Little help with Grills

[stratman]

Hey, didn't spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Ol' Will Nelson have hit a few years back titled "To all the Grills I love?"

 

[mazersteven]

I grew up in South FL (28+ years) but have been in Texas for the last 10 years. Don't fall for the notion that stainless steel is impervious to the elements - it is not! It will turn to crap in no time just like any other material.

I've only ever owned CharBroil and my current Weber and I am convinced that the Weber is the worth the slight premium in cost. For what it's worth the weather in Texas is even more brutal than S. FL - it's twice as hot in the summer and twice as cold in the winter.

Forget the heat and the cold. You don't have Salt Air.

 

[Audioholics]

For a "Big Dalai Lama" like yourself you should have this grill anyway.

That's no grill... it's a space station.

 

[Dan]

Got Gas?

My last Weber stood for 15 years outside. Keep it covered and it will last a long time. The Weber charcoal grill works fine as a smoker too and cheap at less than a hundred bucks. The Big Green Egg looks good but is expensive. I have heard that they are prone to cracking. This is obviously not good but my knowledge is strictly third hand.

A word about gas vs. charcoal. (Warning strong opinion which may offend coming)

Gas (like Bose) is for heathens. The meat tastes terrible compared to quality charcoal. Gas is propane or C3H8 if you had organic chem. Charcoal is carbon or C. When you burn carbon you get CO2 which causes no problems except perhaps global warming and suffocation if you do it indoors. Propane also burns to CO2 but the hydrogen burns to H2O aka water. This is the condensation you see inside the lid of a gas grill. Thus the meat is not flame broiled, but steamed which is a lousy way to cook a steak. Those who think gas is faster are right but not as much as you think. I can get charcoal going good in 20 minutes. If you flip on the gas and whip the meat on while the grill is still cold it takes a while to heat up just like an oven not preheated. The five minutes or so truly saved is not worth it to me vs. the flavor of charcoal.

I have also learned that charcoal makes a big difference. I used to use Kingsford like everyone else and thought it was good . Then thanks to big brother Swerd I tried true hardwood charcoal without the fillers used to make briquettes. It is mostly scrap wood from flooring partially burned. The difference is not subtle. I'm talking real speakers vs. Bose, not fancy cable vs. lampcord. The briquettes have coke or coal in them to burn hotter and more evenly as well as binders all of which impart a nasty taste. Try the real deal and be surprised.

I have a killer smoked brisket recipe and a great barbecue sauce that will keep you from buying commercial stuff ever again if anyone is interested.

 

[mazersteven]

A word about gas vs. charcoal. (Warning strong opinion which may offend coming)

Gas (like Bose) is for heathens. The meat tastes terrible compared to quality charcoal. Gas is propane or C3H8 if you had organic chem. Charcoal is carbon or C. When you burn carbon you get CO2 which causes no problems except perhaps global warming and suffocation if you do it indoors. Propane also burns to CO2 but the hydrogen burns to H2O aka water. This is the condensation you see inside the lid of a gas grill. Thus the meat is not flame broiled, but steamed which is a lousy way to cook a steak. Those who think gas is faster are right but not as much as you think. I can get charcoal going good in 20 minutes. If you flip on the gas and whip the meat on while the grill is still cold it takes a while to heat up just like an oven not preheated. The five minutes or so truly saved is not worth it to me vs. the flavor of charcoal.

QUOTE]

A you are right about the steam effect. So the solution is this.

http://www.grillsearch.com/html/tec.html

 

[stratman]

Just an interesting observation: The Palm, Capitol Grill, Ruth's Chris Stakehouse, Mortons, Peter Luger's Steakhouse all use gas grills to cook their stakes. I'm a charcoal guy, always will be, I always use hardwood coal, BUT to be fair, unless you're smoking the meat the difference between gas and charcoal imparted flavor is minimal. I like to partial smoke, as I grill I add wood chips that I soak in water an hour ahead of cooking, this add a smoky character to the beef (not as pronounced as true slow smoking) that everyone seems to enjoy. Another point rarely mentioned: let's face it who doesn't like to light a pile of coal, it's primal and mystifying plus the flames shooting up, wow, (I'm a caveman.)

 

[Dan]

Just an interesting observation: The Palm, Capitol Grill, Ruth's Chris Stakehouse, Mortons, Peter Luger's Steakhouse all use gas grills to cook their stakes. I'm a charcoal guy, always will be, I always use hardwood coal, BUT to be fair, unless you're smoking the meat the difference between gas and charcoal imparted flavor is minimal. I like to partial smoke, as I grill I add wood chips that I soak in water an hour ahead of cooking, this add a smoky character to the beef (not as pronounced as true slow smoking) that everyone seems to enjoy. Another point rarely mentioned: let's face it who doesn't like to light a pile of coal, it's primal and mystifying plus the flames shooting up, wow, (I'm a caveman.)

