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Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
#410074 02/07/15 03:13 PM
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need to change the 12 year bbq, looking for a decent performace long lasting bbq, any suggestions?

Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410076 02/07/15 03:19 PM
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Big Green Egg.
(or similar units, but don't go cheap as the seals and build quality starts to suffer)
http://www.bbqguys.com/content_content_10084.html

The Primo oval is actually a pretty good idea considering that some meats are not round in shape and fitting long ribs or a tray of chunked potatoes usually happens with a wider rectangle shape.
That being said, our BigGreenEgg has been fantastic.

If you are an 'impatient' griller and want instant heat, turn on in 5 minutes, then go with a gas bbq. If you don't mind 8-10 minutes to get the bbq up to heat, or playing around with the adjustments (though there are gadgets to buy which can control heat temps by setting a dial), and if you prefer a light to heavy wood fire flavour, then the charcoal is the way to go.


"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410085 02/07/15 06:51 PM
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You didn't specify gas vs charcoal or smoking vs grilling, but a couple of others to consider:

- Weber Performer (with the gas lighter) and a chimney -- charcoal grilling & smoking for the lazy

- Weber Genesis 330 or comparable Napoleon -- probably Weber service is a bit better in the US and ditto for Napoleon in Canada, but this seems to be roughly the point where you get a good range of size/features and longevity

I've had a Performer for quite a few years now (before they added the chrome-y/cheesy styling cues) and have been very happy with it. I should really get a Genesis since that would remove my last excuse for cooking inside (the Performer + chimney makes charcoal very low effort but not zero effort), but I keep eyeing the BGE instead (for baking etc..).

If I could only have one bbq it would have to be something like the Performer (IMO charcoal makes a big difference in taste) but that's partly because I do more indirect cooking & smoking than grilling. If I was mostly grilling or indirect cooking things that don't benefit so much from smoke (I'm not big on smoked veggies) then a gas bbq might be perfect.

If you could post back with a bit of info about the kind of cooking you do (or like to do) that would really help.


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Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410094 02/07/15 09:44 PM
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You should also note that with a proper charcoal setup, you won't have a smoke flavour necessarily. If the coals are burning properly, there is VERY little smoke at all.
Anything wrapped in foil, common for veggies being cooked longer, won't have a flavour at all.

Adding to the thoughts on propane style bbq, i can't say this comment includes EVERY unit out there but generally speaking, most of them do not hold temperatures very well. They vary alot more than a heavier lidded and mostly sealed unit like the kamado style bbqs.

Last edited by chesseroo; 02/07/15 09:45 PM.

"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410096 02/07/15 10:12 PM
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I find even with correctly burning coals I still get a small smoke ring on meat. Not a strong smoke taste at all, but just a hint that I find really makes a difference.

Good point about the foil... although I was actually trying to make the opposite point, that if you don't care for that hint o' smoke they you might as well go for a gas bbq (which is really convenient until you run out of gas).

Agree completely about propane bbqs not holding temperature, but that starts to change when you get into the heavier ones, same as with ceramic cookers. In the Genesis or similar (particularly the Canada-only ones with heavier grill rods, presumably to cope with road salt) there's a lot of steel under and around the food to hold heat.

BTW in case I haven't made it clear, I do agree completely that a heavy ceramic cooker is probably as good as it gets for serious cooking, particularly when you need to maintain temps in winter or rain -- if I was serious I would probably replace the Performer with a BGE and add a gas bbq for those "run out in the rain/snow/bugs and grill a couple of <whatevers>" times (or or the occasional big GTG when there's too much food to fit on a BGE small enough to make sense the rest of the time, even with every extender & stacker grill in the BGE catalog).

Today I have snow and mosquitoes (it's warm enough to run the snowblower in t-shirt/shorts/flip-flops). Yay Canada.

Last edited by bridgman; 02/07/15 10:20 PM.

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Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410103 02/08/15 01:33 AM
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Napoleon(the ones made in Canada) or Webber.


Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410104 02/08/15 01:37 AM
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Originally Posted By: JBG
need to change the 12 year bbq, looking for a decent performace long lasting bbq, any suggestions?


I went through this when we moved. I dont envy your position. All the grills seem pretty much the same out there nowadays. We ended up choosing a 3 burner propane grill with the least stainless we could find and the heaviest heatshield we could find. Beware of pretty grills with little to no meat to the metal. It seemed to get anything half decent we had to look at grills 499$+

I learned to grill at age 12 with my dad and that grill lasted till I was 25 or so. It was only a couple hundred bucks, but was a tank. We would replace the burners as needed every 5 years or so. Nowadays it seems pretty grills rule as a status deck accessory..... Poop. I miss the old black cast style grills. ::weeps a little::

Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410133 02/08/15 05:49 PM
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Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410138 02/08/15 07:38 PM
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Since there is only 2 of us most of the time, a couple of years ago we replaced our 15 year old big Weber that had finally rotted out. We downsized our rig & got this smaller, simpler Weber from Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/weber-spirit-e210-classic-lp/860319

It has performed flawlessly for the 2 of us & it is still big enough for the occasional dinner party. Furthermore, it can get hot enough to burn stuff, ha!

Be advised - unique to the HD ones is the Cast Iron Cooking Grates (important) that the same model bought elsewhere (probably for less) does not have...

TAM

Re: Looking for a new BBQ, any suggestions?
JBG #410160 02/10/15 06:04 PM
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axiomite
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Looking out my back door at the snow-covered Performer on the snow-covered deck, I remembered a thread on Canuck Audio Mart a couple of days ago talking about definition of "high end audio" and wondered if there was a corresponding "high end barbeque" ?

Seems to me that an organized person would have (a) a remote control for their gas grill (one which did not require going out to turn on the gas first) and (b) an electric heating mat on the deck between the door and the grill. Flipping the appropriate switches at the appropriate time should let you walk out with food on a dry clear path to an already pre-heated grill.

There's an assumption in there that you were sufficiently organized to brush the gunk off the grill before shutting it down last time, but we'll skip over that for now.


M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8
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