(Part 2) Best products from r/grilling

Been grilling religiously for over a decade. The answer is use the right tool for the job. Here's everything you need to know about charcoal and why who uses what.

Kingsford Original:

This is far from the best charcoal on the planet, but it's the most commonly used for BBQ (slow and low) for one simple reason. Consistency. Kingsford is mass produced and every single bag is going to burn exactly like the bag you bought before it. That makes it easy to get the right heat on your grill as you're not going to be having wildly inconsistent heating results from bag to bag. It makes it easy to dial in your technique. Original is also good for grilling (direct heat). It burns quite hot for long enough for a decent cook. The best place to buy Original is at any major hardware store on any of the grilling holidays (like Memorial Day). It's basically half price. Stock up the garage like I do.

Kingsford Competition:

This is like Kingsford Original but more "pure". It will leave behind less ash after a very long cook. It doesn't have a lot of binders and additives in it. I prefer it just because it burns up more completely so there's less mess to clean up in the BBQ after it's finished. For grilling it burns hot but now quite as long as Original in my experience. The best place to buy Competition is Costco. They sell it in 2-packs for about $20 which is about the regular price of Original any place else.

Lump:

Burns extremely hot and very fast. May impart better smoke flavor depending on the brand and the type of wood. The problem with lump is the consistency. Each batch you burn will burn a little bit (or a lot) different. The uneven sized chunks will burn out at different times, sometimes leaving you with just one or two big lumps of coal near the end of your cook. Lump is great when you want a hot and fast sear on something with not too much surface area. Skirt steaks, kabobs, and veggies are good candidates for lump off the top of my head. Be careful with lump. It crackles and spits out sparks. It's easy to start a real fire with.

Wood:

This is popular among competition BBQers but not a lot of home cooks know how easy it can be. Get some good smoking wood (any fruit will do) and start it in your grill or BBQ just like a campfire. Let it burn down until you have coals. It takes a while, but it's not a lot of hands-on work. This gives you the best of both worlds of lump and briquettes. Very consistent and very very hot heat, and good smoke flavor. This is actually very economical if you have a good source of cheap wood. If you live in an area with a lot of fruit orchards, call around and see what you can get your hands on. Just make sure to season the wood first to avoid acrid flavors.

Other stuff in no particular order:

Don't buy the gimmicky briquettes with the "wood chips" inside them. Kingsford makes a popular mesquite briquette. They're bullshit. They just have some tiny slivers of wood on the outside of the briquettes for show that aren't going to give you any smoke flavor. They're just going to disintegrate with barely any smoke output. If you want smoke, use wood chunks.

Off-brand briquettes are completely hit or miss. Feel free to try whatever you see a good deal on, but don't be surprised if it burns up very quickly.

Get yourself a nice charcoal chimney and some lighter cubes if you haven't already. The lighter cubes might sound gimmicky when you've got scrap paper laying around, but the cubes will light your coals way faster than paper meaning more cook time out of them and they're cheap. You can make your own out of paraffin wax and either lamp oil or dryer lint. Just mix the ingredients together and let them cook, then break it up into chunks. I usually buy them for convenience but occasionally I make my own out of dryer lint and Golf Wax.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

TL;DR warning

Are you willing to invest in some tools? Do you like Five Guys? (skinny burgers) The fastest burger procedure that I know of is Kenji's Ultra-Smash technique, which makes a pair of thin patties in no time. Takes about a minute per burger (two patties with cheese). Details here:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/03/the-food-lab-maximize-flavor-by-ultra-smashin.html

You can also do a regular smash burger, which is thicker (McDonalds-thin), but takes longer (~1.5 minutes per side, about 3 minutes total per burger):

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/09/the-burger-lab-smashed-burgers-vs-smashing-burgers.html

The advantage of the ultra-smash is that it's super quick & you can toss a piece of cheese to melt between two patties, so you can pump out a ton of burgers in no time. You will need a few tools, namely:

1. A metal cooking surface
   
2. A hi-temp heat source
   
3. A smashing tool
   
4. A high-quality spatula
   
5. A scraper (if doing ultra-smash)
   
6. A cheap IR temp gun
   
7. A cheap digital kitchen scale
   
   It's not rocket science, but getting a proper setup will let you have a workflow that makes cooking for a crowd a breeze. I have a big extended family, so I cook in bulk a lot, but I also use this for just my immediate family because it's so fast to get setup. There is an up-front investment required, but everything you'll buy will pretty much last forever, so it's worth it if you like to eat burgers!
   
