I too need to buy a new grill. I am replacing my old Weber. First I thought that I would buy a Weber Genesis, but I really want a larger grilling surface--especially if I'm going to spend so much money. The grate is 25" x 19" on the Genesis and the price is about $800 to $850 depending on which options you choose. It has 3 burners. One appliance store is getting a "close out" shipment of Ducane 5400 Stainless LP Gas Grills. This has 5 burners compared with 3 on Genesis. It also has a larger grilling surface (620 sq." vs approx. 500 sq.") I don't have the exact grate dimensions, but let's estimate for now that it is about 31 sq." x 20 sq."). Is this a smart purchase or some ploy by the salesman to dump inventory? (He does have the Weber too.) Also, I liked the specs on a Charmglow (Charglow?) model #720-0578 that I saw at Home Depot this morning. It has five 10,000 BTU burners and the grate measures approx. 33 sq." x 20 sq.". The grate is porcelain-coated cast iron on this one vs. stainless on the other two. Price is $500. To get the larger grate on a weber grill the price jumps to $1,800 or so, which is out of my price range. Any wisdom/experience/opinions to share?

A few years ago, I was in the market for a gas grill. I lived by my self, so I didn't need a very big grill. I did some research, and I wanted a grill that would last a long time, and would work well. I had a limited budget, and like I say, I didn't need a big grill. In short I wanted a high quality grill at a modest price, something with excelent value. I had been eying lots of large Stainless Steel grils, ones at Costco and such, however they were too big and expensive for me at the time. Eventualy I found a Ducane "Take It or Leave It" grill that Costco was selling on their web pages for something like $200. It had Stainless steel cooking grates, stainless steel LA-VA-GRATE, stainless steel tube burners, and a heavy cast aluminium body. I had heard of Ducane previously, judging them somewhat by their price tag, and apprent reputation for quality, I had figured this was the best choice for my grilling needs at the time, I really figured this grill would last me pretty much a life time. I figured when I outgrew it's size I could use it as a portable grill. After I had my grill for just a few weeks I had convinced my father that it was a good grill. Especialy since he travels south in the winter time, and this grill would be portable so he could use it when he and my mom travel. I had basicly based my recomendation largely on Ducane's apparent reputation for quality and my intial experiance with this Ducane grill. Well after about a year of owning this grill I came to the conclusion that the Ducane "take it or leave it" grill sucks... It is nearly impossible to keep lit if it gets even a little windy. Only about 50% of the cooking surface gets hot enough to sear a steak, the other 50% is barely hot enough to cook anything. The LA-VA-GRATE burnt through on it's bottom after just two years of realtively light usage. Other then that the grill is till fine, but those three things are like really disapointing and enought to make me wish I had never purchased this grill. Quite frankly I don't remember what kind of Waranty is/was suposed to be on my "Take it or Leave it" grill, and I never did try to get Ducane to replace the LA-VA-GRATE... Basicly my initial and only experiance with Ducane grills is less then sastisfactory. I would not recomend a Ducane based on my experiance with there low end "take it or leave it" model. Since the overall consturction of this low end Ducane grill is simmilar to the construction of their higher priced grills, I am highly skeptical of the value of there higher price grills as well. I know my father is even less satisfied with his Ducane then I am with mine, and he'll probably never listen to me again on any recomendation for a grill. Since then I've gotten married. My wife and my father will probably never let me forget this past grill pruchase. Even without their help I know I will never forget this purchase, and I would never by another Ducane grill.

I just went to BBQ Galore in Atlanta, and I have to say that I was very impressed. They seem to be very well constructed grills. There is also a very wide selection, ranging from fairly inexpensive to quite expensive. Some observations from my trip: 1. The staff was great. They were extremely helpful without being pushy 2. The grills with Stainless Steel burners are actually Cast SS. They were quite substantial! 3. The grill tubs on the grills I was looking at are made of porcelain, not SS (although they are available). Not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing, but those particular grills are not 100% SS. 4. Side burners are optional on most grills. 5. No rear burner on most models (unless you get to $2,000). I have been comparing grills for a while now. I have seen the Virco, the MM at Sams, and several others. I was excited about the Virco, but cannot find one in ATL. Also, was concerned about replacement parts, etc. But, it seems to be a quality grill. I was very disappointed in the MM at Sams (the $599 version). It seemed cheap to me. The Turbo was right up there with the Virco, even though it was more expensive. The added bonus of being able to get parts for the grill is a real plus. Anyone else have any experience with Turbos???

