Grilling Outside, What's Your Preferred Type of Grill ?

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LoneRanger

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We're looking at either a Big Green Egg or a Green Mountain Grill (pellet) to get for the house we'll be moving to soon. Looking for something high quality that is more satisfying than the garden variety conventional LP gas grill's.
 
Not what your looking for but the Webber Genesis LP or NG is tough to beat for convenience and even cooking. The most impressive thing I found vs the Brinkman and charbroil grills is how even the temperature is across the grate. Corner to corner has almost the same cooking speed. Double insulated lid holds heat very well.
 
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Kamado style gets my vote.

I use a primo brand myself
 
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Originally Posted by Starman2112
Good ole Weber kettle grill for me.

They're hard to beat for $100ish. I've been thinking about getter the 26 inch model.
 
Originally Posted by Starman2112
Good ole Weber kettle grill for me.


Same here.
 
My son has a big green egg with almost all the accessories. Close to 2K, but he admitted a couple of years after buying it that my Weber kettle cooks just as good.
 
Weber Original Kettle. You can do double duty with it as a smoker too with a couple firebricks in the middle to keep the coals to one side.
 
Originally Posted by LoneRanger
We're looking at either a Big Green Egg or a Green Mountain Grill (pellet) to get for the house we'll be moving to soon. Looking for something high quality that is more satisfying than the garden variety conventional LP gas grill's.



After the humid Florida weather eating 2 high end stainless steel propane grills alive in a 5 year period I seriously considered a Big Green Egg or a Pellet Grill but just couldn't justify the cost. I ended up buying a Webber Kettle and it's been fantastic and has already outlived my gas grill lifespan, I did have to change the ash scraper/lower vent this season but the part was readily available and only $17, grates are original and in good shape at the 4 year mark. I couldn't be happier with my Webber, it's been the CHEAPEST grill to run, purchase, and mai gain that I've ever had.
 
Go for the Green Mountain Grills. I've thoroughly enjoyed mine. Neither propane or charcoal can match the flavor or convenience. It is so nice to be able to set a temperature and have the grill hold that temperature, so you get the desired results. A pellet grill has the convenience of propane, plus the ability to more precisely control the temperature. And it excels over charcoal at flavor.

There are two disadvantages to a pellet grill over charcoal or propane. First, you are dependent upon electricity to cook with a pellet grill. I see you live in the mid-West where power goes out frequently. When I used to live in Kentucky, it was always nice to grill out when the power was out. You can't do that with a pellet grill unless you have a generator. Second, pellet grills don't do well at direct heat, thus they don't do well at searing meats. Some will claim that this brand or that have methods to sear, but don't believe it. No pellet grill sears very well.

For items that depend upon searing for good flavor, I'll cook them on the pellet grill, and then reverse sear at the end of cooking on my Weber Q. Many of my friends who have pellet grills also have a Weber Genesis or Spirit, or a Weber kettle grill for cooking such things as steaks and burgers.

When I was researching my Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone, I also took a serious look at getting a Big Green Egg. They do have advantages. One is their ability to cook at extreme high temperatures. That makes them ideal as pizza ovens. And yes, they do VERY well at searing meats. But they are still charcoal. You still have to tinker with vents to get just the right temperature. And you still have to deal with the mess associated with cleaning up ashes and putting in fresh charcoal. On a long cook such as a pork Boston Butt or ribs, you still need to stoke it with more charcoal, and hope the temperature doesn't spike.

Of course you still have to clean ashes out of a pellet grill from time to time, but it is so little in comparison, and can just be vacuumed up with a shop vac. Nothing as messy as dumping the bin from the bottom of a Weber kettle grill. Not any where near it.

So yea, my vote would be a Green Mountain Grills pellet grill with a wifi enabled controller.

P.S. Find a local distributor for Lumberjack pellets. They are far superior to pellets from either Green Mountain Grills or Traeger. Treager pellets are quite average.
 
I have had a BGE for close to 12 yrs now.
BGE and lump charcoal.... I'll never go back.
 
I love using my Webber kettle but it is more work than I want to go though to grill most of the time. If I am going to cook a lot of food I will fire it up but most of the time I use my charbroil gas grill. Gas is just so much easier to grill a steak or two than firing up the charcoal.

