Char-broil grills

[Harmening]

Hey all. I was shopping around the other day and came across a Char-broil brand grill. It had a lot of the features I've been looking for in a grill. There was a fire box on the side of it for smoking, an easy clean ash can at the bottom, and a small rack above the main grate. Anyways, I've never owned anything but a Weber kettle grill, so I have no clue as to how good the other brands are. Does anyone here know anything about Char-broil grills? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

BTW- This weekend, it's grilled grouper. Haven't had that in a while. My mouth is waterin'

[sharky]

My father has a charbroil. It's a basic gas grill, and he has a lot of flare ups. Albeit he doesn't try to stop them as he likes everything he eats super wll done!

He doesn't have a bad thing to say about it. I cooked on it a few weeks ago, it wasn't that bad. I'm used to my Dynasty, so it was quite a bit different. Depending on your budget, it's not a bad grill.

[Harmening]

I should have pointed out, this is not a gas grill. I haven't used a gas grill since I was 11. Probably wouldn't even know how to light it. :D

[sharky]

lol.. I should have noticed by your mentioning the ash can.

Any reason you want to switch from the Weber?

[Harmening]

I like to smoke meats, and this had the fire box on the side. Also, it has a small grate that isn't so close to the heat source. It has a bigger cooking area as well, I seem to always be running out of space on my Weber. I still love my Weber, though. That's why I'm having a tough time deciding on this Char-broil. I've never used anything different. I just think I could use this effectively for smoking.

[SeanB]

I have a Char-broil gasser...the cover has not ben off of it since I got the Big Green Egg. If you are shopping around I suggest that you look at the Egg, especially if you are looking for a smoker/grill. Last Friday night I smoked some pork in the Egg and it worked great (very easy) and last night I cooked some hot dogs. For me the dogs where not as easy because I am not used to cooking hot dogs on charcoal, so they cooked faster than I am used to (I am lucky I didn't burn them to a crisp ;) ). I know I am turning into an Egg evangelist, but just one last thing to think about, why are you shopping for a new grill? An Egg is never going to need replaced.

[StPeteBBQ]

Harmening,

Since you already know the virtues of Weber, have you ever looked at the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker (that's a hell of a long name for a little smoker)? WSM for short.

It's an absolutely wonderful smoker. You can hold a charcoal fire at 225* to 250* for 20 hours or more without adding charcoal (Kingsford, that is, lump with shorten your time). You can do 4 7-8 lb pork butts at a time. It'll hold 10 racks of ribs.

It's a bit more in price than your typical Brinkmann smoker, but it's also a smoker that'll last 10 years or more.

It will turn an average backyard weekend bbq'er into a pro. I can't rave enough about this cooker.

Anyway, they're $179 on Amazon with free shipping.

You will never regret having a WSM.

[Harmening]

Wow, $179. I may definitely have to look into that. Sean, what kind of price tag do they put on the egg?

[SeanB]

I got the medium, it was $499, it has a 15" grate, the large has an 18" grate and is about $599. After I got mine I checked with another dealer in the area and they where selling it for about $40 more...so check around with the local dealers. Here is a place that has them online with free shipping. http://shopping.netsuite.com/app/site/site.nl?site=ACCT86477&sc=2&mode=items&category=147

[Deuce]

My gassser is a char broil and it is over 8 years old. It is ok but nothing special. I have replaced the guts 3-4 times now. The biggest problem I have is that it has a front and back burner not left and right so indirect cooking is very difficult.
I will be retiring the char broil soon and replacing it with a kenmore.