   So the first two things you need are a metal cooking surface & a heat source that can pump out a lot of heat. I don't recommend a regular grill because they simply don't get hot enough; you need 600 to 700F to do this. You can either do a compact setup (a 2-burger surface with a single burner) or invest in a quality flat-top setup (more expensive, but lets you do more burgers at once). The ideal surface to do this on is a Baking Steel, which is very expensive. There are knockoffs for cheaper, but I like BS because they have a Griddle version with grooves to catch the grease:
   
   http://www.bakingsteel.com/
   
   You can also do it with cast iron. Lodge has a griddle for $25:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LDP3-Double-Reversible-Griddle/dp/B002CMLTXG
   
   If I'm just doing a single regular smash burger at a time, I use a 12" cast-iron pan. $28:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Cast-Iron-Skillet-L10SK3ASHH41B-12-Inch/dp/B00G2XGC88/
   
   If you do get into cast-iron, read up on this seasoning procedure (i.e. the way to keep it smooth & slippery without Teflon). It's a bit of a pain, but it's worth learning because anything you buy in cast-iron can be handed down to your kids because it lasts forever:
   
   http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
   
   You will want a heavy smashing tool as well. I have this massive 2.5-pound cast-iron press. It fits inside the 12" pan above (but not the 10"). $13:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Update-International-Heavy-Weight-Hamburger-Commercial/dp/B002LDDKZ6
   
   If you plan on doing ultra-smash burgers, you'll need a scraper. This is the one Kenji recommends, but you can probably find something locally: (Home Depot or Lowes)
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Plextool-Wall-Paper-Stripper/dp/B00AU6GQLQ/
   
   Anyway, getting back to the cooking part: you'll need a hi-temp burner. I like Bayou Burners, they sell them on Amazon. I have an SP10: ($50)
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-SP10-High-Pressure-Outdoor/dp/B000291GBQ
   
   I use that with my 12" cast-iron pan for when I'm just doing a few burgers for the family. 15 minutes = 5 burgers. You can also slap a flat surface like a cast-iron griddle or Baking Steel on that puppy. Also comes in a square version (not sure how the BTU's compare). I also have some KAB4 burners that I use with my Baking Steel, among other things. More expensive, but larger shell & burner: (more even heat over the cooking surface)
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-KAB4-Pressure-Cooker/dp/B0009JXYQY/
   
   For cooking more at a time, you can get a cooktop. Blackstone has a 36" cooktop available, but it doesn't get very hot (don't get me wrong, it's an awesome tool, but I've had trouble breaking 500F on mine, which means you're not cooking 1-minute burgers on it, plus the heating is kind of uneven, so you have to work in the hot spots for faster cook times). Also comes in a slightly smaller 28" version (but it's only like $50 less, so it makes more sense to get the full-sized version because you get so much more cooking area). The nice thing with this setup is that for $299 (or a bit less if you shop around at places like Cabela's), you can cook like 20 burgers at a time, it's absolutely insane! I make epic breakfasts on it. Plus it folds up for transport, which is really handy. We use it for all of our family events & holidays:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYN0438
   
   A better version is from Tejas Smokers. They make camping stove carts that have burners built-in & have griddles available separately. They get super hot, downside is the cost: you can easily spend $700 on a nice setup.
   
   https://tejassmokers.com/Camp-Stove-Carts/23
   
   Oh yeah, Blackstone did just come out with a compact outdoor griddle which can run off those little one-pound green tanks if you want. They go for around $99 ($79 if you have an Ace Hardware near you). I have not tried this, but it gets good reviews. I'd be curious to see what kind of temperatures it can achieve:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Blackstone-Portable-Griddle-Outdoors-Camping/dp/B0195MZHBK
   
   So that's a basic introduction to the cooktops: you need some kind of decently-sized metal surface, a hi-temp burner, a smashing tool, and optionally (but recommended) a scraper. You will also want to get a strong, high-quality spatula. A good one is $32:
   
   http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/07/equipment-the-due-buoi-wide-spatula-my-new-fa.html
   
