Tried A Gas Grill Today...Won't Be doing that again...

[ReanimatedRobot]

So this afternoon the family and I visited the in-laws.  Now one weird thing about the in-laws is that for whatever reason they were raised using gas grills.  Their weapon of choice is Phoenix gas grills that they tend to find second hand and refurbish.  While they appear to be a well built grill, they just never appealed to me.  I learned how to grill on a Weber and I haven't even considered cooking on anything else since. 

So today the father in-law is busy in the field and the mother in-law offers to make us some burgers and brats on the grill.  Now to be polite whenever I see someone else's grill set up or how they cook I tend to just keep my comments to myself.  I am no where close to what I would consider a grill master or a pit master, so I don't act like it.  I occasionally will have someone ask me about this or that and only then will I say "well a lot of people like this or that blah blah blah".  The meal wasn't really planned, but we agreed to stay for lunch so we could spend a little more time with the nieces and my brother in-laws girlfriend we met for the first time. 

So the mother in-law brings out 4 burgers and 6 brats, takes a grill brush to the grill, assumes she lights the grill, puts the meat on, and heads inside to work on some sides.  She asks me to keep an eye on the meat while she is inside.  So after 5 or 10 minutes I go over assuming the gas grill had gotten hot enough that I might need to check the meat out and see the grill is at 0 degrees on the lid thermometer.  Try the pilot light out a few times and get nothing because it is a windy day.  Try a lighter sitting there and it won't spark either.  I give up and tell the mother in-law that the grill didn't light and if she had matches and if she could tell me the best method to light it by match. Now we are probably at least 20 minutes from the initial light attempt before we have heat.  The mother in-law goes inside and I quickly realize that I am not "keeping and eye meat", but have been swindled into cooking all of the meat. 

The meat starts cooking so I go to flip the burgers over and see what I thought was a hair on the meat. Upon closer inspection I see it isn't a hair, but a 1/2" piece of metal grill brush.  I look closer at the grill brush and can visibly see pieces coming off of it because my wife's family thoroughly uses things before giving up on them(to the point that they are sometimes garbage).  Over the course of cooking and taking food off the grill I probably remove at least 6 or more pieces of grill brush from the meat.  I persevere anyways and keep grilling away.  I ask the mother in-law for a meat thermometer knowing full well it wouldn't be anything like the Thermoworks MK2 I have at home, but figured it would at least be functional.  She brings out a thermometer that is clearly a piece of marketing swag that cost pennies, but I suppose it managed to tell me the brats were done even if it took quite some time to get a temp reading.  I managed to get the meat cooked without really knowing or understanding the hot/cold spots on the grill, but it obviously doesn't have the kind of flavor I love. 

I advise the mother in-law and the father in-law to throw away the grill brush they have and suggest a SS brush with coils instead.  They said that I would have to show them sometime, but figured they would just shrug their shoulders and just inspect the food after each cook rather than buying a new brush.  I got home tonight and ordered an affordable one to be delivered to their house because I don't want them or someone else to be pulling rusty metal wires out of their gums or tongue.  The funny thing is that with all of the troubles of lighting and etc. I probably could have lit charcoal and made the burgers and brats taste far better in the same amount of time.  Problems like this need a solution...

My solution is a travel or "bug out" GA always stocked with tools and charcoal that I can always throw in the car/truck when we are away from home.  I will probably start with searching the forum for some ideas and see if there is a dedicated topic already, but if not I might start one to see what everyone likes to keep in their GA load out so I won't ever be caught using a gas grill again. 

[TheFinkFarm]

LOL at just the title!!! now let me read your post hahahahhahaahhahaahhaha

[1spacemanspiff]

@ReanimatedRobot there should be a thread, if not there is a GA facebook page.  It's amazing the amount items that a CGA can hold.  One of the first steps (after obtaining a GA) would be to cut the grate in half...

[bladz]

You need to do an intervention!!  Time to get things back in track before someone gets hurt.


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[P0234]

It's hard to compare a neglected gas setup to a well oiled kettle. For me the biggest difference is flavor and moisture. Most worn in gas grills also have hot spots.

