Question for all you propane grillers out there

xmacro

Ok, so here's the deal - I love to grill, and my roomate wants to buy a grill for our condo - but I've only ever grilled on charcoal, and know almost nothing about propane grills. Add to that the fact that we're on a shoestring budget of about $150

So rather than ask you guys which grills you like, I'm more curious as to what do you think a propane grill "must have" - what are the essential features that I should look out for when shopping? Are brands important? Any I should stay away from?

Thanks for any help, and with a little luck, we'll be grilling this weekend

kuzi16

cast iron grates.

the heat you cook with on a charcoal grill comes from the coals themselves. they kick out a TON of heat. you get very little heat from the grates.
a gas grill only will get so hot. most of the cooking is done by contact heat. cast iron heats well and even and will stay hot even with a good chunk of animal on it.

doromath

I used to be a charcoal snob and look down on any grilling on propane until a few years ago. I'm by no means a convert and still LOVE a good charcoal fire, but I'll be damned if a good propane grill isn't handy, and better in some cases. If nothing else, the consistency and convenience is great.

I purchased my grill about 3 years ago and went through ALOT of searching and price comparisions (as I'm also rather thrifty). End result is I'm VERY happy with my grill and got it for ~$250. Here's some considerations, opinions and things I think are absolutely essential.

First, as far as brands go I'm fairly loyal to CharBroil. I had already grown fond of them in my search for a good electric smoker (Returned the first one I bought which was a Brinkman), but they really held up in the comparision and is what I ended up getting.

For things that are important my best advice is to get to Home Depot or Lowes as you're going to have to do some serious looking, poking and prodding to find out what you need to know. Unfortunately internet pictures are WILDLY decieving. Find their highest end Webber and check the following list of things on it. This is very likely to be your "Gold Standard" to compare against. Webber is very highly priced, part of it is their brand name but the other part is they're just damn good grills.

Here's what is important (IMO) and why:

1). HEAVY, powder-coated CAST IRON grates. If the grill has aluminum grates, or they just feel flimsy you're not going to get a good sear out of it like you will with good old cast-iorn. Note: You can buy good grates after-market too, so it may be better to go with a cheaper grill (that meets the rest of the criteria) and replace the grates. Honestly you'll be happier getting a cast-iron plancha and using it on the stove for steaks than you would a grill with crappy grates. Do NOT compromise on the grates. This is a must.

2). Stainless Steel burners (elements). The more stainless steel parts on your grill (other than the exterior which is just for looks) the better. This is all about having a grill that won't be a pile of rust in a few years.

3). BTU. The more BTUs your grill is rated for, the hotter it will get and the better it will maintain temperature with high food loadings. Mine is around 50,000BTU for the 4 burners in the main grill chamber. I don't need any more than that and I can get a fine sear on steaks no problem.

4). General construction. I have a pet peeve with how flimsy some propane grills are constructed. I physically bumped, pushed and torqued the frames on the grills I was looking at. For under $150 bucks you'll find that most are pretty "shakey", so expect there to be some give in the frame, just use it as a point of comparison.

I hope that helps, let me know if I can give you any more information.

mfotis

I love the charcoal grill but I generally don’t have the patience or time to get one properly fired up to cook. I’ve been using propane for years mostly out of convenience (I grill out 2-3 times a week, even in the winter).

I use a Charbroil grill; it’s not the most expensive grill out there but readily available at your Home Depots and the like and you can pick up replacement parts up off the shelf if and when you need them. As for reviews I would check out the reviews online. Once you have it narrowed down to something you like in your price range I would go out to the store and take a look at it in person. Sometimes the reviews are a little shaky and you might not like how the grill looks or how sturdy/ un-sturdy it is.

As for the essentials for the grill; In my humble opinion a built in temperature gauge is a must!! Second, I would get one that has at least one side shelf, not a must but pretty damn handy. Most grills now a day’s come with a side burner for cooking / heating pots of food and what not. In 15 years of grilling I’ve never used that burner for anything other than just another shelf (so if you can get the same grill cheaper without the side burner it might be something to think about).

So other than a grill brush and cover you really don’t need anything else grill wise.

As for accessories, I would get a good pair of metal tongs and a hefty spatula. You can get those grill kits that usually will fit the bill and it will come with some other stuff (corn cob stickers /skewers etc.) that you’re not likely to use very often but may come in handy once or twice.

