Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron Panini Press and Skillet Grill Sets

I originally wrote this review for the press alone. At the time I bought the press, Amazon wasn't offering the press/pan as a set. Now it does and since anyone interested in this product is probably going to be looking at reviews of the set rather than the individual components, I'll repeat my review, with enhancements:

While shopping a retail cooking store, I fell in love with the Krups FDE312 panini press. A bit of Amazon research, however, turned up a disturbing pattern of sudden failures in this product. Research into other presses from Cuisinart, DeLonghi, Breville, Villaware, and others failed to produce a clear front runner. It seemed that each product had one or more issues non-removable grill plates, difficult cleaning, lack of grill ribs, flimsy handles, tendency to dry food, non-adjustable temperature, etc. Enter the Le Creuset 10 ¼" grill pan and panini press. You can submerge them to clean. They're coated with enamel, not Teflon, which means with proper care they should last two lifetimes (although they're only guaranteed for the lifetime of the original owner)(and note, this is a satin enamel coating, not the Le Creuset smooth coating, the longevity of which I can confirm from personal experience). There's no electrical element to burn out, no cord to store, no moving parts to break. Use is simple. Heat the grill on one burner (we have gas, but they're supposed to work with other technologies) and the press on the other. Wait until a spatter of water vaporizes almost instantly. Brush grill pan with some oil. Place sandwiches on grill pan. Pick up the press, brush on some oil, place on sandwiches and press for a few moments. Sizzle, sizzle. Wait until the cheese melts. Serve. The panini were just like what I'd eaten in Italy. I haven't owned an electric press, but I can't imagine they'd be better. Cleanup of the enamel surface requires a bit of care but, unlike every Teflon-coated product I've ever owned, that surface will probably still be there 20 years from now. And since the grill pan actually has sides (unlike every electric panini press I looked at), there was no side-spattering and thus no cleanup to do around the cooking area. The only disadvantages the grill/press combination costs $140, almost twice the cost of the average electric panini grill. But since many of the grill reviews I read spoke of this being their second (or third) electric grill, I suspect you'd make the money back over the next 20 years. Also, running multiple batches is a bit more of a problem than with a self-heating grill, since you need to place the now oily press back on the flame to reheat it, which can potentially lead to flaring of the residual oil, and will also get the burner oily. I intend to see, however, if you can reheat the press in the pan rather than putting it directly on a burner.

Let me just get right to it: this works okay if you want to make one, maybe two sets of sandwiches at most. It may work better if you have a gas stovetop (I don't) but works passably with a flat top electric stove top (what I have) and I'm guessing it would work with electric burners as well. I got all excited reading other reviews about how this press will last forever (it probably will), how it is high quality (true), easier to store (also true), simple to clean (still true), has no breakable parts (yes, yes) and can also be used for other food items like burgers and chicken (probably also true). But I mostly wanted it for panini.

Using it: After opening it I read that this is not meant to be used with my type of cook top but I thought I could probably still make it work. And I did. But it took three batches of panini to get the crust I wanted. Too black, too white, just right-and I don't see how anyone, no matter the cook top, will avoid this process. No little dial to set like on a traditional panini maker for how you want your toasted product to turn out. Second, the instructions say, heat your pan and press on separate burners till hot. Then grease each piece and set the press inside the pan for a minute or so, then do your sandwiches OFF THE HEAT. Okay great. Now say you want to make more than two sandwiches, which is what the pan will hold. No problem for the pan, just put it back on the burner to reheat, but what about the press? It is now greased on the side you put directly in contact with the burner (perhaps more of a problem for electric ranges...). You can carefully wipe it dry (it's still hot) and stick it back on the burner, then grease it again (did that, annoying to deal with, but it worked). You can use the retained heat from the press and pan and get a much more lightly toasted second set of sandwiches (have also done that) and then you pretty much have to start over. With a traditional press you can just keep sliding sandwiches out, sandwiches in. I'm feeding a family of six, so to me this seems like a real selling point for the grills and a real drawback for the press.

