Need Grill Advice

[Joes Place]

I replaced my 11 year old Weber this summer, mostly because I wanted a slightly larger one. Otherwise I could have had it back to brand new for probably $150 in parts and a Saturday afternoon.

A guy in the neighborhood took my old one because he was getting ready to rebuild the guts of his 20 year old Weber and figured the project would be a little easier on mine.

Grills are super-easy to refurb. If you can source the parts. Major brands like Weber are incredibly easy to find parts for.

 

[Joes Place]

FYI: Here's where I got parts for my Ducane; exactly as described and shipped pretty quickly

https://www.grillparts.com/

Other sites I checked were
https://www.grillpartszone.com/
https://bbqmoito.com/
https://www.guaranteedparts.com/

And Amazon

 

[CAhawki]

Very timely thread. I'm in the market for a new grill as well and am looking pretty hard at the Weber Genesis II. I'd be fine going into the $1K+ range if the damn thing just doesn't rust out and just always works (e.g. I hate that starters ALWAYS go out in the first few months). Have a charcoal smoker for when I want to "keep it real" but need an option for the quick, brainless night over a little fire. Think the Genesis is the way to go?

I am a HUGE supporter of the Weber products. I have a Genesis 330 that is approx 8 years old... it is fantastic. grill bake or whatever. the materials and build quality sets it apart from any Home depot/ lowes knock off brand. There is a reason the old weber kettles last forever. their gas grills fall under the same category. I also have a Smokey Mountain smoker. Get a Genesis 300 series and an 18.5 inch Smokey Mountain and you are set for the next decade, atleast, and in that $1k budget...

 

[CAhawki]

For $1K you can go a lot of different routes. How big of a grill do you want or need? Weber has three main sizes— Spirit, Genesis, Summit. Summit is probably close to $1K. Or you could go smaller and get Spirit/Genesis AND Traeger for ~$1K.

Traeger is the sexy brand at the moment... but they have really gone down in quality. Still a quality smoker but, they started getting cheap with materials.

 

[Tenacious E]

Traeger is the sexy brand at the moment... but they have really gone down in quality. Still a quality smoker but, they started getting cheap with materials.

We have a Traeger. I have heard similar sentiments about quality relative to their competitors, but when you research pellet grills there are gripes with all of them. We have been happy with it. I would say the best thing it has done to date is cook/lightly smoke whole chickens, as well cook "chicken grillers' you get at Hy-vee which are basically stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. Reverse sear on ribeyes was pretty good too, although I finished them on the weber not the traeger.

 

[CAhawki]

We have a Traeger. I have heard similar sentiments about quality relative to their competitors, but when you research pellet grills there are gripes with all of them. We have been happy with it. I would say the best thing it has done to date is cook/lightly smoke whole chickens, as well cook "chicken grillers' you get at Hy-vee which are basically stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. Reverse sear on ribeyes was pretty good too, although I finished them on the weber not the traeger.

like i said... still a quality smoker and they have made 'smoking" rather idiot proof. They used to be slightly heavier and feel a bit more durable. I have family members that have them and they just " set it and forget it"

 

[LesClaypool]

You can either spend a grand and have a nice grill over the next ten years. Or you can spend a grand on three or four crappy grills over the next ten years.

"You can get a great look at T-bone by sticking your head up a bull's ass, but wouldn't you rather take the butcher's word for it?"

 

[Tenacious E]

like i said... still a quality smoker and they have made 'smoking" rather idiot proof. They used to be slightly heavier and feel a bit more durable. I have family members that have them and they just " set it and forget it"

Yes the set it and forget it is nice, although I still do use the green egg for certain things that I don't want to dry out during long cooks/smokes. Ribs come to mind, as they benefit from the relatively tight seal and moisture retention.