I have always been a wood fire BBQ kind of guy I like meat cooked over a *real* flame, and even charcoal has always seemed to me like cheating (though I've been using charcoal Weber kettle grills for 20 years). I never even considered a gas grill for myself for these reasons.
For my senior Mom & Dad, however, the task of lighting charcoal, etc was too much hassle, so this past weekend I went out shopping for a gas grill for them. After going back and forth between three different home centers and Costco, I settled on this unit as by far the best "bang for the buck" in terms of build quality, performance characteristics, and ease of use for under $500. I seriously considered going up to the Weber Genesis, but for 50% more, I just couldn't quite justify it. My requirement was good quality for under $500. At this price point, its all about QPR (quality price ratio)...
After about a one-hour erector set project putting it all together (not difficult, just tedious and time consuming), I fired it up and let heat for about 10-15 minutes to get the manufacturing residue completely burned off. I was immediately impressed with how hot the cooking surfaces became (and how quickly). The nifty temp sensors at the grate level registered 700+ degrees, though I don't know how accurate they really are.
After burn-off, I tried it out with what I have found to be one of the trickiest things to grill over open flame (gas or wood/charcoal): raw marinated bone-in chicken parts. To be done right, the chicken has to be crispy on the outside not burned, and moist and completely cooked on the inside. With unevenly shaped and sized chicken parts, this can be devilishly tricky.
But with this grill, I found I was able to keep the left most burner at full throttle, and the two right burners at low settings and get creative. This allowed me to beautifully sear the skin using the left side of the grill, then finish cooking on the right side (with the BBQ closed). The results were impressive for a gas grill, which in my experience usually turn out either damp, gray, limp chicken with no BBQ taste, or something resembling the effects of a structure fire (charred and dried out) .
One of my favorite things about this grill turned out to be that it is really easy to add wood chips for smoke flavor. Because there is a perforated metal "screen" (the infrared reflector) under the food, it catches the wood chips and holds them at a perfect smoking temperature where they will smolder but not burn up.
Speaking of flare-ups, this grill did NOT exhibit flare-ups at all. Even with fatty pieces of chicken that had been marinated in an olive oil mixture, there was almost no burning or excessive smoking, even on the "searing" side of the hot grill.
When turned down low, I also found the evenness of the heating surface to be impressively consistent, and the large stainless "grill" surface not only made great marks on the food, but also did not stick as badly as most coated steel or iron grill surfaces do.
On the con side, I can imagine that the perforated screen is going to require some periodic maintenance to keep it clean. The good news is that it comes out in three easy-to-handle sections shaped like little trays, each holding a section of grill. You pull the "tray" up and out, then lift the grill surface out of the tray making both very easy to clean.
One final note I also prepared a boneless leg of lamb on the grill using a "generic" rotisserie (Grill-Pro brand). it *barely* fit between the closed lid and the grill surface, but again, the infrared cooking system worked great. I warmed it up at full throttle for about 5-10 minutes before mounting the marinated lamb roast, then allowed it to sear beautifully for about 15 minutes. Then I turned the burners all down to their lowest settings, threw on a thumb-sized stick of oak from one of our trees, and dropped the lid.
An hour and a half later, we enjoyed one of the best lamb roasts I have ever had.
Recommended, especially if you can get it for the price I paid (which was about less than Amazon's currently listed price)
Pros:
*Great heat output for searing. I've not used a gas grill that gets a hotter cooking surface (other than commercial equipment)
*Even distribution of heat for predictable results, very little flare-up.
*Good low-temp performance
*Easy to use wood chips for flavor, unlike many gas grills
*Good (for its price-point) build quality in the hood and firebox. Cabinets are thin stainless steel.
Cons:
*Bottom 1/2 of construction is a bit flimsy, but better than many at this price point
*Requires pre-heating for about 10 minutes for best results
*Periodic clean-up will be required for optimum performance, and cleanup will be messy
My girlfriend purchased this grill for me about 3 months ago and I have used it about 30 times mostly for steaks, chicken breasts, and hamburgers. It has decent size cooking area. I can cook 9 huge steaks at the same time. Unless you plan on having a lot of cookouts with more than 20 people there then it is plenty big enough (and even then it is adequate). It is very easy to regulate the temperature of the grill because of the thermometer at the grilling surface so once you find a temperature that cooks the food the way you like it, it is easy to duplicate the desired results with amazing consistency (when i grill steaks i heat up the grill to 650 degrees and throw the steaks on for 7 minutes on each side to get a good sear, then I turn the burners off completely until the temperature drops to 400, then I fire it up and put it on low and close the grill...it gives me a great sear on the outside and is extremely tender on the inside). I haven't had a single flare-up...even on the fattiest piece of meat drenched in olive oil. I only have two small complaints. Cleaning the grill is more difficult than with a conventional grill (but besides scraping off the grates i only clean it once a month so it's not a big deal. That causes it to be less efficient but I'm lazy after eating a big meal so as long as the food comes out ok then I'm happy). The only other complaint I have is that the stainless steel grates do get stained and they aren't very attractive looking after a few uses but I don't really mind that. As long as they're functional I'm happy. Overall I would highly recommend it and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it's difficult to clean.