Hope this helps ya out some.

xmacro

As I'm looking around, I see some grills are cast-iron, and some are procelain-coated cast iron - is there any difference? What does the porcelain do, if anything?

mfotis

Porcelain grates seem to be the current trend and they're ok, I have them. But you cant use a scrapper on them, it will scrap off the coating and then you have a rust problem. You can still use a wire brush on them. To be honest I don't know if I would reccomend them over regular ones.

doromath

My grates are powder coated, and some of the coating has come off. Whenever it does I just season the iron with oil and treat it like a standard cast iron pan (though it requires way more re-seasoning). I didn't like the porcelain coating so much, but it's just a preference thing. I like to have as little material between the metal and the meat that could interfere with heat transfer.

xmacro

When you say seasoning, what do you mean? I used to own a Wok, and to me, seasoning meant heating up, coating with oil, and cooling down, and repeating, all to seal the pores in the metal - is it the same thing with the grates?

doromath

Exactly the same thing as you did with the wok. In practice I just make sure to scrape and then coat with oil the grates after I've cooked on them. If you're lazy, lambasting them with PAM is even a decent quick-fix (burners off, of course). The oil soaks in the pores of the metal and provides a light barrier against the water that propagates rust.

mfotis

I sponge mine down with Olive oil.

xmacro

So after every grill, rub it down with oil - is that while it's hot, warm, or cold?

With my old wok, the oil was rubbed in while it was still piping hot, then allowed to cool, then wiped down again when it was cool

mfotis

I dunno, I do mine after I eat. It's normally pretty cool. The grill is a big hot working area, if you dont mind not having any hair on your arms i guess you could still do it while its hot.

fla-gypsy

For $150 you will not get much in a gas grill. I say stick with charcoal for now.

xmacro

Yeah, from my research, it seems that if a guy wants to grill everyday like I like to do, then he better be prepared to shell out a few hundred or few thousand for a full stainless steel set with good quality. You get what you pay for, after all.

The only thing I could find at Lowes or HD that was half-decent was the "Char-Griller Grillin Pro Gas Grill Model #3001", and even that has some cheap internal parts that seem to need replacing once a year or so, but otherwise it seems to have a good thick build to it. Which brings me to another question - how "moddable" are these grills? If this grill I'm looking at has a good build quality but cheap internal parts, how easy or hard would it be to start mixing and matching internal parts from third party websites?

My roomie seems pretty set on a propane, and from what I've read, this model will hold up pretty decently for a few years, so it's up in the air for now

doromath

I'm not sure how moddable most propane grills are with aftermarket parts. Replacement parts are usually pretty easy to get a hold of from any of the major manufacturers. I haven't done any replacements myself but they should be pretty straight forward.

Are the grates on the one you're looking at cast iron? If I was in your shoes with the budget you have I would rather have good steaks for a year and then need to overhaul a grill, than have crap meat on a grill that will last forever (which for what's out there likely means get a craptacular grill for $100 and buy some decent grates).

That or I would just drop the money on a good cast iron plancha and cook indoors. It's not the same feel as grilling but it's the same principle (i.e. you'll get great Maillard reaction out of it). I've been using my new one alot since winter hit and it's serving me well. I just made some wicked fajitas on it tonight, and the weekend's grilled swordfish was fantastic.

Tough to smoke a 'gar while doing it though, so that's a major drawback.

xmacro

Well, my roomie and I just got the Chargriller Griller Pro 3001.

Had to take it back twice because some **** at the manufacturing plant thought packing the propane hoses bent in the box wouldn't cause any problems - dunno why they just don't lay them flat. But at last we got a hose with minimal kinks, took 2 hrs to assemble, and now we're just cooking off the shipping oil as we get our steaks ready for tonight

Thanks for all the advice guys! I learned a lot and it'll definitely come in handy down the line!

lilwing88

Don't know if you're into tailgating or camping, but the Weber Q Portable Propane is a pretty cool little grill. I used one for about 8 years and it worked wonderfully on the balcony of my condo. You can get a stand for it and a hose attachment to use regular sized propane tanks. And if you tailgate or go camping, you can use smaller disposable tanks. I like it cuz it uses up about half the space of a full-sized grill and has a huge cooking area. Enough room for a couple steaks, 3 or 4 burgers and a couple chicken breasts. The cast-iron grate is one piece and comes right out for easy cleaning. The parts and accessories are pretty cool too. You can trick it out like a car! They range in price from $125-$200 depending on size and options.

xmacro

^ Much appreciated. I'm good with this grill for now, but it ultimately belongs to my roomie and can't come with me anywhere. I'll definitely look into that Weber Q Portable when I move in a few months

doromath

Looks like you got a decent unit for being on a limited budget. Let that bad boy heat up for a good 15 minutes plus on your first steak cooking session. You're going to want to see what it caps out at temperature wise for searing. I'm probably telling you things you already know though. You've got alot of grillers, smokers and general carnivores on this forum so post away with anything else.

Also: How about some pics of your inaugural steaks?