After I mastered my pan and press I was all happy till I got to thinking, what would one of these taste like without the grill marks? Some of the traditional presses have two sided plates, one smooth, one ridged. I wanted to try a smooth panini. Luckily I had the wit to realize this would be a simple matter. I got out a plain old frying pan and made a no grill marks panini by simply using slighly thinner bread, and pressing the sandwich down with a spatula as it was cooking, then flipping it halfway through. I liked it better, but that is a matter of opinion. It did get me thinking though: I already have high quality skillets. Did I really just pay $150 for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich pan? Yes, I think I did.

I would say that the most value I got from this purchase is the little booklet that came with it urging you to mix spices in a small dish of olive oil, then to brush your panini bread with this mixture on the outside before making them. It is delicious. Don't think I would have thought of it on my own and my panini cookbook doesn't mention that great little idea, so kudos to Le Crueset for good cooking tips. But you may want to consider (as I wish I had), before dropping your cash: does anyone really need a panini maker? To cook something both sides at a time, thus saving a total of two minutes, and to imprint it with grill marks: is this worth $150 to you? Or $80 or $90 if you go the traditional press route? Before buying this or any panini press I would urge you to get out a heavy duty flat bottom skillet, assemble a panini, place it in the pan over medium heat, press it down with a spatula, and carefully flip it two minutes later. If this is tasty to you, you just saved yourself more than $100 and you are still enjoying a panini.

I hope to use this pan for other things, like burgers, steaks and chicken, to feel I got my money's worth out of it. It is a great pan, nothing wrong with it, thus the four stars. HOWEVER If I really wanted fancy grill marked panini I think I would rather have gone with a traditional press for the convenience of making multiple sandwiches, not using up more than half my stove to make what is supposed to be a quick and simple meal, and adjustable temperature control. Nor would I get one with multisided plates. I would use a frying pan for a "no grill marks" sandwich. Something to think about!

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I bought this for my boyfriend for Christmas. In all honesty, I also bought it for myself, because I'm a vegetarian, and I needed some sort of method for introducing variety into my dinner routine. I was getting really tired of rice and beans and greens. This little set, while extremely expensive (in my opinion), really is a lot of fun, and the panini is excellent, as long as you FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. We didn't read the manual carefully the first time we used it, so I was disappointed, but when you do exactly what the thing says, and get a decent feel for how long to let the sandwich cook for, it turns out great sandwiches.

In short: heat both components up, like it says, and then take them OFF the heat, brush them with whatever (we use a spray cooking oil; olive oil did NOT work), put the top onto the bottom for a bit, and then put the sandwich in, press down, and wait. If you forget to put the top back onto the bottom, it won't work right, I have found. And you're not supposed to put it back onto the heat. Maybe all that is obvious to cooking people, but I'm a novice.

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I received this for set for Christmas and have already used it a few times. I cooked yellow fin tuna the first use and it came out spectacular. Love the grill marks, and even cooking. This is definitely a piece of cookware that loves low/slow heat, I had it on my main burner on a low heat and got the oil to just about smoking and then threw on my tuna. Cooked it 5 mins a side and it came out with a terrific natural taste! The main event was the panini, I cut my ciabatta bread up, sprayed it with olive oil and layerd on the prosciutto and provolone. I heated the top press on one burner and the skillet on another, once the pan was sufficiently hot (water sizzle/pop) i turned off the heat on both and threw on the first panini and put the press on top. I let it cook for about 5 minutes and found it to be beautifully browned with nice even grill marks. The second one cooked the same without having to apply any more heat. Great set, I'm looking forward to cooking more with it!

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This is a great product. The grill pan itself is very heavy, and retains heat very well. The press is similarly robust but has not proved to be as useful on electric ranges -the range can't get the press hot enough to really do much more than weight the food down. Originally we purchased this item to facilitate preparation of panini, but we've since grown accustomed to using it for all indoor grilling applications.

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T-fal Signature Nonstick Expert Interior Thermo-Spot Heat Indicator Dishwasher Safe 8-Inch and 10-I

I hadn't bought new cookware in ages. I visited my elderly parents and my mother of all people had these in her cabinet. After using them I found them really nice and decided to order some for myself. I'm very impressed with non-stick surface. We will have to see how well it fares long term, but so far I love it.