I'm about 4 weeks or so from moving into my brand new house and my TurboChef was installed last week. I've been looking at wall ovens for over a year and was intrigued by the TC, yet hesitated because of the price. It came down to either the TC or the GE Trivection/Advantium. Though we are WAY over budget, I chose the TC and am thrilled with my choice. We are living in a rental just ten blocks away and the day it was installed, I made two of the recipes in the included TC cookbook. A Lemon-Rosemary Whole Roasted Chicken, and a Poblano-Corn Casserole. It took about 8 minutes to preheat the oven for the chicken and rather than placing it in a roasting pan, I put the chicken onto an aluminum stand that is basically a round tube, about three inches in diameter and 5 inches tall. It's welded to a flat, square base and was designed to produce a beer-can chicken without the beer can. I filled the inside of the tube with about three inches of beer, and set it with the mounted chicken into a pyrex casserole dish. I set the lower unit on warm when I began the preheat of the upper oven. On warm, the lower oven maintains 145 degrees. That way, I could keep the chicken warm while cooking the corn-poblano dish. Watching the chicken cook was amazing. It reminded me of my first microwave oven and the fascination of looking in as it cooked a couple of hot dogs in less than a minute. The chicken browned quickly and beautifully. When the oven paused at the 80% point, we chose the "Brown More" option for a crispier skin. After 21 minutes, the oven chimed and I checked the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. I was a bit concerned because the probe indicated 219 degrees but I must have touched a bone, because when we pulled the chicken apart it was PERFECTLY cooked. The skin was crispy and both the breast and thigh was succulent and incredibly flavorful. One of our best chickens ever. The corn-poblano dish also turned out perfectly. We let the chicken rest in the warming oven below while the casserole cooked. I think it took all of eight minutes and finished with the top a beautiful golden brown and the inside was steaming hot, creamy and perfect. The next night I cooked a couple of rib-eyes. Each steak was about an inch thick and just under a pound. I placed a cast iron grilling pan in the oven for the pre-heat and after about 14 minutes, the oven chimed and it had reached 500 degrees. I placed the steaks on the griddle, closed the door and pressed the start button. The only prep for the steaks was freshly ground pepper and kosher salt. I had some butter standing by to place on top at the 80% mark. I opened the door at 80%, put a couple of pats of butter on each rib-eye and continued cooking. When they were done, I wrapped them in heavy duty aluminum foil after pouring the butter and steak juices over them. When I got them to my rental about 10 minutes later, I was amazed at how perfectly done they were. I forgot to mention that I did flip each steak just over halfway through. The exterior of the steaks was a dark, crusty brown and just a millimeter or so into the steak, was a beautiful red that didn't vary in color. In other words, the outside was seared and the interior was rare all the way through. I believe the cooking time after the preheat was about 5 minutes. My only disappointment with the oven (other than cost, of course) is that I was expecting to have the upgraded software. I was told that the oven had a microwave-only feature but when mine arrived, it wasn't there. I called Atlanta and spoke with corporate. It turns out that the software upgrade is about 30 days or so away and I will be e-mailed the update when it's released. It's a simple matter of moving the file to a flash drive and then transferring it to the oven via a USB port on the top of the oven. Pretty cool. By the way, the oven is HEAVY! About 410 pounds so it's probably not an appliance that you want to "slide in" yourself. It took two of my trim guys, and a couple of big electricians to get it into the cabinet. Consider professional installation. My local dealer charges $150. All in all, I'm extremely pleased with the oven, and can't wait to actually move in so that I can begin to create my own recipes. It's one of the coolest kitchen appliances I've owned. My other appliances are: 30" Thermador Freedom Column Refrigerator 18" Thermador Freedom Column Freezer Sub-zero 427R Wine Refrigerator-holds 70 bottles and has two refrigerator drawers. 30" GE Monogram Warming Drawer Meile "La Perla" Dishwasher 48" BlueStar Cooktop-4 Burners/1 Griddle GE Monogram Ice Maker 54" Vent-A-Hood w 1200 CFM Blower Insinkerator Hot/Cold dispenser Nikken PiMag Water undercounter filter I'll post some photos once it's all complete in about a month.