Kettle Grills - Go Cheap or High(er) End

[Rustic23]

I use one of these Kingsford Premier Console Charcoal Grill review at Kaboodle for grilling. For smokin I use one of these Amazon.com: Brinkmann 810-5301-6 Smoke'N Grill Charcoal Smoker and Grill, Black: Patio, Lawn & Garden

However, I did not pay the prices listed for either!

I only use the smoker two or three times a year. However, when you want good brisket, it just won't work on the grill!.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

My Weber is over 20 years old and still going strong--use it a lot. The handles are wood and I've had to put new screws in them a couple of times to keep the handle tight. My son-in-law has a newer Weber and the handles are plastic-type and are hot after cooking, but my wood handle isn't. I'm lazy so I keep the bottom vents closed and just keep the top off-kilter when grilling and it seems to do all right. About once a month dump the ashes in a garbage bag for the trash. If the bottom vents are open and the ash catcher catches them, they seem to blow all over the patio which is a pain. Also have a 50's old-timey grill that a neighbor gave me and I restored ( only did it cause it was an exact replica of the one my dad used). Never use it to grill but it's great for setting all your stuff on and has a storage compartment that we use to store the wire brush for cleaning the grill, lighter fluid, etc.

 

[Rustic23]

A guy on a cooking show today explained that the difference between Gas and Charcoal is that gas is a moist heat and charcoal is a dry heat. He said that made the difference in the taste. Don't know if that is right, but we still like charcoal.

 

[Dimsumkid]

How did you cook your Brisket?? Indirect heat with a water pan?

I didn't make brisket, I was referring to my ribs coming out like TX brisket. I did cook it with indirect heat.

 

[Lisa99]

Big green egg fan here. It will last my lifetime and will be able to hand it down to another generation. I use it at least weekly. Brisket and ribs are amazing from it.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I have a gas grill but the last time chose the tabletop portable with the disposable gas canisters. I grill a couple of time a week Max. It is a fraction of the cost of a large grill,
does not require assembly and I can purchase the gas canisters at Target.

 

[braumeister]

Big green egg fan here. It will last my lifetime and will be able to hand it down to another generation. I use it at least weekly. Brisket and ribs are amazing from it.

There are so many great things about the Egg.

• It works equally well as a smoker, a grill, and a brick oven.
• It minimizes the charcoal used, since the burning charcoal is soon extinguished when you're done cooking, so you can use it the next time.
• That lifetime warranty is not to be sneezed at.

Eggheads become fanatical about them with good reason.

 

[Hamlet]

Isn't dabbling in something an option anymore?

Spending a couple of hours to learn a little bit about barbecue so that you can cook it reasonably well 3-4 times a year doesn't seem like a terrible idea.

I'm never going to be a great gardener, but I've read a few books. I start a few plants and I usually get some food over the summer from my garden.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Well, obviously not everyone who cooks barbecue gets fat. I am just recounting my observation, and my thoughts at the time. These were guys who were very into it, as kind of a lifestyle like some other people might be into running, or bicycling or single malt whisky. Dedicated runners tend to share a physical and to some degree a personality type. I saw that dedicated barbecue guys did too, at least at that time and place and wrt physical characteristics. I was not motivated enough to find out more, since I can get better barbecue than I could ever make at a local shack and I rarely do that anyway. When I used to have relatives in TX I got my barbecue fix for a while in one visit.

If I went to a whisky tasting event and most of the guys were drunk, I would pass on this activity too. My expectation is that if I do something, I am more likely than not to come to resemble resemble others who do it.

Ha

 

[haha]

Isn't dabbling in something an option anymore?

Spending a couple of hours to learn a little bit about barbecue so that you can cook it reasonably well 3-4 times a year doesn't seem like a terrible idea.

Sure, if that appeals. When I had a house I cooked outside a lot, squatting by my hillbilly 18 wheeler brake drum. I cooked on wood, not bought charcoal. But no way would I consider me a barbecue guy, I was just cooking outside. These guys are often seriously good at it, and have put serious money and effort into their set-ups. Like I say, when I want real barbecue I go down to some guy's no more than one generation from the South who runs a shack and will sell me some.

I believe that obsessive people like ourselves on this board need to be careful about getting too deeply into too many things, and save our brains and attention spans for what really counts.

Ha

 

[Hamlet]

I've assumed that hanging out on an internet message board was a fairly good sign that we have plenty of spare cycles

I believe that obsessive people like ourselves on this board need to be careful about getting too deeply into too many things, and save our brains and attention spans for what really counts.

Ha

 

[haha]

I've assumed that hanging out on an internet message board was a fairly good sign that we have plenty of spare cycles

No, just another distraction.

 

[omni550]

NYT has an article on the popular Big Green Egg today:

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/...d-tastes.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

 

[haha]

One of my sons has a large size big green egg. Everything that he makes in it is very very good. But it is a bit of trouble- a lot more than a gas grill for example, so in his life it doesn't get used at often as one might like. Or at least as often as I would like.

Ha

 

[braumeister]

I have two of them (Large and Small). Normally one or the other gets used three times a week. Since we joined the Taubes revolution and embarked on a low carb diet, the BGE has been a godsend to us.

One of my all time favorite meals has always been baby back ribs, but it was always necessary to go to one of a few restaurants to get decent ones. Now the ones I make in the BGE are the best I've ever had. Just for the cost of a few pieces of charcoal.

 

[WM]

You look at Craigslist?

+1 on this. We were able to get my dad a very nice used grill for $50 after less than a week of scanning the local listings. One thing he was especially happy about was that the grates (the part you put the food on) were cast iron.

 

[slingshot]

We have a Weber Kettle that we use 3x weekly year round. We also have a Weber Bullet type smoker that we use semi-monthly year round.
Excellent quality construction. Good food.

 

[Dimsumkid]

Chinaco,
Don't know where you live, but Meijer is running a sale on the Weber Gold One Touch for $109.99. They're also throwing in 2 - 18 lb bags of charcoal too. The sale is for only 2 days, 7/15-7/16 and it's an in store only purchase, with min of 3/store. They're located in MI, IL, IN, OH, KY. The ad showed $149.99, but on the detail page and when I added it, the price changed to $109.99, so there's some kind of error somewhere.

Meijer Ads, Sales, Specials, Discounts, Coupons, Savings and Lower Prices, Grocery, Pharmacy, Electronics, Baby, Pet, Home Fashions, Furniture, Music, Movies, Kitchen, Clothing, Jewelry, Shoes

 

[chinaco]

Chinaco,
Don't know where you live, but Meijer is running a sale on the Weber Gold One Touch for $109.99. They're also throwing in 2 - 18 lb bags of charcoal too. The sale is for only 2 days, 7/15-7/16 and it's an in store only purchase, with min of 3/store. They're located in MI, IL, IN, OH, KY. The ad showed $149.99, but on the detail page and when I added it, the price changed to $109.99, so there's some kind of error somewhere.

Meijer Ads, Sales, Specials, Discounts, Coupons, Savings and Lower Prices, Grocery, Pharmacy, Electronics, Baby, Pet, Home Fashions, Furniture, Music, Movies, Kitchen, Clothing, Jewelry, Shoes

Thanks!