food safety reasons, and the knobs on the Weber occupy key work space (for me at least).
The Charbroil was rated very highly at CR.

LilCodger wrote:
Jonman wrote:
mindset.threat wrote:

This exactly. On the 4th some friends of ours invited people over since they'd just gotten a propane grille from Home Depot at what they thought was a great price. By the time the party was over he was ready to take it back for all the reasons that Mrwynd mentioned. The back right section was an inferno while the front left section would hardly cook anything through. If your grille is going to see heavy use I'd be willing to pay more for the quality.

So, follow on question.

What kind of money should I be budgeting for a not-crap propane grill?

I have *never* owned a propane grill before, so I'm completely in the dark, but I'd like to get something that lasts me at least 5 years, if not 10+, and is middle-of-the-road in terms of quality. I don't want crap, but I'm not willing to drop several thousand bucks on it.

Check out the Weber Genesis. They run around $650-700. We used one of the 10 or 20% coupons Home Depot sends out periodically.

The cart is a little flimsy (a trait not uncommon to Weber) but the grill itself is a tank. Three burners which heat evenly and the heavy, thick lid helps it reach and stay at temperature.

One of my personal quick checks is a heavy lid. If the lid is really thin and light, the grill probably isn't worth looking at (with exceptions for "special" ridiculously priced models).

Weber Genesis and Kenmore Elite are supposed to be good you don't mind spending at least $650+ for the heavier stuff. If its going to be right outside the kitchen door, have you thought about running a natural gas line straight to the grille?

Agree on the Webers. Not much in the way of extra features, but they're solidly built. The mid-range Ducane Affinity line is similar (see page 2 of this thread), and they run $500-$600.

mindset.threat's suggestion is a good one--no running out of propane at inopportune times & having to swap out your empties.

For those of you buying grills, if you're planning on doing any serious bbq, look at charcoal instead of propane. There are plenty of fairly well built charcoal grills with an offset firebox to give good indirect heat with lots of good smoke.

This with this will go a pretty long way to producing some bodacious bbq.

I love my Weber coal BBQ. Gotta get an electric starter for it.

My BBQ recipe tip is pretty straight forward: We made Teriyaki Shish Kabob with the usual stuff like beef, peppers, onions, pineapple and bacon. Or maybe that's not usual, but it should be. We made more than we could eat so we stuck the rest in the fridge.

The next day I suggested we throw the leftovers on a pizza and OH MY GOD SO GOOD. Use a mix of BBQ sauce and pizza sauce (about half and half) for it.

I just grilled pizza yesterday for the first time. It is way way better than conventional oven heated pizza. It is for sure not a set it and forget it type of grilling though. Try it and you will prefer it every time.

Couple tips plus recipe -

No pepperoni (It did not get crunchy enough), sauté the veggies beforehand, and lightly spread oil on the pizza dough on both sides before putting on the grill. make mini pizzas. Easier to handle on the grill.

Grill one side just to make it slightly brown, turn over grill the other side a bit longer than first (you will be putting your toppings on this side cooking), turn around again put on sauce cheese and veggies. Put back on grill to melt cheese, warm veggies. Don't let the crust burn.

goman wrote:

I just grilled pizza yesterday for the first time. It is way way better than conventional oven heated pizza. It is for sure not a set it and forget it type of grilling though. Try it and you will prefer it every time.

Couple tips plus recipe -

No pepperoni (It did not get crunchy enough), sauté the veggies beforehand, and lightly spread oil on the pizza dough on both sides before putting on the grill. make mini pizzas. Easier to handle on the grill.

Grill one side just to make it slightly brown, turn over grill the other side a bit longer than first (you will be putting your toppings on this side cooking), turn around again put on sauce cheese and veggies. Put back on grill to melt cheese, warm veggies. Don't let the crust burn.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats...

Recipes from The Man.

Certis wrote:

I love my Weber coal BBQ. Gotta get an electric starter for it.

My BBQ recipe tip is pretty straight forward: We made Teriyaki Shish Kabob with the usual stuff like beef, peppers, onions, pineapple and bacon. Or maybe that's not usual, but it should be. We made more than we could eat so we stuck the rest in the fridge.

The next day I suggested we throw the leftovers on a pizza and OH MY GOD SO GOOD. Use a mix of BBQ sauce and pizza sauce (about half and half) for it.

Perfect timing! I've got leftover BBQ'd kabobs from last night, and I'm totally going to make pizza with them now! Thanks for the suggestion!

Awesome! Let me know how it goes.

Certis - Is an electric starter faster than a chimney starter? Great idea about using leftovers.

