What Components Make A Good Charcoal Grill?

I've had a number of charcoal grills in my time and even made may own on a couple of occasions but I've still to find the perfect charcoal grill, in other words something that caters for all needs.

Charcoal is a challenge in itself, for many it's simply just too much hassle and they prefer the immediacy of gas - just switch it on and you're ready to cook in ten minutes. Others (like me) just can't stop wanting to play with fire and go for the traditional approach. When I say play with fire I'm not referring to taking unnecessary risks or having a death wish, I just mean that we love watching the flames.

If you are like me and want to cook on charcoal then the choice of grills that you have at your disposal in immense and so is the range of prices so how do you determine what makes a good grill and what makes a bad grill?

The first thing I want to say about price is that it does have it's part to play and there are reasons why some grills cost more. That said, does it represent value for money to pay more? On the whole I think yes.

You will pay more for example for a cast iron firebox and in my opinion this is an absolute must if you don't want to be changing your grill every one or two years. My first grill was made out of sheet steel and after a few cookouts, the heat had really got to it and it had warped beyond recognition, it just looked tired and worn, not something that you could wheel out a BBQ party.

I also had one of those brick built grills that had a sheet of metal upon which to place the charcoal. Again not made out of cast iron. The combination of heat from the coals coupled with a dose of rain and the metal simply disintegrated and a hole formed.

I then bought a cast iron tray, that was about 25 years ago and the same unit is still going strong today. That said about cast iron I can fully respect your choice not to go this route if you're looking for portability and weight is a factor. In this case go for a lower quality solution, pay less but just be prepared to buy a new grill every so often.

Another thing that drives the cost of a grill is the material used to make the cooking grates (that's the bit that you put your food on). There's generally three quality standards, stainless steel, porcelain enamel and cast iron.

Stainless steel is at the lower end of the spectrum, it does the job and it's relatively cheap. My personal preference is actually to go for porcelain enameled grate because they perform equally but they are so much easier to clean. Hot soapy water and a wipe with a cloth and generally any charred food comes away with ease.

Cast iron raises its head again and arguably is just as easy to clean because you can go at it with a wire brush. The big advantage is that when you get the grill really hot you can make some great sear marks on your steaks or veggies - to some folks, that's important but I have to say that to me, it's not.

The final point to make is that again, cast iron is heavy so if portability is what drives your priorities the steer clear of cast iron.

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Tips for Buying a Gas Grill

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Tips for Smoking Meat on Your Barbecue Grill

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Weber Genesis 320: The Weber S320 Stainless Grill

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Weber's Genesis E-310 Gas Grill - One of the Best

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What Components Make A Good Charcoal Grill?

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Weber Summit S-670 Grill - The King of The Backyard

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What Features Make A Good Charcoal Grill?

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What Makes For A Good Tailgating Grill?

Drive to the ball park, open the tailgate and set up for a party! It's a fantastic atmosphere as we enjoy our outdoor grill cookout and anticipate the game ahead. What are the essentials that make for a good tailgating experience? For me it's the grill that's critical because cooking is the center piece of the action, I need one that's powerful, flexible and packed with lots of handy features.

Of course your needs might be different, after all every grill can't be all things to all men so how do we determine which is the right grill for each and every one of us? In this article I'll discuss some of the unique features of each of the portable gas grills that I've experienced so far and these are the Aussie Adventurer, Coleman Road-trip, Holland and Weber Q series.

Because we are tailgating, weight isn't such an issue, most of these grills weigh in at about 30 pounds which isn't light but is certainly something that one person can lift and set up alone. After that I look at the power of the grill because this is going to determine the variety of food that I can cook well and in particular steaks. At the end of the day, if you are going to sear a steak you need a grill plate that you can really get up to a good temperature.

Grill power output isn't as easy to determine as you might think. You'll notice that every grill manufacturer gives a BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating to their grill burners and most folks believe that this indicates the power output but it doesn't. It actually refers to the energy consumption of the burner.

You might think that I am splitting hairs but this is important to recognize because unless the consumption of the burner translates directly into a good heat output then you're going to be disappointed about the quality of the searing results and in addition you will be spending money buying gas canister after gas canister. To be fair, the BTU rating does generally reflect the heat output but it's an important distinction and if you want the ultimate measure of power output look for the Kilowatt (KW) rating.

So who wins the BTU competition? The Holland grill blows everything out of the water so arguably if steaks is your thing then this is probably the grill for you. A couple of interesting points to make are that each portable gas canister lasts only 4 to 5 hours however to compensate for this the Holland grill does have an adapter kit so that you can attach a much larger gas tank. Again, if you're tailgating then carrying a larger gas tank probably isn't going to be a problem to you.

Next for me is the set up. How easy is it to set up the grill so that I can cook safely without the grill wobbling on being off the level? The Aussie wins on this score because it's the only grill in the five mentioned above with three legs (and adjustable ones at that). It amazes me that everyone knows that a three legged stool is the most stable to sit on in any terrain hence why milk maids used to use them so why hasn't this caught on? It's probably because so much more of the design has to be compromised.

I didn't include it above but if the stability of three legs is important to you then you should look at the range by Cadac too. Originally from South Africa, these hotplate grills are pretty good although I think that they are verging more towards cooking than grilling. Yes there's a hotplate for searing but then the other attachments are a paella pan for example which is taking us away from the smoke.

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What Makes A Good Gas Grill Great

How do you distinguish between and average grill and a great one? So many of the gas grills that are marketed today are made in China where labor costs are so cheap that it's very difficult to distinguish between what is a good grill and what is truly a great grill.