These are ok but nowhere near as good as the original T-Fal, it scratches easily, inside and out. Seems to be poor quality.

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I got this pair of frying pans, or skillets. I've been trying to find lids for them. No luck. I've contacted T-Fal Customer Service and this is what I got back from them;

("Our saute pans were designed as open saute pans. As such, they do not come equipped with lids nor do we have the lids available for purchase seperately.

However, universal lids which may fit depending on the size of the pan are available from several retailers.

They lids may be available at Kmart, Kohl's, Bon-Ton Wal-Mart, Shopko, Target and Elderbeerman.")

I've found and tried the T-fal "Universal Lid" and it doesn't come close to fitting these. The handles are higher than the rim of the pan and that wont let the lid sit flat on the pan. I have 3 drawers full with over a dozen different sized lids and not a single one will fit either of these frying pans. Or as T-Fal insists on calling them "Saute pans" The only thing I can do to use them is us a piece of aluminum foil to cover it and that is barely more than nothing. So even though I've had these for about 6 months I still haven't been able to use them.

And I know it ain't proper to write a review on something until it has been used. But I feel that the point that these do not have lids available for them needs to be posted. They are odd sizes and unlikely to have any other pans lid fit them. Since not having a lid available for it is pretty significant I feel that these only rate a 2 star evaluation. If they want a better rating, they need to make a lid for them, then I'll change it.

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Toastess TPG-315 6-Person Nonstick Party Grill and Raclette

The Raclette grill is exactly like the one we brought from Germany. It is wonderful. There are probably items with higher quality. But for an item like this, which you do not use every day it has a great value for the price. I love it and the family who got it for christmas loved it, too !

This product delivered exactly what it advertised. I had never used this type of cookware before and was uncertain what I would need to host a small gathering with some French students. I checked Amazon to see what my options were and decided to purchase a relatively inexpensive version. The Toastess Party Grill was exactly what I needed for the six of us to prepare our own meals. It's lightweight, easy to use, and easy to clean. As it turned out, there was no need to spend any more to have a wonderful time.

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I love this form of cooking but it is difficult to find in the United States. This makes a fun dinner and is very easy to use & clean.

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I bought this and it is a great product for gatherings with family and friends.

That being said, the teflon easily wears on the product, even after rigidly following the manufacturer's instructions.

It heats up quite fast and the top grill does do a good job when cooking items.

Be aware, once the teflon is gone, things will stick and it will not be pleasant to clean! This is a deal breaker for me. You can find better quality items out there.

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My girlfriend and I bought this as a gift for our families to encourage sitting at the table and sharing a meal. It turned out great however, be advised that although the product is advertised to serve up to 6 people, you'll find it cumbersome to have enough cooking to feed them all. I'd say that this product is quite small and best fits the needs for 3 to 4 people. One more thing that I was asking myself why the designers wouldn't take into account is the need for a knob to regulate the intensity of the resistance like a stove would have... I hope this doesn't sound bad but the overkill or cold settings (on, off) are somewhat primitive. Granted you can turn it on or off as needed but that's inconvenient. Nonetheless, this little bad boy got the job done and actually kept us in the table for around 3 hours. The cleaning was effortless.

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Music City Metals 95181 Stainless Steel Heat Plate Replacement for Select Gas Grill Models by Brink

Just got dome rebuilding my Perfect Flame BBQ. The stainless steel burners were rusted out to the point where there were large holes in them. Likewise for the Stainless Steel heat plates. What you need to know is that these items were made from a very low grade of stainless steel and rusting will be inevitable. I find it very interesting that you can get four replacement burners for less than $20 however to replace the stamped plates it will cost you $25 X 4 or over $100. If this item had four plates I would consider it however at this cost they are not practical. I also have noted that many of the other Grills do not have louvers in their plates so fabricating these should not be an issue. Remember if a magnet sticks to your stainless it will rust. Three hundred series stainless is non magnet and will not rust.

