Guys, this may be addressed somewhere but I couldn't narrow down the search to find it.
Since this is my first performer I got to wondering; with the standard 16.4oz propane tank, how many 5 minute burns can you get when lighting charcoal?
With the flame that come out of this thing, it doesn't look like the little tank will last long.
First of all I only ever go around 1-1.5 minutes as once the smoke starts rolling I cut it off. I then place
the chimney on a paver out in the yard to finish it out which takes around 10-13 minutes. My bottle usually lasts seven months. No more than two bottles a year. Remember once the bottom is lit let nature take its course.
You don't need to go full blast with it which just wastes propane. Once it ignites, turn the dial back enough to keep it lit and go from there. Lighting in the baskets takes a little longer than the chimney in my experience.
I go through maybe two in a year, and that's with at least a couple times where I have an oops moment and leave it cranking for 15-20 minutes. Surprisingly efficient.
Using a chimney helps for sure
I couldn't imagine cooking without one!
Thanks all. Yup, planned on using the chimney over the gas outlet. Can't wait to try it out and not have news paper ash flying all over the place :-)
I once tried to keep track of how many starts I got from one bottle and lost track after 20 something. If you leave the gas on too long, it will warp your charcoal grate over time. I can tell you first hand, that the charcoal grate works just fine with a nice warp. ;D
never counted I buy them in a four pack and they last for quite a while, as stated you can get by with a 2-3 minute burn, I never tried or thought about dialing back the gas flow before I may have to look into that.
But just to say a Performer with gas assist and chimney are the two best buys you can get for your money.
Thanks all. I can't wait to get my performer cleaned up and put into service. Sucks to have a new grill that you can't get to because life gets in the way :-)
Nice thing is I keep 2 to 4 extra little bottles on hand as they are cheap so not a huge deal. I normally grill once a week and get a few months out of my tank and that is letting it on for 5 to 10 minutes so I run mine longer than most. Think I will shorten mine to about 2 minutes and then set my chimney aside and let it finish lighting.