   Available here:
   
   http://www.duebuoi.it/x/uk_usd/catalog/p/spatulas~805-16x10.html
   
   If you opt for cast-iron, get an infrared temperature gun (doesn't work too well on shiny metal surfaces like steel tho). $17:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-1080-Non-contact-Thermometer/dp/B00DMI632G/
   
   A cheap digital kitchen scale is useful too, for measuring out the proper amount of meat. $14:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital-Kitchen-Capacity-Stylish/dp/B003E7AZQA/
   
   This collection of tools ensures that you have the proper workflow: a metal surface to cook on, the ability to bring the surface to a high temperature (and know what that temperature is for precise control), the ability to weigh your meat so you can pre-measure out what you need, the ability to smash the burger down, and also to properly scrape it off. Again, it's not rocket science, but if you have a wussy grill or a crappy surface or weak smashing/scraping tools, you're gonna have a bad time. You just need the right setup to pump burgers out fast!
   
   So on to prep. For ultra-smash, you do a pair of 2-ounce ground beef balls. In the tutorial above, they use a mix of meat for 25% fat. I just grab some regular 80/20 ground plus some salt & pepper. For regular smash burgers, do a single 4-ounce ball (optionally 5 ounces...useful if you have a big cooktop for a bunch of burgers at one time & are only doing a single patty per burger). The nice thing is, there's no special prep required for the meat, so you can make all of your burger balls ahead of time. If you have 10 people & are doing ultra-smash, let's say half of them get 2 burgers, so 15 burgers total, or thirty 2oz balls. If you have 20 people & are doing regular smash, again with half getting an extra burger, that's 30 burgers total or thirty 4 or 5oz balls. So that takes care of prep...adjust as needed. If you're feeding mostly dudes, you'll want to add more seconds (and thirds) to the equation.
   
   There are a variety of buns you can get. Crap buns will make for a crap burger. See if you can find potato buns or brioche buns. Those are pretty soft. Buns aren't overly hard to make, but I have yet to find a decent recipe that takes under 40 minutes, so I usually only doing fancy home-baked buns for my family rather than a crowd. Buying 5 or 10 pounds of ground beef & making smash balls out of them will take you all of ten minutes, but making buns can take forever. Here's a good recipe if you want to try it out tho:
   
   http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/07/light-brioche-burger-buns/
   
   Or this, if you wanna get crazy:
   
   http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/fresh-cemita-rolls-mexican-sandwich-burger-bun-bread-food-lab-recipe.html
   
   Or this one, nom nom nom:
   
   http://amazingribs.com/recipes/breads/brioche_hamburger_buns.html
   
   But eh, just hit up Sam's/Coscto/BJ's and buy some hamburger buns in bulk, problem solved. Or find a local bakery that has good rolls. There's a good shootout of buns here:
   
   http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/04/the-burger-lab-whats-the-best-bun-for-my-burger-taste-test.html
   
   (continued)

I have mixed feelings about the Costco tri-tips. For one, they are blade tenderized, which I generally avoid. There is increased risk of food contamination with blade tenderization, however I consider it an acceptable risk (similarly, I am willing to cook burgers medium to medium rare). Your mileage may vary, and I would not recommend it if cooking for young children, the elderly, or immunocompromised.

I also had to trim a decent amount of silverskin from one of them.

That said, these did reinforce Costco's reputation for selling Choice beef that approaches Prime quality. These were well-marbled, silky tender, and tasted great.

Next time for the Santa Maria seasoning I will ditch the onion flakes and parsley, as I don't think they did anything of note. Instead I will incorporate a small amount of onion powder, switch to granulated garlic, and finish with fresh chopped parsley after I slice up the meat. I also ordered up some Siberian Porcini Mushroom Powder which I will add for an even deeper umami profile.

The Cindy Lou's Black Label Dry Rub was actually recommended to me for pork chops by John Fuelling at Corner Butcher Shop in La Verne, CA. Not only is it a great butcher shop and grilling depot, but they have a BBQ joint that cooks up good stuff and an exceptionally well-stocked beer fridge. If you're ever in the area, stop by and have some brisket and an IPA.

I tried the Black Label on the tri-tip on a hunch, and it is phenomenal. The only thing I will change next time is to use more rub. I was worried about over salting, but the salt content is low enough that I left a lot of headroom on the table.