When I worked in a big industrial plant I kept a Smokey Joe in my job box and fired it up in our welding shop on the weekends. The shop was heated and I had a cutting torch to start it with so i could get the charcoal going about as fast as you can heat up a gas grill.

I want to get a nice Webber gas or something like a trager but the wind whips the grill across the yard once or twice a year. The charcoal grill survives it but the gas grill only take it two or three times before it knocks to much rust out of them.
 
Originally Posted by LoneRanger
Looking for something high quality that is more satisfying than the garden variety conventional LP gas grill's.


Not on your list but I love my Blaz'n Grill Works pellet grill (http://www.blazngrillworks.com).
I know of two others sold (a neighbor of mine and a family member) after seeing the one I purchased.

Concur with the use of Lumberjack pellets.
 
The Green Eggs are interesting. Very good hassle free warranty support apparently too.

I like the Oklahoma Joe Longhorn smoker. Offset smoke box connected to a charcoal grille, propane and a side skillet burner. Keep it covered or move it inside when done and it'll last a long time.
 
I have been using Weber kettles for decades, they're a great all-purpose grill for higher heat use.

A decade ago my wife got me a Weber Smoky Mountain for the low and slow stuff and it works great. The water pan method regulates temperature well but doesn't create a nice bark.

This spring I bought a Louisiana Grills pellet grill lured by the performance from 225 to 600 but it disappointed in the low and slow area. Wouldn't cook below 300 but since I bought it from Costco I just brought it back. I considered a Grilla grill or REC TEC but didn't bite.

A month later a friend at an appliance store found a new 1st gen Kamado Joe for a great price and I've been cooking on it for several months now. I have to admit it's more of an interactive cooking experience than the pellet grill and the food tastes amazing. I can cook from 250 to whatever so it's like a Weber Smoky Mountain and a Weber kettle in one. A ThermoWorks Smoke makes monitoring temperature easy without standing over the grill.

If you go with a pellet grill don't get a Dansons brand like I did.

As of right now BBQ Guys still has 53 Kamado Joe grills in stock.

I would jump on it if I needed a grill. I now have 4.
 
I have a Kamado Joe Classic II. Costco holds Kamado Joe "roadshows" several times a year and the grills are priced significantly lower than what they normally cost. Mine has been in use for 8 months with no complaints at all. The Kamado Joe has numerous improvements over the BGE -- the handle, gasket and the customer support are widely-known to be superior. There is a version 3 of the Classic II which may be launching soon, so you may want to wait...

IMG_0349.jpg
 
Been using this for the past couple of years.
Used to prefer gas, but now like charcoal more.
Cooking with it now.

Capture.JPG
 
I still use the cast aluminum Portable Kitchens charcoal grill my mom bought in the mid 1970's for my charcoal grilling, especially if only grilling for two or three people.

I have a Char Broil gas grill my wife bought me in the late 1990's, also cast aluminum that has stood the test of time I use mainly for more delicate grilling like shellfish, and for vegetables.

As for smokers, I have three: one vertical bullet style from Sears over 12 years old, one 16" diameter 0.25" diameter steel offset older Brinkmann for cooking for 6 or so people or less, and a 24" 0.25" diameter wall steel trailer mounted original Oklahoma Joe combination offset for large occasions. All are hardwood charcoal fueled for base heat supplemented with flavoring hardwoods that also provide supplemental heat. I like that convenience vs just using hardwood for both heat and flavor in my more advanced years vs the very limited discretionary income of my younger years.

I've only used 100% hardwood charcoal, briquettes and lump form, and hardwood flavoring woods for my non-propane outdoor cookers. Lump charcoal gives me less hassle with ash management requirements on longer cook sessions. I find 100% hardwood charcoal briquettes are more handy for most foods I cook on my my vertical smoker and for grilling.

We relocate often with our employment, 6 years is the longest my wife & I have lived at a location before needing to make a job related move. We're in our 6th house since we met. I don't want to own a ceramic cooker personally intil we're both retired in a spot we plan to live in until carried out destined for a hearse.
 
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