Am about to replace my bbq and am looking at getting a stainless steel
model. Have replaced the cast iron grates in my current bbq twice (as
well as the burner) because of corrosion so I thought stainless steel
would be the way to go for the grates and body. From what I have
seen, most ss bbqs use a piece of ss over the burner in lieu of
ceramic or normal briquettes and have heard them called "flavour
enhancers" from certain manufacturers. The SS bbqs also have a
different type of burner (I am used to the old H-style burner found in
most bbq). These simply seem to be single burner tubes. How do they
compare to the old burner styles. Seems that one would need more of
them to provided the coverage, and hence use more gas. True?

Any particular manufacturers of SS bbqs I should focus on or avoid?
Any help appreciated.

Doug

"DGD" wrote in message
ups.com...
These simply seem to be single burner tubes. How do they
compare to the old burner styles. Seems that one would need more of
them to provided the coverage, and hence use more gas. True?

Use of gas is related to heat output. A grill capable of say, 30,000 Btu
will use a given amount of fuel no matter the burner material,
configuration, or shape. My Vermont Castings has a couple of SS tubes with
holes in it. Simple, durable, still working perfectly after 6 or 7 years
now.

My grates are porcelin coated cast iron, the best of all worlds. No
corrosion, heavy, good heat transfer.

As for the outer SS, I'd not go that way as it wold be a bitch to keep clean
and sparkling.

Check out the Vermont Casting Signature series if you want a well made
grill. Not the cheaper versions at the big box stores.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"DGD" wrote in message
ups.com...
These simply seem to be single burner tubes. How do they
compare to the old burner styles. Seems that one would need more of
them to provided the coverage, and hence use more gas. True?

Use of gas is related to heat output. A grill capable of say, 30,000 Btu
will use a given amount of fuel no matter the burner material,
configuration, or shape. My Vermont Castings has a couple of SS tubes
with holes in it. Simple, durable, still working perfectly after 6 or 7
years now.

My grates are porcelin coated cast iron, the best of all worlds. No
corrosion, heavy, good heat transfer.

As for the outer SS, I'd not go that way as it wold be a bitch to keep
clean and sparkling.

Check out the Vermont Casting Signature series if you want a well made
grill. Not the cheaper versions at the big box stores.


I'm in full agreement with Edwin regarding grates. Changing to
porcelin coated cast iron grates made all the difference in the world.
There's still not enough heat output to grill a steak to "char-rare".
It's great, however, for fish other stuff.

Kent

On Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:07:19 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

Use of gas is related to heat output. A grill capable of say, 30,000 Btu
will use a given amount of fuel no matter the burner material,
configuration, or shape.

Well...that's sort of true. But sort of not. I work for a company
which makes one helluva lot of burners--we make wood, gas, and pellet
stoves and fireplaces.

I promise you that it wouldn't be too hard to design a 30,000 BTU
grill that uses 2 or 3 times as much fuel as, say, a Weber 30,000 BTU
unit. Bad design's easy to do. :\

So, what you said is true if we assume (and that's not necessarily a
good thing to do) that the burners are equally efficient--which of
course is dependent upon their being designed, and made, well.

-denny-
--

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.
The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.

"Denny Wheeler" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:07:19 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

Use of gas is related to heat output. A grill capable of say, 30,000 Btu
will use a given amount of fuel no matter the burner material,
configuration, or shape.

Well...that's sort of true. But sort of not. I work for a company
which makes one helluva lot of burners--we make wood, gas, and pellet
stoves and fireplaces.

I promise you that it wouldn't be too hard to design a 30,000 BTU
grill that uses 2 or 3 times as much fuel as, say, a Weber 30,000 BTU
unit. Bad design's easy to do. :\

So, what you said is true if we assume (and that's not necessarily a
good thing to do) that the burners are equally efficient--which of
course is dependent upon their being designed, and made, well.