Mo's Smoking Pouches are the best thing to happen to gas grills in a long time. The level of versatility you gain with these things will elevate your grill game massively. I am still working on fine tuning the smoke output - They tend to put out a thicker, whiter smoke rather than that thin blue stuff "real" smokers put out when you get them dialed in. Oddly, the flavor is more in line with the real deal than the acrid, bitter notes I expect from whiter smoke. I am not sure why this is, it may be a function of the lean fuel/air mix you get in the bags. More experiments are needed. Long burning, thin blue smoke IS possible with these, I have achieved it a few times. Once I get all the variables figured out you can expect a follow up post with a guide. At this point it's my white whale.

I source all my smoking woods from J.C.'s Smoking Wood Products. He has an excellent selection and the wood is always high quality, consistently sized, and properly dried. I have also had some above and beyond customer service from Jay. He is a good dude and backs his products up. I especially recommend trying out the Wild Black Cherry wood. If you've never messed around with cherrywood the flavor from this stuff is mind blowing.

I think that about sums it up. My hope is that there's enough info here to get folks cooking with woodsmoke on their gasser with nothing more than this guide. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments, and happy grilling!

Almost everything I know about charcoal grilling, I learned 40 years ago from my dad (and was mostly wrong) or from amazingribs.com in the past month. I'm not affiliated with them at all, but I credit them with the quality of everything I've cooked on the grill since I got it a six weeks ago.

It's exactly that - getting to the right temperature, then holding it long enough to cook there. I use "the snake" or "the C" method - think about a line of briquets on the sidewalk, like a gunpowder fuse in the cartoons. Not a single row - more like a long pile, three or four deep.

Now take that long low pile, and wrap it around the edge of the charcoal grate in your grill. That gives you a constant source of fuel.

Now light about a dozen briquets in your chimney. I put my starter cubes under the chimney, on the charcoal grate and open the bottom vents all the way. A quarter-chimney takes about 15 minutes to get fully engaged. A full chimney takes the better part of 30 minutes, and when it's really ready, it's almost like a jet engine coming out the top. Amazingribs.com says it's about 700F when you have good ventilation.

Once the charcoal in the chimney is fully lit, dump it out on/at one end of the snake. This lights the "fuse." Now put your cooking grill back on and set up your on-grill thermometer. I bought this one on the recommendation of amazingribs.com (two-probe thermometer with remote reader: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FQ1VTPI/)

Close the bottom vents about halfway. Put the lid on and close the top vents about halfway. Crack a beer or beverage of choice. In about ten minutes, the temperature will stabilize, based on the amount of fuel and air in the grill.

Open or close the bottom vent just a tiny bit. Wait ten minutes for the temp to stabilize again, then adjust again. Only adjust one thing at a time, so you can see what happens: open/close the top/bottom vent, or add/take away charcoal. On my grill, the bottom vent needed to be just barely open (maybe 15-20%?) and the top vent almost closed (just a sliver of the hole visible). It took me almost a whole weekend and two loads of charcoal to figure out where the settings were for 225F.

in my grill, at 225, 60 briquets will last just about 9 hours, and I can pretty much ignore the grill for about 30 minutes at a time. The fourth or fifth time I lit the grill after that first weekend, I smoked a 3-pound brisket flat for almost 7 hours, and it was perfect

Remember that very small adjustments of only one thing at a time will show you where the right mix is.

The reviews are one of the main reasons I got it, too. You can immediately feel a quality difference between this and my previous (sub $300) grill. It's much heavier and appears to be far more durable.

I've had it only about a week and have used it three times: Steak (the initial post), burgers/hot dogs, and cedar-smoked salmon. I really like it so far! Everything was outstanding. I think I'll enjoy playing around with the heat settings and and stuff, but so far it's fantastic.

I've toyed with the idea of getting the rotisserie option, but haven't yet. That looks like fun, though.

We're cooking sirloin tonight, I'm going to just use kosher salt and black pepper on it, see how that goes. I'll pick up some bone-in Ribeye, too! Thanks for the recommendation. We have a local butcher/meat market, so we're very fortunate.

I also got this grill tray for our seasoned veggies and it's worked very well.

Question for you. How do you plan on cleaning your grill, both inside and out?

Heart says propane, budget says charcoal.

Gas Grill It's a bit over the top of your budget, but the difference between this and what you get in the $250-300 range is significant.

