BBQ gas grills under $400 Decisions, Decisions...

There are several stainless steel ones at Lowes that I have been looking at but I was wondering if anybody had found one that my outperform... I will see If I can find some pictures and specs of the Charbroil and Coleman ones that I have been looking at.

Here are some that I am looking at and trying to decide between.

Love my Webber! When I purchased mine, Home Depot was the only place that carried the unit with cast iron grilles... and that's what I wanted. The thinner SS grilles (not sure if you meant the whole thing is SS, or just the grilles) don't hold the heat, and are quickly cooled when food is placed there.

I just picked up a grill2go on clearance at Lowes. being just me and my wife this little thing is much easier than out old big grill and it cooks fast, well done hamburgers in about 5 minutes.

One thing I'm definitely going to have in my next grill is cast iron burners. The thin steel burners are going to be swiss cheese in three years and you'll end up paying a third or more of the grill's cost to replace them. I'd also get one with the heaviest duty racks you can find.

Bushman,

I see you are from TX, I bought my Grill here at BBQ's Galore


I got the natural Gas version, hooked up to my Gas line, and I am VERY PLEASED with this grill. I bought it on sale during Memorial Day, and got a real nice deal.

The nice thing about BBQ galore, is that they keep parts for their grills, and they have a 5 year warrantee, and the grills themselves are ultra heavy, solid solid stainless steel rods. (I did upgrade the grill, the default is Cast Iron).

I like the Solid Stainless Steel, other people perfer the Cast Iron, either way, get ULTRA HEAVY THICK grills, not these wimpy pencil thing grates that I see sometimes on a Grill, or a hollow grate, or something like that.

People say the Propane and LP get hotter than Natural Gas, well, let me tell you, my grill gets RED hot, and can even get above RED hot, and can get WHITE hot.

I believe my installed price, including delivery, installation, Stainless Steel cart upgrade, Rotissere installed, was about 700 dollars. The base price is 499, and they do have a couple of sales a year.

Now another nice grill, and I believe that they have a NG and a Propane version now, is from Sams Club




While I am happy with my BBQ Galore Captn Cook, they seem to improve that Sams Grill every year.

I know you said 400, and you could get the BBQ Galore, on sale, for pretty close to that, but that Sam's grill is real nice too!

Oh, and get a SMOKE BOX!

After purchasing my grill, I traveled to HEB Central Market, and bought a 20$ Ribeye, and grilled it to perfection, and bit into it, and it was soo bland! I was shocked, after years of cooking on Charcoal.

You need that Charcoal or wood flavor.

I find that 4-6 Misquete Charcoal Brickettes, placed in my SS smoke box, with the grill turned on HIGH for 5-10 minutes is perfect.

I have updated the top of the thread with a link to a compare page between the three that are in my price range.

Darell, Specifically I am looking for stainless steel box, and cast iron or other suitable material for the grill rack that the food goes on. I do have a smoke box already and will put it to good use. Thanks Budd!

Darrel is correct about the cast Iron grills they make a big difference if you want that grilled striped look on your grilled stuff. Also is seems that there are always replacement parts for the Webbers.

You can get the small Webber at Home Depot for just over $400. The BBQ Galore units have cast Iron Burners that should last forever and they do carry replacement parts.

The key difference in the Webbers and the other Grills is that the Webbers have the burners running lengthwise across the grill and all of the others have the burners running widthwise.

If you are just Grilling (Steaks, Chops, Burgers, Kabobs, etc) it dosn't make a difference and almost everything else is much more cost effective.

The however is if you are slow cooking (True BarBQue). To slow cook properly you cannot have direct flame. If you are cooking short wide things not a problem with Grills with the Width wise burners. You can put your short wide stuff in the center with burners on either sid eproviding the heat. Turkys, Chickens (Beer Butt Chicken is one of the best) Chicken Parts, Short Roasts, Country Style Ribs work great. The Problem I have is Racks of Ribs and Prime Rib Roasts. Too long to fit widthwise and stay out of the direct flames. Hence I have a Webber.

But as BuddTX said for that serious BarBQue the Smoke Box can help, but you need smoke and Charcoal. Got a Webber Kettle for the serious BarBQue stuff.

But I am not serous enough to have one of those bigtime smokers that the real serious folks have.

They're been pushing the Char-Broils with lights built into the handle here. Not sure about the quality of the grill itself but the light system looks slick. 2 little Halogen lights powered from D-Cells stashed in the handle. Little metal flaps close over the bulbs (by gravity) when the handle is closed, and drop open, acting as little reflectors of sort when the handle is open.

I know the WEBER GRILLS are not under 400.00, but for another 100.00 you can have the BEST!!!

I've had 3 "other" gas grills over the past 25 years and last year I broke down and finally bought a WEBER.

What a good decision I made. The WEBER simply blows away the other grills out there... It's built like a tank, has stainless "tube" burners, EASILY REPLACEABLE PARTS(not that you will be needing them...,but it's nice to know that WEBER will be there if you ever DO need somethimg), HEAVY DUTY grill surface, built in scale, thermometer,flip-up shelf,2wheels + 2 "roller" wheels,ABSOLUTELY the EASIEST CLEANING DRAIN PAN SYSTEM OUT THERE, "flavorizer bars"(which also protect the burners) AND probably the most important feature IT COOKS EVENLY OVER THE WHOLE SURFACE!!!!

I love it. This is probably the last grill I'll ever have to buy... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif P.S. the 10 year warranty isnt bad either...

I will take another look at the Webers, but I am not totally convinced. The Webers that I have seen have a porceline surface on the grill racks. I would think that Cast Iron would be better?

Re: BBQ gas grills under $400 Decisions, Decision

About a year and a half ago, my dad bought a new Weber grill. I must say it's a very impressive grill. Very reliable so far, and it cooks very evenly. If you can heft the extra cost, then I'd so go for the Weber.

yes it has porcelain over top of the HEAVY gauge cast iron grates...

all I do is preheat for 5 minutes, scrape with a brass bristled brush, and its clean as a whistle.

I believe porcelain coatings are better because there can be no rusting going on, and they clean up very nicely!

My buddy at work bought the $500 Walmart stainless grill and loves it. Rotisserie, Side burner, Direct and indirect heat, Sink and side burner. The Sams grills are super sharp and a good buy.

I bought a Broilmaster 4 years ago and although not the prettiest grill, Stainless pedestal with cast alum. cooking box and cast burners I love it. I cook on it 2-3 times a week. It lives on my deck out in the rain with no cover and I live 50 yards from Salt water. I replaced the burner and grates about a month ago. The grate weighs over 20 pounds. Here's the best part. I called my dealer and told him my burner had a hot spot and my grates were rusting. He said, "I have them in stock, come pick them up." I asked if he needed the old ones and he said, "Why would I want them? Come get your stuff." The grill has a lifetime warranty on everything except the temp. gauge. With the heavy cast grates I can cook a steak that looks like a pro chef cooked it. I couldn't be happier. It cooks nice and even. I researched grills for a year before buying this thing. There are far prettier grills but cooking wise these are tough to beat except on price. It would blow your budget a little but it's the last grill you'll ever buy. I also looked at the Holland but the inability to actually grill turned me off. Indirect heat is great except when you cook steaks.