You said it caveman! MAKE FIRE, COOK MEAT!"

Granted the charcoal makes a bigger difference the longer you cook or smoke something but why have two bags of charcoal? It will improve burgers as well as brisket, just not as much.
I routinely keep 7 or 8 smoking woods around (oak, pecan, cherry, apple, mesquite, grapevine, hickory, cedar, maple). By the way, if you are in a rush you can microwave the wood in water till hot and it will soak through much faster.
The best restaurant steak I had was in the Sheraton(?) hotel in Tucson. You could get the 24 oz. sirloin or the 32 oz. sirloin! Also you got to pick the wood you wanted the meat cooked with. I tried sassafrass which was very smooth and mellow. Anybody know where I can get some?

 

[mikeyj92]

I've grilled out plenty on both charcoal webers and my current gas grill.

I can't say I noticed a "flavor" difference either way. Once the gas grill is seasoned, it all seemed the same to me.

The only reason I chose to stick with gas is that it is way more convenient for me.

I rent. I have a grill I can wheel out of the garage and heat up very fast and cook on it, let it cool down for a few minutes and wheel it back in the garage where it is safe.

I couldn't do that with a charcoal grill.

I don't cook fancy-dancy stuff, I make hotdogs, brats, burgers, pork chops, steaks (few different cuts), salmon steaks, other fish and the usual potato/corn-on-the-cob/asparagus type veggies.

I don't remeber it tasting any better with charcoal.

I can tell you, you can mess up food quite easily on a charcoal grill. I can tell a novice griller right away with one bite of the "food". Brats a la Lighter Fluid...ug.

I don't think a novice griller can screw-up so easily using gas...

 

[stratman]

Yeak Mikey you're right, it's easier for a novice to "screw up" on coal than on gas, with coal you really need to know the characteristics of coal and fire and how to control heat, it's not as simple as turning a knob. But once you get the hang of it there's nothing like fire. Oh and clean up? With coal it's a cinch, I just leave the grill lid off, open the "ventilators" underneath and before you know it you've got white ash, that when COOL(!) makes great fertilizer. BTW anyone that makes a burger or steak that tastes like lighter fluid should be banned from grilling forever. I never use fluid, I use a chimney, put some old newspaper underneath, fill the chimney with coal, light the paper and in 10 minutes you'll have a roaring fire.

 

[Tomorrow]

I tried sassafrass which was very smooth and mellow. Anybody know where I can get some?

Good stuff...leaves make a good tea, too. It's found all over the southeast of the good ol' U.S. of A. Here's a source for you.... http://www.amazon.com/Sassafras-Barbecue-Wood-Smoker-Chips/dp/B000EOGUAQ

 

[mazersteven]

However, there are crucial differences between TEC infra-red grills and charcoal grills. Most importantly, although charcoal radiates infra-red energy, this radiant heat consists no more than 25% of the energy produced in charcoal grilling. The remaining 75% or more of the heat generated is hot air and hot air dries out food as it cooks it. But TEC grills cook with 100% infra-red energy so even well-done meat remains tender and juicy. They also reach full cooking capacity in about 7 minutes. Charcoal takes about a half an hour.

With TEC infra-red grills, there are no flare-ups or charring of food as with charcoal grills. TEC grills distrubute heat with absolute uniformity - and they do it the same way every time! You know how difficult it is to regulate heat from charcoal. Finally, TEC infra-red grills burn very cleanly and don't add dust to food the way charcoal does. And there is no ash to clean up and throw away later.

www.tecinfrared.com

 

[johndoe]

I've owned a Weber Genesis Silver B for over three years. It's the one with the stainless grates and hatch handle, the rest is enameled steel. I keep it outdoors the whole time -under Chicago weather, and I use it year round- all I've done to it it's the annual cleanup, oh, I had to get a new thermometer after 2 years. I love it. I splurged and had it assembled for me.
My sister got a fancier combo (gas/charcoal) grill from France (of all places) and considers mine far superior.
Just remember to keep the gas holes -that sounds funny- under the "flavorizers" clean, to keep the heat even throughout the grilling surface.
Considering the amount of posts for this thread, I'd say that audioholism and grilling are hobbies that go hand in hand.

 

[mazersteven]

Considering the amount of posts for this thread, I'd say that audioholism and grilling are hobbies that go hand in hand.

How about Alcoholisim too.

We can start a new forum named AGA

Audioholism, Grillism, & Alcoholisim