I just received this heat plate today. It took nearly a month to receive it. I was under the impression that it was a four pack of heat plates. How wrong I was. Only got one for $25. I will return this item due to the cost. I agree with the first review. This should not be to difficult to fabricate myself. I'm looking at about $130 for the gas tubes and heat plates. A new grill could be purchased for a little more. Very unsatisfied.

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No mater if this Is perfect stainless or not they are Exactly the same as the OE for a fraction of the price. Nothing on the entire grill which is all stainless is non magnetic though it should be. Lowes stainless grills are cheep garbage they have even changed the name brand for that reson.

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though i was getting 4 of them 25.00 apiece hi way robbery 100.00 for four is crazy !!! do not Buy !!!

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Hard to find parts for my discontinued grill. Products were not as wide as OEM but work. easy to install.

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NCAA Texas A&M Aggies 4 Piece Barbecue Set

I was a litt upset to find that the plastic packaging around the barbecue set was already ripped open in two places. I was giving this as a gift to my father for Christmas and it looked as though I bought it used. Fortunately the barbecue set itself looked brand new so we just explained the situation to my parents.

This Aggie barbeque set is awesome! We bought it as a gift and the recipient thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks so much for your great service and quick shipping!

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Old Stone Oven Pizza Stone Round

I bought two of these, despite their relatively high price. I wanted to be able to cook two large pizzas at once for entertaining, so nobody waits slobbering while others eat their pizza.

I've made pizza twice and have not been disappointed. The stones are fairly soft and would scratch easily with sharp steel implements, so I'd avoid using them. The sone's porosity means it will stain easily. Spilled tomato sauce and cheese will bake right into the surface. I expect my pizza stones will quickly develop a patina. If you want clean looking pizza stones, the maintenance would be nearly impossible. Otherwise, maintenance is easy. Wash in hot water (no soap) and air dry. Use a belt sander or orbital sander if you ever want to renew the surface.

I'm surprised another reviewer received a broken pizza stone. The manufacturer packages these heavy and moderately fragile items very well with lots of corrugated cardboard. Both of mine arrived in perfect condition. They were shipped separately, like apparently everything from Amazon.

The crust is much better than the pizzas I was making in glass pie plates. It's crispy on the bottom and tender in the middle. The toppings are better too, because they are cooked at higher temperatures and have more of a roasted flavor. Before, pizzas cooked at 350 F for 25 minutes. The crust had good flavor but tended to steam under the vegetables and cooked very slowly. Now, I cook pizzas in ten minutes (!) and the crust and toppings are perfect. For entertaining, you could easily bake a pizza in the time it takes to assemble the toppings for the next pizza.

I just received the peel. For the uninitiated, a peel is the flat wooden pizza assembly station used to transfer the pizza to the stone in the oven. So far, I have made four pizzas without the peel and it's frustrating, and possibly dangerous working in a 500 F oven. Get the peel. It's not an option.

A tablespoon of corn meal on the peel and the stone will prevent the dough / crust from sticking.

The pizza stone is requiring a new learning curve, and I'm fairly sure it'll end up being a bit more effort than the pie plates I was using, but the much better pizza will be well worth the little extra effort. The peel and stone make it possible to have gourmet restaurant pizza at home. It's much easier than most people would think, and much less expensive than eating out. With no prior experience, expect 4-5 attempts to work out the tricks. After that, homemade pizza is fast and easy.

Pizza Dough:

1 1/8 cups of warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups bread flour

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl in the order listed. Mix by hand until liquid is absorbed. Use a heavy duty mixer (Kitchenaid, etc.) and a dough hook to knead the dough for ten minutes (highly recommended), or knead by hand on a floured bread board until the dough has a silky sheen (the labor intensive method). Spray with olive oil in the mixing bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise until doubled in size. This takes 20-30 minutes in a 200 F oven (lowest setting) or on the stove top as the oven below is preheating. Makes two 14" pizza crusts.

I was working in the garage when I heard what sounded like a gunshot blast inside the house. I ran inside and found our old well-seasoned pizza stone cracked in three huge pieces and I was sad.

LESSON: Do NOT ever (EVER!) leave your pizza stone on stove-top burner that is turned on. It was an accident, but the result was loud, scary, and sad.