Charcoal Grill This hits the sweet spot in your budget, and is one of the most versatile grills on the planet. (Definitely the best bang for your buck without building one yourself)

This has an ash cleanout system built in so it makes cleanup easier. And in regards to the instant on thing you can get similar results to the startup time of a gas grill using a charcoal chimney. To use the chimney simply add coals to the top of it, place some paper, or a fire starter cube, or both under the cylinder, light and wait 10-12 minutes, then dump the coals into the grill and spread with metal tongs/spatula/stick/etc.

I use phone book pages. They're free, and I have the internet.

Yeah it is this one - I didn’t do much research so I’m not sure if it’s the best but it had good reviews and was cheap enough to try:

LavaLock® 1/2" x 1/8" High Temp Nomex BBQ HT Gasket Smoker Seal, self Stick Grey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JO00S04/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wKEzDb1NAV6QG

Used Barkeeper’s friend, some dish soap and my drill brush to scrub the edges of the grill lid clean.

I think so. Got it from Home Depot a few weeks ago. Looks like HD says the grill is 32" depth assembled but Amazon and the (Classic Accessories Fit Finder)[https://classicaccessories.com/fit-finder/ff-grill?find=cart-grill-weber-spirit-gas-grill-e-310-12899] both say a medium fits it. I definitely have a brand new Spirt E-310 and bought the medium Veranda cover. Hope this helps!

Looks like you’ll need something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FXDR4QH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xCtUBb7GNDS6Z


I’d suggest getting a couple pipe wrenches so you can safely remove that quick connect and attach a size converter that’ll fit your grill.

I would definitely recommend looking into the Weber Kettle like /u/jammaslide suggested. If, however, you know your dad would want the rectangular shapes used in both options you provided, these are both solid grills, both for solid prices. I would actually go with the Dyna-Glo myself, just because of the extra cooking surface.

Edit: Added link

While the Smokey Joe is awesome and is my main brat and burger grill, the Weber Go-Anywhere is much better for traveling. If I didn't already have the Joe, I would get one.

My parents have had theirs for about 30 years and still use it as their main grill. Growing up, it was used at least once a week because it was quicker and easier than firing up the Weber kettle.

Is it the plain old kettle and not the Performer? I have the plain old kettle, and I have found the snap-on work table to be invaluable. It has plenty of room for my radio, beer, and cigar rest. I hear some people even use it as a place to put plates and stuff.

The chimney of course is the best accessory you’ll ever get. Some folks like the charcoal baskets, but I really like these for setting up direct and indirect cooking zones.

This lavatools one is $25, instant read, accurate, and magnetic for easy storage

I’ve been exceptionally happy with it.

I’m a charcoal fan for the extra taste. The cave man in me likes building the fires too. Weber kettle for regular grilling. Can be found used under 100. For smoking weber smokey mountain. Can be found used under 200.

For charcoal searing you can just do it on the chimney direct. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013PU3BA2

They have plates you can heat up on the stove for searing too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044ERTDY

If flare ups are an issue (charcoal) they sell temperature regulators to help. Mostly used for smoking i think. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MCDG5DN

check out "Seven Fires" by Francis Mallmann, fantastic cookbook dedicated to Argentinian grilling.

http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Fires-Grilling-Argentine-Way/dp/1579653545/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407540269&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+fires

My gut says the construction is not as good as it looks and the extra stuff like wood handles etc are just for show. I personally would just spend over 60% less and get the weber camping grill. Tried, True and smartly designed and made to travel.


https://www.amazon.com/Weber-121020-Go-Anywhere-Charcoal-Grill/dp/B00004RALJ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1538090124&sr=8-7&keywords=weber+camping+grill

there is a propane version too.

I leave mine covered all year when not using it.

The key is to not have a cover that drapes to the ground. A few inches of clearance on the bottom will allow airflow.


I use this for my genesis and it fits great, clips to the wheels, and has a 3 year warranty:

https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Accessories-Veranda-Grill-Cover/dp/B000HCNEWM/ref=sr_1_14?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1495548182&sr=1-14&keywords=grill+cover

https://www.amazon.com/Lavatools-Javelin-Digital-Thermometer-Chipotle/dp/B00NMQGAT4


This one meets all your requirements, it is the one I use and love!

Sorry, hang on a sec. What food safety issues? I use this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T95H1PE

is something like this not recommended? I'm still in the learning phase of grilling.

I've cooked on worse grates at the park, so not too worried : )

Have you seen these chimney attachments?

No ideas how they work, but looks perfect for the application.

