amcgeorge, In shoort yes. I do not fave my WSM anymore but yes you could do steaks on it. I presently have 3 BGE's and one other ceramic cooker and you can and I do steaks on them regularly. For planning purposes a Large BGE has the same grate size at a Weber 18.5 inch Kettle and the same size grate as my old WSM. Jeff

We bought a Ceramic Kamado grill/smoker. Wish I would have done this 30 years ago because I would still have the same grill 30 years later and wouldn't have gone through about 8-10 cheap charcoal grills. (Usually the $50 Brinkman water smoker grills) which last about 2-3 years and I just put them on their side and smash flat and throw them away. The Kamado is absolutely outstanding. You can adjust the temp from about 220 up to over 800 and everything in between. Can keep it at 220 for at least 12 straight hours without having to touch it. It is very stingy on charcoal use because it is nicely insulated with the little over 1" thick ceramic. Meat stays nice and juicy. is a perfect dry smoker, and water smoker. can turn it into a nice oven with a good Lava/Pizza stone. Has accessories to turn it into a outstanding Wok All in all it is the perfect BBQ/Smoker/Grill that should last a lifetime, and I mean a LIFE time even if you buy it in your 20s use it several times a month until you are in your 90s. If well taken care of it should be the only grill you ever have to buy. As for starting the charcoal. Using a "Weed Torch" connected to a small propane tank I can start this grill in about 30 seconds. Have it to 220 degrees for smoking in under 2 minutes. At about 350 degrees for basic grilling like chicken in about 4 minutes, and up to over 500 degrees for high temp searing of steaks in under about 6-7 minutes. With the vents on bottom and top wide open it acts as a blow torch inside and gets very hot fast. Using a weed torch for about 30 seconds or so lights the charcoal fast and uses no contaminates like lighter fluid so the coals are ready immediately just as soon as they reach desired temp. I have gone out to my Kamado, started it, go back to kitchen to get steaks, come back 6-7 minutes later and its ready to cook, throw on the steaks about 3-6 minutes per side depending on thickness and I am done in well under 30 minutes even if I need to clean out old charcoal and add a full batch of new. A full load of charcoal should last 3-4 grillings for steaks, or at least 12 hours if you are slow smoking a Boston Butt. The Kamado is really just about the same speed of use as a gas grill when using a weed torch. I bit more hassle just because of the use/cleaning out of charcoal but for the flavor difference it is well worth it. Gas grills just do not compare. Other charcoal grills do not really compare to a good Kamado. The one we got was from Costco, called a "Vision Grill" and only cost $540. Every bit as good, in fact in some ways actually better than the Big Green Egg and cost about 50% less. This is what it looks like. and this is weed torch

I'm happy with my Weber Summit Silver bought about 6 years ago. This model has 4 burners arranged left-to-right, by the way. Performance is good - my only gripe is that the separate side burner to the right of the grill isn't very adjustable (though I rarely need it for anything). While I could probably get choosey and find a more perfect grill, I would first look at Weber's higher-end because I'm thrilled with Weber's customer support. While performing way-overdue maintenance, I called them to order some replacement parts for items that had understandably worn out or corroded over time... They sent me replacements at no charge. No questions about warranty periods or anything like that. I called them intending to purchase parts, but it seemed they volunteered to replace them on the assumption that Weber products are designed to last forever. So I'm a loyal customer of Weber's. We live not far from the pacific ocean, the grill is outside, uncovered and facing the sea, and we use it 2-3 times a week year-round. No complaints.

"We are just beginning a remodel and are looking at a 36" pro-style range w/a grill. We've been told by one store that a 600cfm hood would be sufficient and another place said we would need 1200cfm. Any thoughts on which is correct?" We went through the same decision--hardest aspect of the whole renovation. One main thing we learned is CFM by itself is pretty much meaningless unless you're talking about differences in the same brand/model. CFM stats are supplied by manufacturer, and the actual effectiveness will depend on hood size, shape, type (wall v. island, flanking upper cabinets, etc.) and duct run. We have a 600cfm VH, 27"X42" over 36" range with a short run, one turn, and it works well enough with our grill. It's a wall mount with flanking cabinetts. VH customer service advised us on the sizing. The biggest detriment to upward air flow is a high riser shelf that we remove for the smokiest of grilling). I would have preferred a 900cfm VH, but the ducting requirements couldn't be spec'ed. IR versus regular grills: I've worked behind the line and imo IR is superior due to how it cooks (again, like charcoal). IR is like standing in sunlight, while the other grills are like standing in a warm breeze or pressing something warm against your face: IR directly heats the surface of what's being cooked, while the other ways heat the air and grill grates. My guess is the IR carmelizes the meat surface more effectively. This having been said, the question of how much better is very much an individual preference (I'm usually too lazy to bother starting charcoal and use a gas grill for outside cooking and the steaks taste fine).