Uh, we can't change the laws of physics. It takes a given amount of fuel to
make 30,000 Btu of heat. Not every grill will utilize that 30,000 Btu the
same way, but every single one of them will use the same amount of fuel to
generate it. I didn't write the laws of physics, but we all have to abide
by them. Propane has 91,044 Btu per liquid gallon no matter how good or bad
the burner is.

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 01:26:25 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

Uh, we can't change the laws of physics. It takes a given amount of fuel to
make 30,000 Btu of heat. Not every grill will utilize that 30,000 Btu the
same way, but every single one of them will use the same amount of fuel to
generate it. I didn't write the laws of physics, but we all have to abide
by them. Propane has 91,044 Btu per liquid gallon no matter how good or bad
the burner is.

The propane has that much RAW energy potential, yes. But remember
that's if it is *all* burned. Inefficient burners just don't do that.
(same with 2-cycle and 4-cycle engines; many of 'em send quite a bit
of unburnt gasoline out the tailpipe.)

Example: high efficiency condensing propane furnaces run at 95%
efficiency--but those are spendy. Most propane furnaces run at a
lower efficiency, by a fair bit.

-denny-
--

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.
The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
. net...

"Denny Wheeler" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:07:19 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

Use of gas is related to heat output. A grill capable of say, 30,000 Btu
will use a given amount of fuel no matter the burner material,
configuration, or shape.

Well...that's sort of true. But sort of not. I work for a company
which makes one helluva lot of burners--we make wood, gas, and pellet
stoves and fireplaces.

I promise you that it wouldn't be too hard to design a 30,000 BTU
grill that uses 2 or 3 times as much fuel as, say, a Weber 30,000 BTU
unit. Bad design's easy to do. :\

So, what you said is true if we assume (and that's not necessarily a
good thing to do) that the burners are equally efficient--which of
course is dependent upon their being designed, and made, well.

Uh, we can't change the laws of physics. It takes a given amount of fuel
to make 30,000 Btu of heat. Not every grill will utilize that 30,000 Btu
the same way, but every single one of them will use the same amount of
fuel to generate it. I didn't write the laws of physics, but we all have
to abide by them. Propane has 91,044 Btu per liquid gallon no matter how
good or bad the burner is.

Edwin, isn't it BTU/surface area? When a large grill has 36K BTU doesn't it
heat to a lower temp. than a small grill with the same BTU? That's always
been my assumption.

Kent

"Kent" wrote in message
Edwin, isn't it BTU/surface area? When a large grill has 36K BTU doesn't
it
heat to a lower temp. than a small grill with the same BTU? That's always
been my assumption.

Kent

Yes, surface area make equal comparisons more difficult. Some heat more
evenly than others but a smaller area can be hotter than the same amount of
Btu spread out.

DGD wrote:
Am about to replace my bbq and am looking at getting a stainless steel
model. Have replaced the cast iron grates in my current bbq twice (as
well as the burner) because of corrosion so I thought stainless steel
would be the way to go for the grates and body. From what I have
seen, most ss bbqs use a piece of ss over the burner in lieu of
ceramic or normal briquettes and have heard them called "flavour
enhancers" from certain manufacturers. The SS bbqs also have a
different type of burner (I am used to the old H-style burner found in
most bbq). These simply seem to be single burner tubes. How do they
compare to the old burner styles. Seems that one would need more of
them to provided the coverage, and hence use more gas. True?

Any particular manufacturers of SS bbqs I should focus on or avoid?
Any help appreciated.

Doug


If I were to do it again, I'd buy the Weber Genesis Silver with SS grates.
As it was, about three years ago I wanted a 100% SS grill, and found a
Charmglow that fit the bill nicely for much less $$. It does an OK job, and
of course hasn't rusted anywhere. It's all pitted and dirty now, even though
I always keep a cover on it, but it works fine, and the grates are pretty
heavy.


--
EZ
Traeger BBQ075 "Texas"
CharGriller Smokin Pro
Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain Wide Body
CharmGlow 3-burner All-Stainless Gas Grill
Weber Kettle One-Touch Silver 22-1/2"
Weber Kettle Smoky Joe Silver 14-1/2"