Quickly, we were in the market for a new pizza stone because we used it all the time and wanted to get a new one well-seasoned sooner rather than later. We bought the Old Stone version based on reviews and such and have been nothing but happy with it since we got it.

This pizza stone weighs a ton (about twice as heavy as our previous one), but it does a great job of retaining seasoning and cooling down. Our old one took a while to cool down, but this one seems to cool down a lot faster. If you're in the market for a pizza stone, I highly recommend this one.

A note on seasoning a pizza stone

Ask 100 people how to season a pizza stone and you'll likely get 100 answers. Here's mine. First off, NEVER wash a pizza stone with soap. The soap will get soaked into your stone and, well, make your food taste soapy. If anything, wash with water only. BUT, we never wash ours. Before you get all grossed out about it, we basically keep our pizza stone in the oven all the time. We cook everything we can on it (pizza, re-heated pizza, cheese sticks, heated sandwiches, etc.) and just let the juices and whatnot fall where it may on the pizza stone. By leaving it in the oven all the time, all of the leftover juices and whatnot basically gets burned into the stone and helps the seasoning process. In the end, through this process, the goal is to have a black pizza stone and that's when it will be completely non-stick and give you the best tasting pizzas you've ever cooked. It'll take a while (we've been going on almost a year now and it's just a dark brown), but it's well worth it.

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perfect stone for pizza,calzones,bread,etc.because of its thickness,size,and heat retention.it is also very stable in the oven due to the legs underneath and weight.other stones are 5/16th thick.this is 9/16th which makes a big difference.

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I saw an ad for a counter-top convection oven in which a pizza was baked at 500 degrees using a pizza stone. As my kitchen range (KitchenAid) has a convection oven and will bake at 500 degrees, I decided to buy this pizza stone. I like pizza. This stone is the largest and thickest I could find. I saw reviews for other stones where the stones had broken. I thought it would be best to buy a thick heavy stone. That describes this stone. We amateur cooks need the best equipment to offset our lack of skill.

Recipes for dough and pizza sauce came with the stone. The recipes are excellent. The instructions for the stone suggested a pizza peel, which I didn't have. I decided to make a pizza using the stone without a peel, which was a mistake.

The stone is put into the oven for at least an hour at 500 degrees I tried to put the uncooked pizza onto the stone by sliding it off a cookie sheet. This was a disaster. The pizza collapsed in a pile on the stone. The burnt dough stained the stone. The stone can be cleaned using a toothbrush. I then ordered a large metal pizza peel. Although stained, my stone is entirely functional.

The following week I made the second pizza using the stone. With my new pizza peel I was able to slide the uncooked pizza onto the hot stone. It worked well. The peel also worked well to remove the cooked pizza from the stone. I couldn't put the pizza onto the stone or get it off without the peel. Also, the stone is too hot to remove from the oven at the time the pizza is fully cooked.

The stone is very sturdy. I don't think it will break easily. I think it does a good job in baking pizza. The stone is so massive that its temperature probably is not reduced much by the uncooked pizza. That's the idea using the stone. The hot stone makes the crust crispy.

The stone fits in my range oven, but just barely. The oven door will just close without touching the stone.

Previous to buying the stone, I was using pizza kits along with a thin metal pizza sheet. Now, I make the pizza sauce and dough from scratch (using recipes that came with the stone). It's a pleasure and sense of pride to make the pizza from raw ingredients. The stone is an essential part of this process. The pizza taste is excellent.

I recommend that you buy a pizza peel if you buy this stone. I gave the stone five stars because I think it is as good as it gets.

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I did some studying prior to buying my new pizza stone. We're a two chef household so artistan breads and baking are important to us...but we cook so much that we're known to even do gourmet pizzas on the grill. Often. Even some frozen pizzas!

Because we have a new grill, (A "Big Green Egg" which has a smaller top than our old one), our old stone no longer fit. I have a degree in art with an area of emphasis in pottery so that combo of culinary school and pottery knowledge of clay and high fire temps makes me a very picky consumer.

