Gas grill recommendation?!
Gas grill recommendation?
Hi, i need a recommendation to buy a gas grill,i never bought a gas grill before. i'm thinking a grill that can :
1) give me a good heat eveness,to cook a good steak, so maybe something that can sear meat better too, like stainless steel or cast-iron or procelein-coated cast-iron?? what is the different between these 3 type of cooking surface? which one sear meat better and easier clean up?
2) some area for keeping the food warm.
3) thermostat on the lid so i can know the temp inside the grill.
4) Side burner
5) preferable with electric ignition. not very important.
as i'm new to gas grill, i would like to know more about lava rock or wood, i think i read it somewhere people put lava rock or wood in the gas grill to give extra flavour, so how to do that? can i do that on any type of gas grill or only on certain models that allow this?
my husband doesn't like to use propane, we are thinking to use natural gas from the house.
Thank you !
Answers:
WEBER, hands down the best.
There are many good gas grills and many can be converted to natural gas (or bought already switched). I always use cooking spray on my cooking surfaces before lighting to facilitate cleanup. Lava rock does not add to the flavor except when grease from the food falls on it and sends up smoke. Buy a name brand grill. This way you can get parts if needed in the future. All the other things you mentioned are pretty well standard items on a quality grill.
Over the past several years WEBER's have been rated the best by many magazines including Consumers Reports.
Recently Kenmore Grills (sold by Sears) have been highly rated.
I own 3 Weber charcoal grills (summer place and at home) plus at present I have a Charbroil Gas Grill that we do not like at all. We get uneven cooking and it simply is not a quality grill. We are now considering one of the Weber Gas models, however the new Kenmore line looks comparable and is priced lower.
Shop around and look for the features that he likes. Porcelin coated cast iron grills are great but one must be careful as they can easily chip.
Take a look at Weber's Genesis Line. They are 3 burner grills with a built in thermometer, a side burner, and electric start, and a small warming rack. There is a natural gas model available.For cooking surface go with the stainless steel, porcelein is easy to scratch and damage.
I find the built in thermometer is a little off. It reads a little low compared to the temperature of the cooking grates. thats not a problem. Simply invest in a oven thermometer. Better yet get a remote cooking thermometer. They allow you to insert a tempertature probe into the cooking meat and monitor the temperature without opening the grill top.
I like the Weber because I like to make old fashion barbecue meats and smoked meats. Those styles of cooking require low and slow cooking. With the Weber I can turn the rear burner on low and maintain the temperature at a nearly perfect 225 Deg F, the best barbecue temperature.