Smaller BBQ for grilling

Chuckanut

Chuckanut

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My old table top grill has seen better days. The burner is rusted out, and it's really to small for feeding a family of four.

I am looking for a somewhat bigger though not huge BBQ for grilling. Gas or electric as long as it works well. It needs to be able to grill hamburgers, steaks etc for a family of four.

I am thinking of a grill like this one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Char-Broil-Patio-Bistro-240/34098569

I would like to keep the price under $200.

I would appreciate any advice on grills of this size. Thanks.
 

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I have one similar to the photo, only it's propane. It was ~$100 at Lowes, I should have sprung for the "upscale" one that had the thermometer, which would have saved me adding it on later.

It seems to work fine although for $100 I don't expect it to last more than five years or so.
 
Make sure that you have at least 2 independent burners for heat control. If you have to cook over indirect heat or are cooking multiple items that require different temp zones
 
The small inexpensive gas grills tend to have only one burner and thus only good for direct heat. Still OK for fast cooking many foods.
 
I used to get grill like the OP is thinking of getting.... inevitably, after 2-3 years they would be rusted so bad that they needed to be trashed.

Then I bought a Weber Genesis B. That was 15 years ago... cost me $500 rather than $200 but money well spent... I would have spent $1,200 by now if I kept getting the cheaper grills.

A couple years ago my mom needed a new grill and we ended up buying a Spirit 2-brner for $350 or so.... it is fine for her since she only does direct heat grilling... I would recommend springing for the extra $100 for the 3-burner model so you can grill with indirect heat (like an oven... beer can chicken).
 
I concur with the Weber suggestions. A bit more costly than the op is looking for but I’ve had great experience with the Weber grills and have found their quality and customer support superior to the next level brands.
 
pb4uski said:
I used to get grill like the OP is thinking of getting.... inevitably, after 2-3 years they would be rusted so bad that they needed to be trashed.

Then I bought a Weber Genesis B. That was 15 years ago... cost me $500 rather than $200 but money well spent... I would have spent $1,200 by now if I kept getting the cheaper grills.

A couple years ago my mom needed a new grill and we ended up buying a Spirit 2-brner for $350 or so.... it is fine for her since she only does direct heat grilling... I would recommend springing for the extra $100 for the 3-burner model so you can grill with indirect heat (like an oven... beer can chicken).
Click to expand...


+1 on this... I got an bit more expensive Weber and love it... I have even done 14 hour briskets on it and it came out great...
 
At home I have a three-burner Weber Genesis that I use for grilling, searing, and some indirect cooking. This is a great grill and glad I made the serious investment. I ordered a natural gas version, so don’t even have to deal with tanks.

And a Treager wood pellet smoker/grill that I use for smoking and barbecue - low and slow with indirect only heat. I also prefer this one for any chicken recipe as the chicken never gets burned, a taste I hate. This has been providing excellent wood-fired eats and traditional BBQ like brisket and ribs.

Sometimes I’ll smoke on the Traeger and then reverse sear on the Weber.
 
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My Weber Genesis Silver grill is 20 years old and works great. I expect it to last the remainder of my grilling days.
 
audreyh1 said:
At home I have a three-burner Weber Genesis that I use for grilling, searing, and some indirect cooking. This is a great grill and glad I made the serious investment. I ordered a natural gas version, so don’t even have to deal with tanks.

And a Treager wood pellet smoker/grill that I use for smoking and barbecue - low and slow with indirect only heat. I also prefer this one for any chicken recipe as the chicken never gets burned, a taste I hate. This has been providing excellent wood-fired eats and traditional BBQ like brisket and ribs.

Sometimes I’ll smoke on the Traeger and then reverse sear on the Weber.
Click to expand...


Nice! Fast and easy as well as slow and low!


It's finally warm-ish up here and I'm thinking of smoking some chicken breast on my Weber Performer. Indirect cooking over a water pan, with a few chunks of hickory over the coals for smoke. Like the idea of a finishing sear over the hot zone.


I'm intrigued by the Traeger, especially the temp. control, but then I'll have to Blow Some Dough!
 
No experience with that one, but it will only do direct grilling and it won't do indirect grilling... I would say that over 30% of my grilling is indirect.... beer can chicken, pork and beef roasts, etc.

For indirect grilling you need to be able to heat the air inside the grill but have a portion of the grill without direct heat... so you need at least 2 burners, but 3 burners is better.... I put my front and back burners on and center burner off for indirect grilling... some grills would use left and right but no the center burner.
 
FreeBear said:
Nice! Fast and easy as well as slow and low!


It's finally warm-ish up here and I'm thinking of smoking some chicken breast on my Weber Performer. Indirect cooking over a water pan, with a few chunks of hickory over the coals for smoke. Like the idea of a finishing sear over the hot zone.


I'm intrigued by the Traeger, especially the temp. control, but then I'll have to Blow Some Dough!
Click to expand...
The benefit of the Traeger IMO, is the lovely wood smoke and wood fire. No charcoal flavor, only wood. It’s fantastic for smoked chicken - but I’ve only ever done whole or half chickens as I prefer bones in and skins. I don’t bother to use the Traeger for high temp cooking since the Weber excels at that type of grilling.

If you do get a Treager, pay up for one with a pro-controller for better temp control. A large hopper is important if you are doing a long cook like for brisket or beef ribs. This means going to at least their mid range models, but it you like the Traeger you’ll upgrade anyway. Yes, $$$, but great taste.

Smoked some sockeye salmon the other day at a pretty low temp like 170-180 degrees. Came out great.
 
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Chuckanut said:
Great advice and info so far. Thanks.

What about the Weber electric grills?

https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/electric-grills/q-electric-series/52020001.html?cgid=69#start=1

Does anybody have experience with one?
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I have extensive experience with the propane version of the Weber Q which uses funky little bottles you find in the plumbing section of a hardware store. Had it in the motorhome. Only one burner, so direct heat cooking unless I used a soaked cedar plank or wrapped in foil. Got lots of great meals off it though.

When we moved back to a house was ready for a larger multi-burner gas grill.
 
I have a colman roadtrip grill for home and RV use, havent use the big one on the patio in 5 years. Few times a year Amazon has the red ones for about $100.
 
I have a Weber 2-burner Spirit and love it. I've been using it the last 4 years.
 
I usually just drive down my street right after Father's day and pick up the first good looking one at the curb. Last one even came with a tank that was half filled!
 
Weber is the best in the average consumer market. If you don’t want to spend the money, search Craigslist. I found a couple of nice ones for my son in laws as a gift. The burners have a ten year warranty so get one less than ten years. All you need to do is clean them up, which can obviously be a little tough and messy but not complicated. Buy some new grates and then you’ll be good to go.

If small and portable is your goal, I second the Coleman. We have one for our tailgating and it works well.

Honestly though, I’d buy the best Webber I was willing to afford.
 
albireo13 said:
I have a Weber 2-burner Spirit and love it. I've been using it the last 4 years.
Click to expand...

I had a 2-burner Weber at one house and a 3-burner Weber at the other... if all you do is direct grilling the either is fine... if you do indirect grilling then the 3-burner is better IMO.
 
We also love our Weber grills. The main reason we're on our second one is that we wanted a bigger one -- one nice thing about Webers is that you can replace a lot of the individual parts if they become corroded or too charred to clean. But they have been very durable in our experience, we just aren't that diligent about maintenance and so have had to replace parts.
 
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