I had already discussed pizza stones that were strong enough to withstand even grill heat with others and knew some NEVER cut it (Pampered Chef is thin and will break on a grill almost every time according to the cooks on the Big Green Egg website and a friend with a grilling tv show) and some SOMETIMES cut it but might break, and then some others could take the heat AND stay IN the kitchen.

This was one. So I took the early recommendations then looked at Amazon reviews as well. This had some of the highest ratings and the low ratings were from it not being packed well in shipping...rarely from cracking easily as other stones were said to in their reviews. Granted, that doesn't make it UNbreakable. It's still ceramic. And sometimes cooks believe a ceramic piece to break suddenly (in the oven, in a dishwasher) when in actuality it had a hairline crack in it which caused it to break when heated...which I am not saying was the cause of the person who had theirs crack, but could be.

I say that only because I did quite a bit of research first for a commercial quality stone that can withstand not just ordinary oven heat, but also direct flame at very high heat on the grill. And this one came up the winner each time, even in a restaurant supply store (which by the way, was more expensive than my just ordering it from Amazon which I did as you can see from my purchase stamp. Kudos Amazon.) It had to be thick, of kiln-quality fire brick material...

I wanted brick oven pizza with the smokiness of the grill.

Success!

And when I cook my artistan breads or pizzas in the ove...it does just as well.

As an aside, you aren't supposed to put your dough directly on a pizza stone. Put cornmeal down first. It won't stick and is a nice addition anyway. Once it's black and well seasoned, you can then.

Always preheat your pizza stone as you heat up the oven or grill. Dont ever put it in a hot oven or grill. It's not good for the stone and it won't work...in order to get crispy crust, it must be hot when you put your dough on it.

It won't be non-stick until it's been used many many times..."seasoned"... How will you know? It's black by then.

...never wash it. Never put it under water. Scrape it. Trust me on this one although non-chefs expect to die from it. You won't. Google it...it's how you use a pizza stone. (grin) Also, if you put water or soap on it will absorb it. You dont want to eat pizza soap. Nopers.

This is the perfect size as it allows the heat to flow up AROUND the stone easily as well.

For easy homemade pizza, you can buy a box or bag of pizza dough mix in your pizza aisle if you don't want to make your own dough, make it up, get your grill hot, throw your formed dough down knowing it will rise some as it cooks, once it's cooked well on one side, flip it, add sauce, and yummy things like mozz. cheese, a little olive oil, a little fresh basil and some fresh ricotta and sliced tomatoes...ooooeeee.

p.s. you can also put pizza dough directly on grill grates...they create different flavors but it's harder not to burn that way.

NEGATIVES: There is a risk this could arrive broken if you have a crazy UPS man. Ours was packed well but apparently some others had this issue so the company may sometimes not pack well. Good news is that I've returned items before to Amazon and they have been good about refunds and exchanges. Ours was packed perfectly so maybe this is no longer a risk, but since it happened to more than one person according to the reviews I read, this may be an issue. I know there is always a risk when you ship something made from clay...but that would bother me to wait on an item that arrived broken as well.

Weber Genesis E-310 637-Square-Inch Grill

I had the earlier version of this grill. It survived nearly 10 years outside uncovered in the NJ weather before I moved it to NC. It survived another 8 years or so in NC before it became clear that it's time had come. During that time, I replaced the wooden slats (the slats are gone in the new model and the shelves are stainless steel) and the flavor bars once. I don't remember replacing the burner, but it is a possibility. Some time in this 18 or so years, the starter stopped working I bought a new one and never got around to installing it. This grill owed me nothing, but when the burner finally went and I noticed some bad rust on the slide that holds the bottom on, I decided it was time for a new grill.

I purchased the E310 grill as the replacement and it is great so far seems better than I remember the other grill when it was new. Gets very hot very fast and cooks evenly. I look for a long life out of the new grill too. Seems like a lot of money, but these guys are the real deal.

I also bought a large char-grill so called "professional" model a couple of years ago for another house at a local home center, and it seemed OK. But, the stainless steel housing is now deteriorating and I expect to get about five years total out of it max. I have replaced the flavor bars already and I had to do some rigging them in because the supports were deteriorated. I think I paid about 400 for that grill, so you do the math!