Subscribed for future BBQ goodness; I don't have access to my grill/smoker setup in my current apartment, but I sometime go visit it at my in-law's house. I made a beautiful smoked pulled pork on it a few years ago, but my most successful dish was a grilled Moroccan leg of lamb rubbed with spice butter throughout the whole cooking process.

goman wrote:

Certis - Is an electric starter faster than a chimney starter? Great idea about using leftovers.

It's easier. It's like a handle with the coil to an electric stove that you just plug in and bury in charcoal.

wordsmythe wrote:
goman wrote:

Certis - Is an electric starter faster than a chimney starter? Great idea about using leftovers.

It's easier. It's like a handle with the coil to an electric stove that you just plug in and bury in charcoal.

Yep. My Uncle Jim used one all the time when I was a kid out at the cottage. You just need to be careful taking it out, you don't want to burn yourself/small children.

Never actually used a chimney starter before, that's a pretty elegant solution too.

Left over BBQ Kabob pizza was AWESOME. Tasted better than about any other pizza I have ever made.

The chimney is my favorite method for starting charcoal grills. I've used an electric starter and a small propane blowtorch style starter, but I really prefer the chimney. Now that I've got that previously mentioned RED, I only break it out when we use my mini charcoal job tailgating, camping or on picnic.

Speaking of which, we went to the beach yesterday and I brought out my mini grill and made a simple BBQ of assorted sausages, hot dogs and their matching buns. While the dogs and sausages were cooking, I just took a bunch of pre-sliced peppers and onions, dropped them in a pouch of folded aluminum foil with some extra cracked black pepper, and then slid that pouch right on to the grill. The pouch came off when the meat was all done and I simply unfolded the pouch into a nice bowl to hold all the juices and veggies, and set it in the center of our makeshift buffet line. Instant grilled veggie condiments to add to your dog!

Anyone have any experience with an Ugly Drum Smoker?

http://www.cbbqa.org/wiki/index.php?title=Ugly_Drum_Smoker

As they say, electrics are faster. I prefer a chimney for a more even burn on everything.

My wife made these in an oven bag:

IMAGE(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b296/Bonus_Eruptus/food/ribs_taters_asparagus.jpg)

Sacrilicious.

IT'S ALIIIIIVE!

The warmer weather has really invigorated me. Started off the year with a brisket and some ABT's, wings, etc.

Tonight I did some veggie, beef, shrimp kabobs. Half the beef was done with Montreal Steak seasoning, the other half with Dizzy Pig Raising the Steaks seasoning. Got home @ 4:00, wifey and son get home 6:15 so I chilled for 2 hours. Fired up the Egg, applied 20 minutes or so of hickory smoke, drank 4 craft brews, cranked some Cedric Watson on the outdoor stereo. Food came out perfect, felt nice and buzzed. Life is good.

IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O9-gmiLqtEw/T3Osn9qs53I/AAAAAAAAD-c/tMDQEJVjca4/s800/IMAG0180.jpg)
IMAGE(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-OJBEZXx_Tsk/T3Os3bkUQoI/AAAAAAAAD-k/qTNQJaKCagA/s800/IMAG0181.jpg)
IMAGE(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9Zp6Ton5NhY/T3OtBZBhUxI/AAAAAAAAD-s/To-v0NApNQ8/s512/IMAG0182.jpg)

How do those firewire (wire kabobs) work? I've always used the traditional skewers, but those looked useful for cohabitation of the grill space at large BYOM gatherings.

Those Fire Wire skewers are a genius idea! Just ordered 4 of them, thanks!

You guys will love them. I've had them about a year now and no fraying or broken wires that can cause wounds. Much easier to work with than traditional skewers.

Anyone have experience with cast iron cookware? I had a pre-seasoned skillet last year that rusted within a week and I had used the recommended care instructions.

I want to pickup a cast iron dutch oven (for smoked chili) and another skillet but due to my experience, I'm a little hesitant. But obviously cast iron is a great material and people have lots of success.

What am I doing wrong?

Oh this is going to be a bad thread for me to be reading. And by bad, I mean awesome!

Hopefully firing up my grill (my birthday present from last fall) for the first real time this weekend. This is much overdue because I broke my ankle a couple days after we assembled it and had to stay at Demyx's apartment until I was cleared to climb stairs again. So there will be much rejoicing around the smell of grilled meats this year

FSeven wrote:

What am I doing wrong?

Obvious question, but are you drying the skillet before oiling it? Also, where are you storing it? I noticed the underside of my skillet picked up a little bit of rust because I was storing it on top of a pizza stone on top of my microwave. I don't know how the physics worked (I'd love if someone could explain this to me) but somehow there was a thin layer of water that kept forming between the skillet and the stone when I was storing them there.

LouZiffer wrote:

Essentially you had a tiny microclimate with its own water cycle. Cool!

Sweet! Thanks for the explanation