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help -- want to buy a big gas grill

24 years ago

Please Help...I am trying to decide on a new gas grill.

I do not need fancy, don't want fancy, just want biggest primary cooking area. We have a lot of people here on a regular basis and youth groups with many, many kids are planned for the near future. I do not want to feed people in shifts, rather I would like to cook as much food at once as possible.

I want quality of Weber, but will not spend nearly $3,000 for their biggest. I like the idea of spending a couple hundred bucks on a grill, but the last two times I have done this, I have had rusted out crap that needs replacing within a couple of years. SO, I would like to get something of size, basically looking for the biggest bang for the buck. I would be willing to spend up to $1,000 to get a grill I can count on for a long, long, time.

Has anyone out there tried a Kenmore? WHat about the Big Easy? My grandma would kill me if I didn't buy a Weber, but I am looking for as much input as y'all are willing to give me. Please help ASAP--

THANK YOU.

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Comments (6)

Floydo
Original Author
24 years ago
oh, BTW, I would also welcome opinions about the flavorizers of Weber versus the ceramic briquettes or lava rocks that I have had in the past...

please spare no detail
lpsage
24 years ago
Floyd,
You should check out the Member's Mark Model #: MM YO660l at a Sam's Club. It is $1500 and it is huge, well made and will last a LONG time. You will need a truck to get it home. Good luck
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It seems to me that turning down the fire and cooking the meat longer would be the simplest suggestion. That should resolve your issue, unless you are already cooking with the heat lower. Then, maybe you are getting flareups? Possibly with the lid down and aren't noticing them (flareups) and they are charring your meat before the inside cooks. Is this a newer grill? Maybe one of the newer Charbroils that don't have many (if any) briquettes? Maybe it is an older grill that has a cracked burner? I have an older Sunbeam that, once it heated up, a large flame would come out of one part of the burner that was damaged and would cook very quickly in that one place. You might examine the grill and it's components and make sure you don't have a situation like this occuring. It seems to me that with the results you are getting, it has to be because of too much fire too quickly. So, either you are haveing flareups that are going unattended, the burner has a crack in it (causing a very hot spot), or you are just cooking on too high of heat. Once you get the heat problem figured out, you might consider investing in one of those meat thermometer forks. I bought one a couple of years ago from K-Mart on clearance for $5.00. It has been a great investment and works very good to get your meat at just the right doneness. I hope this helps. Good luck.
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zuiko
24 years ago
I have the big easy and I like it so far.. I got it for $249 at wal-mart. It doesn't have rocks or briquettes, I guess like the webers with their "flavorizer bars". Seems to be a pretty nice grill for the money. It has 3 burners and a flush side burner.
delray
24 years ago
Take a look at the Members Mark $599 model as well if you have a Sam's in your area (same manufacturer as the Kenmore). Since you indicated you would spend up to $1000 I would strongly recommend the Virco for $799 that you see in other discussion here. 32" grilling surface with 3 heat zones and a 4th side burner and 5th ceramic burner for rotiserrie. Comes with heating rack, and nice cover as well. All stainless thick stainless steel welded construction and pullout grease tray (easy to clean, but all SS if you want to do it later ;-)
This is not rocket science and since the parts are fairly simple/straightforward components, name brand is not nearly as important as seeing how well it is constructed.
If you don't have a Sams or Costco, then take a look at the JennAire at Lowes. A cut above the Weber grills that I could look at first hand. Stainless steel in alot of places there it needs to be there.
delray
24 years ago
I saw a large, well built grill at Home Depot yesterday from Vermont Castings. They have one that is maybe 26" x 16" but this looked about 34" x 18" ??

Also, if size is the prime consideration, have you considered those large open grills (no lids) that you see at some commercial venues? No idea on price, but I think I saw some at allgrills.com ($$$)
fparry
24 years ago
Weber Flavorizor bars vs. Ceramic bricket or Lava Rocks:
They all have one think if common. There is no flavor in any of them. The simple truth is that the flavor comes from the food you cook. The bars, ceramics, rocks, drip pan, etc. serve the function of providing a medium which is hot enough to vaporize the juices of the food dripping down on them into a greasy smoke which then flavors the food. This is what defines grilling and regardless of what the medium is, the food is what flavors the food. The more residual build up the better the flavor. This is why a dirty (seasoned) grill always produces better tasting food than a new grill out of the box.

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