The only complaint I have about the Weber is that the cooking surface is a bit small compared to their competitors on a dollar for dollar basis, but it is generally plenty big unless you are having quite a big party or something. I also note that you should follow the in structions carefully in putting it together. Part of the top shelf is a little tricky be patient and all will go well.

I've had several grills, gas and coal. Gas grills seemed ok at 1st but would not get as hot, or even and then just be a pain to use.

I wanted to buy quality that would last and with research Weber seemed to be a top choice. They cost more, and seemed to have less size/btu specs than the competition costing hundreds less.

I've got to confirm that after building and using the new Genesis 310 LP, I'm convinced that I got what I paid for. This grill is pure quality. Every piece of the grill acts to make it a more solid construction. The Grill Tub itself is solid, thick and looks like it could last forever. Even the cleaning trays are well designed.

I snapped a bolt by over wrenching it when putting it together. It was a Sunday afternoon, so I registered my grill on the web site, then called support. I got a live person in less than 3 min. I gave him my name and zip code and he had all my information from the registration I just submitted. I told him the issue, and they have sent out two new bolt+nuts. He also asked if I had a Weber grill before. I hadn't so I told him such. He then gave me tips on how to clean it, how to light it, and directed me to the weber nation website.

This product was worth the money, and getting free shipping from Amazon just made it better.

Hope that helps anyone sitting on the fence because of price.

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I have owned the earlier version of this grill for 12 years, and it has served flawlessly, with some periodic replacement of parts. We recently bought this unit, which has a slightly larger grilling area, and the knobs are on the front, instead of the side, which does provide for two large work areas on either side of the grill. It is a very solid unit, which I am sure will last for years also. However, the burners run from front to back, rather than side to side. Because of the rectangular shape, the result is less burner area, and bigger gaps between the burners. Indeed, this grill takes much longer to heat up, and will not heat past about 550 degrees. The older unit would heat twice as fast and easily reach 700 degrees, which is important for searing, and heat recovery after opening to add or remove food. Additionally, flavorizer bars, which are an important design feature, are not as effective because the flame, which now goes front to back, only touches three of the bars, as opposed to going across all flavorizer bars in the old unit with the flame going side to side, perpendicular to the bars. As a result, the grilling surface heating area is uneven, with some spots hotter than others. If you are interested in very hot grilling surface, you should consider sticking with the side to side burner units with the knobs on the side.

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In the past 16 years I have owned 4 grills. The first was a Duquesne natural gas grill. It worked well but after 4 years multiple parts rusted and had to be replaced. After 200.00 in parts It lasted another 2-3 years (it cost 700.00 new). I then bought a stainless steel natural gas grill from Home Depot ( a charbroil for about 500-600 dollars) that rusted out after 5 years and had to be replaced. Three years ago I purchased a stainless steel grill from Lowes (a Perfect Flame It cost 550.00). The last one was the worst. The handles were rusted in less than a year and after three years it was literally falling apart. I did a lot of research before buying the Weber Grill. It cost 200.00 more than my last one. The difference in quality was immediately apparent. The steel is heavier and thicker than my previous grills. It gets very hot, very quickly and steaks are perfect on this grill. I expect it will continue to perform better and last longer than any of my previous grills. My brother is on his third Weber grill, but he bought his first one 30 years ago. Where was he when I bought my first grill 16 years ago?

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Like everyone else has said:

* it's solid

* it's heavy

* it gets hot really fast...and it gets REALLY hot

* it has remarkably even heating

I'm just trying to push you into buying it if you were like me, debating endlessly whether it was worth the price and in the meantime making due with a mediocre grill.

I had a $100 propane grill that I bought on a whim, and it lasted about a year before I realized:

* half of a piece of meat was cooked and the other half was raw

* grill times were inconsistent and abnormally long

* the grate coating peeled and rusted within months...cleaning with a wire brush just exacerbated this

Looking at the price/year, this one should ideally last 7 years. After a month using it fairly regularly, I think it just might. It's relatively easy to keep clean (the cooking surfaces...the inside is a mess but grills are always a mess inside, in my experience).