Buy Char-Broil TRU Infrared 3-Burner Gas Grill with Side burner Now
The big advantages of this grill are even heating and flavor. Even low fat content hamburgers came out juicy and did not shrink. The manufacturer claims that it uses 30% less fuel and it does cook faster than open flame barbeques, but there is a full power 10-15 minute warm up and then another high heat period after you finish to burn off cooking residue so total gas use may actually be more than claimed.
It does not flare up but the screens underneath the grills need to be cleaned or the heat output will drop off. This grill requires more maintenance each time than an open flame unit but it is worth it. Our previous Brinkman BBQ completely rusted out (burners, supports, firebox) after five years but we didn't take very good care of it
A couple of neat features are that you can rotisserie without a special burner, you can add wood chips without a smoker box and there are separate thermometers at grill height for each burner. This latter feature makes temperature control especially easy and accurate at the cooking surface.
All in all very pleased with this grill. Time will tell just how durable it will be, but the screens should protect the firebox and burners better than an open flame BBQ. Burners are lifetime warranty.
Read Best Reviews of Char-Broil TRU Infrared 3-Burner Gas Grill with Side burner Here
I bought the 3 burner Charbroil Red infrared grill two years ago from Home Depot and have had problems with the durability of the most critical part in the grill, the infrared emitting troughs. After a year the coating on the troughs rusted and the coating lost its ability to effectively transmit an acceptable amount of heat to the grill.
While Charbroil replaced the parts under warranty last year, they are beginning to rust again. Obviously they still have a design flaw. Of course now it's past their two year warranty period and they are refusing to replace them. The cost of replacing the troughs is about $100 plus shipping.
I also experienced problems with the chrome finish peeling off some of the handles. I've always kept the grill covered with a Charbroil cover when not in use and even went so far as to buy a desiccant canister to keep in the grill.
I will add that I have been rather pleased with the cooking performance of the grill and ease of cleanup, but it's totally unacceptable to produce a product with such a serious problem and not deliver more than a year's worth of service.
So unless you want to add over $100 in annual maintenance costs to your new grill after two years, I suggest that you pass on this grill and look for a more dependable brand...I soon will.
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I'm not sure I buy all the physics they claim is behind this but I do speak highly of the results. I cooked hot dogs, turkey burgers, and bone-in chicken breasts. I was very impressed by the results for all three, especially the chicken. Hot dogs are a no brainer. The turkey burgers were a bit tricky because the soft meat could fall into the grills. The saving factor here is that the grill cooks things very quickly once it's warmed up. The surface of the burger on the bottom cooked before the burgers could really sag much into the grates. What really amazed me was the quality of the chicken breasts. I cooked 5 very different sized breasts at the same time. The outsides on all of them were brown and crispy, the insides were moist and cooked all the way through. I added bbq sauce in the last minutes of cooking. These were the best grilled chicken breasts I've ever cooked. I have no doubt I'll be able to repeat these results for all kinds of meat with a little practice.
One noteworthy item the booklet in the box doesn't mention this but the website does season the grates with vegetable oil before cooking for the first time. This will inhibit rusting and should make the meats stick less to the grates. It took me a while to find this tip on the website but make sure you find it and follow the directions, it's a must for these grills.
I give it four stars because the grates/emitters will definitely be harder to clean than a normal open grate. I will likely (I haven't done it yet) just remove the grates and scrape the emitter plates clean with a plastic (when the grill is cold obviously) or metal putty knife. The grates can clean themselves or I can just knock the big chunks off.
I've only had the grill for a couple of days so I can't say how well the materials will hold up over time. Regarding customer service, one of the small bumpers for the lid was broken when I got the grill. I used the website to report the problem and had a response and order for replacement bumpers within 3 hours of my request. Note I had already followed their registration process (easy too).
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I was SO looking forward to receiving this pan, as I read a review that touted it as absolutely the best pizza pan ever. Well, I should have paid more attention to the previous review...Titanic is an understatement! This pan is so big, that it doesn't fit inside my wall oven. So if your plan is to use it in your oven, measure it first! The oven needs to be a minimum of 22" wide. From rim to rim the pan measures 21", from outer edge of handle to handle, it measures 22-1/2". Looks like the Boy Scouts will be getting a donation from us!! I'm giving it 4 stars because it is a beautiful pan!
