I have a 48" CC with a grill/griddle. The grill is great, to the point that I should have skipped the griddle and gone for a 24" grill. I have cooked chicken, veggies, burgers, lamb chops, thick cut bacon, steaks, you name it! The best part is clean up is easy- I hit it with a regular grill brush and put the cover it- done! Every month or so I take the grates off and put them in the DW. They reverse so you can cook delicate fish with the very wide flat side or everything else on the thin side (which has built in grease channels that really do direct the grease to the front). You do need to make sure you have a large exhaust fan to take care of the smoke that occurs when grilling. I have also seen people use them as additional burners when you need a lot of burner space...

I use a recipe from the Iowa State Fair's Blue Ribbon Cookbook: Ingredients: 2Lb Boneless Beef Chuck, cut into 1" cubes. 1 medium (About 1.5 Lbs) Beef soup bone. In Iowa, these are from the leg shank. 1 Carrot, pared & quartered 1 Celery Stalk with green leaves attached cut in half or thirds depending on the size. 1 Medium onion Quartered 1 Bay Leaf 1 Teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper About 8 cups water 2 Cups home made beef stock or 14.5oz store bought beef stock. 12 ounces egg noodles. NOTE! Store bought noodles just don't work well with this recipe! I make my own using 1 egg, 2 cups flour, pinch of salt & 1/8 teaspoon white pepper. (see Below) If needed for thickening: 2 Tablespoons Flour 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water Method: In a large,heavy bottomed stock pot or ceramic lined cast iron pot, add the first 8 ingredients: beef cubes, salt, pepper, bay leaf, soup bone, celery, carrot, water to cover (about 8 cups). Cover the pot and heat over high heat until it reaches a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the beef cubes are fork-tender about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and using a slotted spoon, remove the beef cubes and place in a bowl. Remove the soup bone and trim any lean meat, cut into bite-sized pieces, and add to the beef cubes. Discard the bone. I usually remove the marrow and add to the stock or give the whole bone to a worthy dog. Cover the bowl of meat and refrigerate. Strain the remaining stock with a sieve into a bowl or Large measuring cup discarding the vegetables and bay leaf. Measure the liquid and make a note of how much you have. Pour the liquid into a large mixing bowl and refrigerate. When cold, use a tablespoon or large spoon to skim the congealed fat off the top of the broth and discard the fat. Cover the remaining broth and refrigerate. All of the previous steps can be done ahead of time, even the day before. 30 Minutes before serving: In a large pot, add the reserved broth, and enough other stock to total 10 Cups of liquid. stir to blend. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the Noodles to the boiling stock/broth. boil uncovered until slightly soft (about 8 minutes) add the beef cubes, boiling briefly until heated through. If the broth looks thick enough, like a thin gravy, you are done. If it is too thin, make the thickening out of the ingredients listed above. By adding them to a seal-able jar, cover and shake vigorously until smooth and all clumps are gone. Add this thickening sauce to the pot and simmer briskly until the broth thickens. (About 2 minutes) Serve immediately. In Iowa, they are served over mashed potatoes, but are delicious by themselves. Egg Noodles: On a large surface, put the 2 cups of flour in a mound, making a well in the center. Break the egg into the well, and using a fork, stir the egg only until well mixed. add the salt and white pepper to the egg. Continue stirring more and more of the flour into the egg until a dough ball begins to form. Knead until smooth, and roll out thin, dusting the board with flour to keep from sticking until the dough is about 1/8". Cut the dough into 4" strips, placing one on top of the other adding a light dusting of flour between each layer. Once all the strips are stacked, turn so you can cut the 4" side into the desired thickness. (I like about 1/4 to 3/8" thick noodles.) The finished noodles will be 4" x 1/8" x 1/4". Place the noodles on a large cookie sheet and dust well with flour to keep them separated until they are dried out, about 2-3 hours. Shake the majority of the flour off before adding the noodles to the broth.

I just discovered Weiman's Stainless Steel Cleaner Wipes and I love them. We tried the Pledge, but it didn't take all the fingerprints off & definitely did not work on the drip marks. I use these once a week or every other week. For everyday cleaning I use just simple soap & water. Someone posted recently about using Bar Keeper's Friend on their stainless and ended up with spots they couldn't remove--so I don't know that I'm brave enough to use it on my range (although I do use it in my sinks and cast iron tubs). For the grates, I run hot water in the sink, toss in 1 or 2 Cascade Dishwasher Packs with Dawn and let them soak for about 15-20 minutes. While I wait, I use a Mr. Clean MAgic Eraser for Kitchens and wipe down the enamel stove top between and around the burners. Then I return to the grates & wipe them down with the Magic Eraser to take care of any residue that may still be clinging to them, rinse with hot water and set out to dry. I do this once a week or every other week.

I thought I was the only crazy one. I bought a mingle iron back in June. Before buying it I plugged it in and it seemed to work just fine. I did notice some oil on the right side where the motor is. The woman said the iron has been down the basement since she bought the house from 20 years ago. We logged it up the basement steps and into the back of my van. Given that the mangle iron Is very heavy, “ 150, 200 pounds,” we plugged it in again before removing it from my van. It worked. I was so excited, I thought I found a treasure. So we manage to get it up a flight of stairs and placed it across from my washer and dryer. We plugged it in and it started smoking. That was in June, I haven’t done anything with it since. My dreams of having iron sheets, tablecloth, napkins went up in smoke. I have spoken to a man in the neighborhood who works on old motors he said he would work on it for me but I have to get it to him. I’m not sure how to remove it. So, What worked for you?