So really, what I'm trying to say is, if you like grilling and you grill at least once a week, this one is worth it. It eliminated all of the problems of the other grill for me, and it just feels like grilling should feel ("it just works").

If you make a lot of sauces to grill with that need to be heated up, look into one of the models with the side burner. I don't so I went with the 310.

If you're super serious about grill mark perfection, this one leaves fantastic grill marks effortlessly, but other reviews tend to make me believe the sear station in the higher models is not just a gimmick.

If you're trying to decide between stainless steel grates or coated cast-iron, people say the cast-iron retains heat better and has smaller gaps...beyond that my biggest fear was that it would be harder to clean, but its really not.

Hope that helps!

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Charcoal Companion Red Silicone Barbecue or Oven Mitt

They are long. The articulated index finger thumb combo makes it possible to pull pork. I reach right into my smoker to move meat, or lift it on to a platter. They wash up easy. If you're pulling a pork shoulder you might want to wear thin cotton gloves underneath to soak up sweat, because these gloves don't "breathe."

If you make beer-can chicken which I often do, you know spilling that hot liquid is easy and it soaks right into regular mitts and potholders. Problem resolved. Buy two of these gloves. Let's see: adding wood, adding coals, handling a charcoal chimney, changing grill configuration, rotating meat... and when mixing gallons of sauce or cole slaw, or brining meats in a big cooler, you can reach right in there.

These gloves are a welcome addition to my BBQ passion. (and they look really cool ;o)

I would not reccommend the product they allowed my hands to get hot. I have used similar products that did not allow my hands to get hot.

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I was tired of oven mitts that needed to be washed because a finger had dipped into the food while getting a dish out of the oven. I also recommend these for turning shish kabobs (or whatever else) on the grill. This was a great solution. I ordered both this & the silicone Grilling Glove. I prefer the mitt.

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I think these gloves are very useful and get the job done. They are, however, bulky and clunky. My wife isn't a big fan since she has little hands. Overall, they work well. I've only experienced one or two times that the heat from whatever I'm pulling from the oven starts to bleed through. Not to a level that required me to put it down though. Definitely recommend them if you have bigger hands.

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I bought it for because it said it was rated to 500 degrees. I bake bread at 450 degrees. Pots are still too hot through the mitt. It's much too large and awkward. Considering its cost, it should at least protect from the heat.

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Men's BBQ Apron - Grill Sergeant (Black)

This BBQ Apron is very nice. The fabric is sturdy and will last a long time. I bought it for my son who loves to BBQ. It would make a great gift for any BBQ loving man.

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Amana 5.0 -Cubic Foot Self-Cleaning Gas Range, AGR5844VDB, Black

• High/Low Self-Cleaning Oven
• Extra Large Oven Window
• Porcelain-Steel Cooking Surface with Stamped Steel Grates
• In-Oven Broiling
• Easy Touch Electronic Oven Controls

We got this when my husband decided he simply must have a gas stove in order to make life worthwhile. OK so he does do 90% of the cooking but still, it was a little dramatic. I wanted something easy to clean, easy to operate. He wanted assorted features for warming, timing, presets etc. This stove has been fabulous. Looks great Seriously, people stainless steel looks industrial and is a pain to keep finger printless. He has been able to cook with far more ease. I'm amazed at how dependable it has been. There has literally been no problems with it and it still is all in one piece. Even for far more $$$, this would be a great value.

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DC Comics Green Lantern Character Apron

My husband loves green lantern, when he opened this he got sooo excited! this is a great original product. It came in a timely fashion. I would definetely order from this company again

It looks exactly like the picture. I bought it as a gift, and my boyfriend was really excited about it.

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The apron and print is high quality. Hasn't faded or cracked even after a couple warm washes and medium heat drying.The collar is a little large, making the apron hang low across the chest, but it has great coverage. Best pancakes ever have the GL symbol made from green M&Ms!

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my son in law loved his green lantern apron wore it the next day when we came for bar b q

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The picture in this review is wrong, but the item was well received and is being used.

Although not what the requestor wanted, it does do the job and the price was FANTASTIC!

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