Time for a new grill.

[WeWillScrewItUp]

My grill has seen better days. It?s a 4 burner charbroil that has done its job but never just loved it. I like the convenience of the gas grill but have been looking at the pellet grills as well. What?s y?all?s opinions and experiences with them. Would love to hear from someone that has used both. Thanks in advance.

[BeastMan]

I have a weber kettle 22 and imo it's the absolute best bang for your buck. Get a chimmney starter and getting it ready is easy. I can do ribs, burgers, pork shoulder, anything... I did a butt last sunday. Can't beat it for what all it can do and being under $200.

[BrunswickDawg]

I have a weber kettle 22 and imo it's the absolute best bang for your buck. Get a chimmney starter and getting it ready is easy. I can do ribs, burgers, pork shoulder, anything... I did a butt last sunday. Can't beat it for what all it can do and being under $200.

Yep - I’m a Weber Kettle disciple too. Get one of the hinged grates and it sets up easy for smoking a butt or a couple of racks of ribs. I’ve been thinking about buying one of their Smokey Mountain smokers - but I don’t know that I really need it.

[BeastMan]

Yep - I’m a Weber Kettle disciple too. Get one of the hinged grates and it sets up easy for smoking a butt or a couple of racks of ribs. I’ve been thinking about buying one of their Smokey Mountain smokers - but I don’t know that I really need it.


Same boat. I look grills occasionally but I always come back to, “Why am I considering dropping $800 and my grill already does that?”

I gotta get the pizza stone to do a kettle pizza.

[Snowman79]

I found a Kamado Joe on Facebook back in September for $300. I?ll never own anything but a ceramic grill. It?s almost like cheating. Everything is good on it.

[Uncle Ruckus]

Never been a charcoal guy until recently. Got a Weber 22 and love it, but getting temp and longevity out of coals has been an issue. Temp stays way too high and coals die off after an hourish. Need some charcoal tips. Bottom damper stays open to half open, top goes to nearly closed. I wait until the chimney gets white, but it seem like most of the coals are already ashed out by then

[IMissJack]

I found a Kamado Joe on Facebook back in September for $300. I?ll never own anything but a ceramic grill. It?s almost like cheating. Everything is good on it.

I've had a Kamado Joe for about 5 years. Agree, a ceramic (BGE or Kamado Joe, etc.) are all wonderful for holding temps for long periods. Pair it with an electronic thermometer and it is hard to mess up on a cook.

[BeastMan]

Never been a charcoal guy until recently. Got a Weber 22 and love it, but getting temp and longevity out of coals has been an issue. Temp stays way too high and coals die off after an hourish. Need some charcoal tips. Bottom damper stays open to half open, top goes to nearly closed. I wait until the chimney gets white, but it seem like most of the coals are already ashed out by then

Kingsford slow burn really does well for long cooks. For ribs (4-5hr cooks), I’ll dump the chimney coals out and then add fresh charcoal in a pile touching the lit coals. The new charcoal will slowly light and that will get you through ribs. For brisket I use that method but I’ll end up adding more charcoal through the grate to extend the cook time. As long as you don’t use lighter fluid there isn’t any concern adding new charcoal throughout a cook. Honestly, you don’t have to do the chimney until they are white. When the fire touches the top, often times I dump then. I do the bottom 2/3 closed and the top anywhere from half to all the way open. Once I’ve got it rolling I can fluctuate my temps from 225-275 with the top damper only.

[Uncle Ruckus]

Sounds good. I?ll try closing the bottom damper more, I just thought it was needed to get oxygen to the coals to stay lit.
I just ordered a slow-n-sear. Anxious for it to come in and see how it does.

[BeastMan]

Sounds good. I?ll try closing the bottom damper more, I just thought it was needed to get oxygen to the coals to stay lit.
I just ordered a slow-n-sear. Anxious for it to come in and see how it does.

Let us know how you like that slow-n-sear. I’ve looked at that, a vortex, and a pizza stone but haven’t bought any accessories

[BrunswickDawg]

Kingsford slow burn really does well for long cooks. For ribs (4-5hr cooks), I’ll dump the chimney coals out and then add fresh charcoal in a pile touching the lit coals. The new charcoal will slowly light and that will get you through ribs. For brisket I use that method but I’ll end up adding more charcoal through the grate to extend the cook time. As long as you don’t use lighter fluid there isn’t any concern adding new charcoal throughout a cook. Honestly, you don’t have to do the chimney until they are white. When the fire touches the top, often times I dump then. I do the bottom 2/3 closed and the top anywhere from half to all the way open. Once I’ve got it rolling I can fluctuate my temps from 225-275 with the top damper only.

I'll echo that. It's also good to have a grate that has the hinged openings on either side. Makes it easy to add coals or wood chunks if you are smoking something, especially when using indirect heat. One of the things I really like about cooking on a Weber is that it has something of a cult following - so there are tons of online tips for how to do stuff on the Weber. My wife gave me the Weber "Big Book of Grilling" also (somewhat as a joke). It has a lot of great info in it about the basics of cooking on Webers and some excellent recipes.

[SpaceWranglerDawg]

A PK Grill will be the last grill you ever buy.

[Gutter Cobreh]

My grill has seen better days. It?s a 4 burner charbroil that has done its job but never just loved it. I like the convenience of the gas grill but have been looking at the pellet grills as well. What?s y?all?s opinions and experiences with them. Would love to hear from someone that has used both. Thanks in advance.

Can't go wrong with anything that has already been discussed here, but will add that I use a pellet grill and I won't be going back to anything else any time soon.

I purchased a RecTec grill last year and it's basically cheating. You set the temp and forget it. With the technology, you put the temp gauge in the meat and you never have to lift the lid.

They're a little pricey when comparing to a Traeger or other brands, but their service and parts are superior (plus they're local for me and I wanted to support local business).

I have a charcoal grill as well, but it's only because I can't stomach throwing it out.