Thinking of buying a grill. Probably a Kamado style. They seem neat. Grilling veggies. Baking pizza. All tasty. Any recommendations on cheap brands or reasons to talk me out of it?
+1 for a charcoal weber kettle. Get a chimney starter and lighter cubes if you can, and definitely get a cover for it if it doesn't come with one, that's the difference between a grill lasting 2 years and 15 years. The flavor is far superior to propane and worth the tradeoff of convenience IMO.
but my neighbor has a grill and that doesn’t stop him
Fearless :grillman:
If you get a big propane one, take a good look at what the structural elements are made out of.
There's tons of expensive brand names that have stainless exteriors that will look fine in 10 years, but the cross members and bars for spreading out the heat will rust out in 3-5 years.
Grills rock. In terms of charcoal, a cheap Weber kettle is enough. Anything cheaper than a Weber kettle isn't worth it.
Granted, you can't really bake in them like the ceramic ones, and they're less fuel efficient and probably have less heat control. I have not used a large ceramic grill yet.
I do love a kettle. But the Baking is kinda what's making me think ceramic. Always wanted a outside pizza oven so it seems cool.
On the outdoor pizza oven note, depending on your budget, I have an Ooni and it also rocks.
Absolutely devours wood though. It's expensive to run with store-bought wood.
Build quality is a thing. Webers are buy-it-for-life. My family's $200 non-weber gas grill that was stored covered rusted to nothing within 5 years. I've been running the same Weber for 15 years, Dad's Weber is 20 years old. I've replaced a few screws, and the grates plenty of times, but the enamel steel shell has taken a hell of a beating.
I did have a Weber smoker rust out, but that was stored uncovered in the rain, and filled with water for literal years.
Also for some reason those little square shaped grills are just garbage compared to the round kettles for heat management. No idea why; you'd think stuff like adjustable coal height would help. Food quality when I bought the family a kettle to replace the rectangle went through the roof.
do you keep the Weber in the garage, or let it face the elements?
Ideal seems to be outside with a cover, but mine tend to just face the elements. Definitely gonna end up paying for that at some point.
It's definitely worth it to hit up a second hand site like eBay or Craigslist and just grab a used Weber grill, they kick ass and you can regularly find them for dirt cheap. Sometimes in the fall and spring, you'll just straight up find them for free, when somebody either doesn't feel like putting it away or got a different one and decided to get rid of their perfectly good older one.
Making ovens is really easy, the only hard part is materials. I know re-enactment groups that will make big bread ovens using river clay, use them for a weekend, then break them down to earth again at the end of the event.
I don't know much about Kamado. The old Weber works fine for me, hardwood natural charcoal. Those manufactured briquettes have nasty additives.
cw: non-vegan
___I like Alton Brown's flank or skirt steak recipe. Cook directly on the coals and the fat won't make you're food sooty.
I've always just used a Weber grill that someone gifted to me over 10 years ago, a family member who owned the exact same model for 30 years.
I'd totally look into a thick ceramic shell of the same size and form factor though, I've just never had a problem. Do store your charcoal indoors though, but you'll learn that the first time you cook with slightly damp coals.
EDIT: Looking at one of those fancy grills tho - this looks fucking fire https://www.kamadojoe.com/products/joetisserie
Yaaaa they do look nice. I like the charcoal form factor so a good thick one sounds nice.
I've only ever used weber kettles. They work great and they're cheaper than a kamado. However, it's very possible that a kamado is awesome and I just don't know what I'm missing. In any case, the weber grill website has a lot of really good red meat recipes. Check it out. Also, get a meat thermometer. It changed my game completely. I don't have to regularly overcook my food just to be safe.
Definitely love a thermometer. Makes life easy. As nice as a kettle is I am intrigued by baking potential in the ceramic. Grill dinner then bake dessert
My current grill is a homemade offset barrel grill/smoker, but i'm looking at getting a kamado when i move to the uk in september.