I totally agree on the good thermometer, so many people claim they can eye it, no doubt some can but it's an art.

Brush chunks sounds terrible.

[MTW524]

Lol.....so relatable. I chuckled throughout that read.

And yes, this is what the GA exists for.

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[View to a Grill]

Great story.


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[ThinBlu42]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with these horror stories.

I could never figure out if gas grill people were just trying to torment me, were born with no taste buds, just don't care or really just didn't know any better and could blame it on how they were raised. Either way, it's sad to see so many people grilling on gas grills because its "easy" or "not dirty"

I have many of these stories, but try not to talk about them because I feel like some sort of grill snob or worse yet, a dirty charcoal grilling redneck, but after spending some time on this site, I'm realizing that there are plenty of people out there that have it right.

I even have a neighbor who has two smokers and 2 grills and has no clue how to use any of them or how to prep meat after years of weekly grilling and smoking. He has the right ideas and seems to say all the right things, but goes out and cooks a brisket at 475 on his side box smoker with tin foil covering every square inch of the grate, all vents wide open and door wedged open with a chunk of wood, no seasoning on meat and moldy bark on the wood and crazy solid white bitter smoke rolling for the whole 4 hours he cooks it to form his secret solid BLACK bark!

When us and all the neighbors show up at his house to have a tasty beers and eat, all the sides disappear and the meat gets cold on the tray. His dogs love his cookouts as they eat more meat than we do from under the table. Conversely when they all come to my house we don't serve sides and the meat disappears faster than I can cut it and it's stone cold silent for 5 minutes after the eating begins.

So... Someone tell me what a GA is.

What I use as my travel grill is a beater 22" black weber that I take to my buddies houses and an Ozark trail camp organizer loaded with my wood chunks, chimney, knives, tongs, injector, cutting board, baking sheets, temp probes and whatever else.

[bamakettles]

GA = Go Anywhere.  I don't have one, but just might snag one if the opportunity arises. 

I do have one gas grill and use it periodically for certain cooks - usually requested by my wife when we use certain marinades that need to stand out and not be overpowered by smoke/charcoal.  But when that happens my bottom lip usually sticks out and I'm like, "Ok".  They're also good for keeping things warm.... and got much more useful after upgrading to Grill Grates brand aluminum grates.  But I've also experienced grease fires on it, so I don't do burgers on it any more. 

Fun story to hear.... I cringe though thinking about the scraper wire pieces and the possibility of ingesting them.

[ThinBlu42]

Thanks Bama.

I guess my GA has always been a 22" weber. I take it everywhere. I got it from a college student moving home for $40 new in box I have always treated it like my beater grill since I had nothing to lose.

I am not gas grill racist because they do have their place and I have had good food from them. I have used them for extra cooking and warming space.

I think sometimes the reasons people give as to why they like them over kettles and how my buddies usually botch the whole cook job says a lot about how little they care about the whole process.

[Dave in KC]

One of these I'm gonna have to sit down and
have a long talk with you boys. 

[Dc_smoke309]

I shit you not. I have a friend who has a gas grill that's got to be from 1902. It has one spot that flames up and that's how he cooks his chops . Which is usually his go to and they are always well done . The lid handle fell off years ago so he wire tied a broom handle to it. It's the saddest thing you have ever seen. Finally the other day he said he was gonna have to retire the old gas grill and you could hear cheering from all the neighbors!!!!


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[AZ2FL]

I'm known as the gas grill rehabber flipper and weber kettle guy at work.

A co-worker was looking to buy a new Char Broil grill for $160, to replace his old Char Broil he paid $100 for several years ago. He texted me a picture of his old CB grill, that was still being used. See pic lol

I sold him a refurbished Weber Spirit E-210 for $180.

[ThinBlu42]

You did him a huge favor.

I am starting to think Char Broil adds salt to their steel alloy to make it rust faster.

[Retired@55]

I love my gas grill - quick and easy startup and clean up and it's NG so no propane bottles. I also added GrillGrates to get the heat boost and use a wood chip pouch to add smoke. Tends to free up more time for relaxing with a beverage. I alternate between my kettle and pit barrel cooker for long, slow cooks.  The kettle gets everything in between.