Barbecue (alt.food.barbecue) Discuss barbecue and grilling--southern style "low and slow" smoking of ribs, shoulders and briskets, as well as direct heat grilling of everything from burgers to salmon to vegetables.

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Default A real disappointment

For any of you thinking of buying that little Chargriller patio grill
that is the size of the side firebox on the Chargriller Pro, you
should take a good look at what you are gettiing.

I like the side firebox on mine as it has the cast iron grates just
like the cooking side. With the coals literally being about 3" under
cast iron grates the meat cooks perfectly as the iron holds the heat
so well. It is easy to clean, and cooks steaks to perfection as you
can get those grates almost glowing for a good sear.

Now the are selling the little patio unit (not the bigger one) with
porcelin grates. No more heavy cast iron. The rest of it seems the
same with this change, but my amigo wanted one with cast iron grates
like mine. None around here to be found as they are all now "easy to
clean porcelin".

Thinking there could be some other changes to the Chargriller line, we
looked at the Chargriller Pro with the SFB. Now the SFB doesn't come
with cast iron grates, either. It doesn't even come with the porcelin
grates. It has some thin wire welded grates that look really flimsy.
What a disappointment. And on the CP with the SFB, they have raised
the prices, to boot.

So if anyone that is looking for a great unit and can find one of
these older models as a seasonal closeout with all cast iron, I
suggest you hop on them as they will be less quality and higher priced
for next year.

Robert
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Default A real disappointment


> wrote in message >
> Now the are selling the little patio unit (not the bigger one) with
> porcelin grates. No more heavy cast iron. The rest of it seems the
> same with this change, but my amigo wanted one with cast iron grates
> like mine. None around here to be found as they are all now "easy to
> clean porcelin".


Are the grates the same heavy cast iron with the addition of porcelain (good
thing) or a thinner cheaper metal just coated (bad thing)?


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Default A real disappointment

On Nov 19, 4:48 am, "Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote:

>
> Are the grates the same heavy cast iron with the >addition of porcelain (good
> thing) or a thinner cheaper metal just coated (bad >thing)?


They are a thinner metal rod that has been contact welded and them
coated. Granted, they look thicker than the metal rod grates in many
cookers, but that could also have a lot to do with the thickness of
the coating.

I don't think the coated grates would last me long, as I clean the
grates by scraping, then loading the firebox tray from the lit
chimney, then after about 5 minutes I back the tray out and scrape/
brush again. When clean enough to grill, I spray the grates with oil
then push the lit coals back into the firebox. Cleaning and prep
takes minutes, and makes no mess at all.

I wouldn't want to worry about chipping or scraping off a coating,
And I wouldn't want to give up the durability of the plain iron which
should last for years.

As for the Chargriller Pro, the firebox had the cooking grate changed
to a really thin, uncoated welded wire grate. Also, they took away
the warming tray which I have found to be quite handy as a shelf to
hold those ribs or sausage that are finished just a little before the
other stuff. It is now sold as an option, available from Chargriller.

And while all the other larger Chargriller cookers I looked at still
had iron grates, it did not escape my attention that their new two
sided "super grill" that cooks with wood on one side and gas on the
other had porcelain grates. No more cast iron.

The cast iron in the SFB was one of the reasons I sprung for the
cooker as I grill sometimes as much as 3 times a week and wanted
something that would stand up to the wear and tear while doing a
competent job.

While the Chargriller cookers are well made and they stand behind
their product, it is a shame to see both a drop in quality AND a rise
in pricing ($24 increase on the CG + SFB).

Sign of the times, I guess.

Robert
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