There are some fundamentals that you need to consider in the build quality and that's predominantly around the materials used to construct your unit. Stainless steel is right up there whereas the lower cost end of the market will be powder coated. This is not to say that the powder coated models aren't any good, many share the same components as the stainless steel models it's just simply a matter of aesthetics and longevity.

Some like the clean lines of stainless steel whereas others like to see something painted the issue with painted is really around rust and ease of cleaning. In theory, provided the pint is punctured, there's not reason why rust should propagate but inevitably it seems to do so. As soon as you get and consider when it gets a knock, the paint gets scratched, you're rolling down the rocky road.

Not all of us can afford stainless steel and if you can't then the best way to protect your investment is by buying a grill cover and ensuring that you keep your grill out of the way of the weather. A grill cover will cost you about $45 and will definitely help you stop the rot.

Most of the problems that I hear about when a grill is a couple of years old is that the burners have corroded and blocked up. You'll notice that the grills at the top of the range advertize cast iron burners as being a key feature and this is not a coincidence, cast iron means reliability. If you are price sensitive and let's face who isn't then look just try and get to the entry level for cast iron burners and you'll hopefully enjoy a greater cooking lifespan for your grill.

If however you're not in a position to get cast iron burners do the next best thing and that is to check the warranty. Some grill manufacturers (Jenn Air to name one) have a lifetime warranty on their burners so if anything goes wrong, you can phone them up and they will ship out replacements. Just to be clear on this point, my understanding is that the parts will be free but the shipping costs may not.

While you are checking on the burners, check on the igniter too. Not just for warranty but also to ensure that each burner has an igniter. I recently cooked on a reputable branded grill to find it only had one igniter and if I wanted to use the left burner (where the searing plate was) I had to light the right burner using the igniter, turn on ta central burner to allow the flame to jump across and then the left burner with the flame jumping across from the central burner. Once lit I could turn off the center and right burners. What a performance!

For me a gas grill becomes great if it has a hood because this is when you can start to experiment with indirect cooking which brings a whole new dimension to outdoor cooking. You might consider this dangerous because once you're hooked you'll be out there spending on a smoker!

Your hood should have a temperature gauge on it but don't bother with a viewing window, they look good in the shops but after a couple of cookouts you won't be able to see anything.

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A Stove Top Grill Is More Affordable and Effective

The warmer months are coming and it's time to starting thinking about all the delicious foods that you are going to be barbecuing. With a stove top grill, it's easy to cook just about any meat or vegetable that you want to and it's pretty hard to mess it up. There are plenty of other benefits to using them as well. They are very portable, so you can take them with you inside and outside or when you go camping, and they are very cheap to buy. In fact, you can get one for less than $20, especially if you do so before the summer gets here.

When you have a good stove top grill, the things that you can make are endless. Most people simply use them for cooking meat like chicken, hot dogs, burgers, or steaks, but there is so much more you can do with them than that. You can throw together some fancy kabobs with bell peppers and onions on the skewers along with the meat. You can even slice up vegetables and put the right on the grill alongside meat that you are cooking. When you cook food this way, it brings out all the natural flavors that are just not possible with appliances on the inside of homes.

Other things that you should consider cooking on your stove top grill are things like bread and fish. They don't need to be on for a very long time because they cook quickly. When you're done making the delicious food, you will realize just how great these things are because of how easy they are to clean. Rather than trying to get your hand around the tiny metal pieces in order to clean them like you would for a normal rack, you can just run water over the top and gently scrub them. This will save you quite a bit of time and you won't ever be tempted to just leave food hanging on it.

So if you are serious about cooking outside this year, get a stove top grill before the prices start to go back up. Once you see how easy they are to use and how good the food is that you put on them, you will realize why people are so excited about barbecuing. Cleaning won't be a problem at all either. And because they're so cheap to buy, you might get a couple and take them with you on camping trips or give them as gifts.

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Weber Performer Grill - Cook the Best Meat Ever

You would be wise to start planning for your outdoor cooking activities now when there is still plenty of time and when prices are still very low. You can actually get a high end unit like the Weber Performer grill for less than half the normal price because no one will really start buying them until June and July. The reason you would want to get one like that is because they have everything you need to make the best tasting food around, and they are very easy to move around thanks to the large wheels at the base.

The main cooking portion of the Performer grill is a dome style charcoal type. These are perfect because they are smaller so you can get them really hot much more quickly. Gas options are also available, but most people prefer the charcoal types because they make tastier food and they're less expensive. Ideally, you want to let the charcoals start heating up for a long time before you put the food on. After about an hour or so, you should take the food like a nice tri-tip and wrap it completely in foil. Put it on the grill and then just forget about it for an hour.

After the meat has been cooking on the grill for an hour, you can add some vegetables to the mix and get them cooking to. They don't need as much time, which is why you would want to wait until the end. You can put the bread on the handy rack that the Performer grill comes with that keeps it higher up above the flames than the rest of the food. You don't want to burn it or it will overpower the flavor of the meat. Weber's grill has handy timers that you can use so you don't have to constantly check on the food, and there is also plenty of space to work with on the built in counter.

So if you want to have a really great summer this year and make some of the best meat you've ever had, go pick up a Weber Performer grill while they're still cheap and start cooking. You'll be blown away at how much easier it is to cook things with than a standard barbecue. This is especially nice if you don't consider yourself to be a very good cook. Plus, you will be able to easily move it from one area of the house to another so it's never in your way.

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