Liked your veggie basket so I found these on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Charcoal-Companion-Baskets-Removable-Handle/dp/B00HOGUXAK/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1724PE6349I86&keywords=grilling+mesh+basket&qid=1568808021&sprefix=grilling+mesh%2Caps%2C324&sr=8-9

Good morning, so dont get the weber q if you are trying to cook beef products between Pittsburgh rare to medium. weber q hits like 450 brand new with lid down.

http://www.amazon.com/Solaire-Everywhere-Portable-Infrared-Grill/dp/B003UNTIG6/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1462712846&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=solair+everwhere

notice there is no room to close the grills lid and stimulate convection cooking like the weber products. so you wont be bakin your ny strip. grill each side and remove from heat. grilling a ny strip to med rare, warm center, 6 to 8 minutes total grilling time. body has same grade of stainless as lynx, alfresco, fire magic. body will not breakdown just chillin on the environment. when ceramic ir burner inevitably breaks, order a new burner and pop it in the unit.

once you get used to real infrared, not fake charbroil ir mismarketed, as reak ir. its fake. sst burner offset from grill cavity with concave pan above it. sst gets really hot it turns red. thats not ir, just really hot metal.

I found it! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYN0438/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_E3iExbHYCBVF4. I was expecting it to be way expensive. That's pretty affordable actually.

Would the Weber Rails or the Charcoal Baskets serve the same purpose of a Slow N Sear since you can really direct high heat on one side of the grill and indirect on the other - Or would the Slow N Sear provide some additional control or benefit?

http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Fires-Grilling-Argentine-Way/dp/1579653545/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381986335&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+fires

It's a fun read.

This is the probe port I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/Probe-Port-Barbecue-Thermometer-Stainless/dp/B06WWGVTYM/ref=mp_s_a_1_2

It just comes with the port itself. You still need something to drill a 3/4" hole and some high heat paint to prevent rust after drilling.

I posted a pretty detailed post on IG with how I did it @hobojoebbq

Since you already have a kamado (probably the best most versatile type of grill around) and you just want a gas grill for a quick sear I would suggest you look at a Solarire Everywhere Infrared burner grill - http://www.amazon.com/Solaire-Everywhere-Portable-Infrared-Grill/dp/B003UNTIG6/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1427224586&sr=1-1&keywords=solaire+everywhere


It will run off a 1 pound gas bottle or a big propane tank (with an adapter hose). It can literally be as hot as the sun in just a few minutes. Very portable. Only downside is that it is a bit over yoour budget - it’s closer to $300.

Personally, I don’t really think most gas grills are really any quicker to get up to heat than many charcoal grills.

Most of the mats say do not use over direct flame. That alone makes me not use one.
I'll stick to the stainless tray I got works great. https://www.amazon.com/Weber-Style-6435-Professional-Grade-Grill/dp/B000WEIIOE

So if I'm understanding correctly I need to remove the quick connect that's currently attached and install a 3/8 in x 1-1/2 in black iron pipe nipple which will attach to the quick connect that came with the hose? Something like what the other guy posted https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FXDR4QH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xCtUBb7GNDS6Z

No, of course not. But you can get a metal mesh pouch to smoke wood chips in. It provides a pretty decent smoke flavor.

MOS BBQ Smoke Screen, 1 EA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008UFE364/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WysmDbD17Y6RH

Even if it isn't, you could add a high temp gasket and it will seal it up. I was reading on someone else's post about the temp difference they got after adding a gasket and it was not insignificant. LavaLock Grill Gasket

https://www.amazon.com/Weber-14401001-Original-Premium-Charcoal/dp/B00MKB5TXA/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1496426879&sr=1-2&keywords=weber+kettle

I think it makes sense to include these things in the scope of this subreddit https://www.amazon.com/Blackstone-Outdoor-Grill-Griddle-Station/dp/B00DYN0438

I think the "Premium Kettle" also has that, but not as pricy as the Master Touch.

https://www.amazon.com/Weber-14401001-Original-Premium-Charcoal/dp/B00MKB5TXA

Amazingribs.com

Grill

-Accessories

• This, this, this, this, and this to get started.
  
  Obviously, get whatever kind of grill you want. I love my gas grill and use it often, but if I could only have one grill, it would no question be charcoal. With that said, anything with the name Weber on it will be tough to beat at it's price point.