Smokers / Grills

I need advice on a grill for myself. I've finally moved to a location that I can grill at, and it has been well over 20 years since I could. I have no idea what the current cool stuff is, nor have I done any real grilling in all that time, so ease of use would be a plus.

I only need at most a grill to feed 2 people, usually just 1 because I'm forever alone. I am extremely lazy and impatient, so gas appeals to me, but my understanding is that I'll probably end up spending a lot more for that. I'm looking to stay cheap-ish for now, at least until grilling is a several day a week thing and I feel like saving up for something much nicer.

As said, I'd prefer gas just for convenience and time. Is there anything even remotely decent that I'm going to be able to get? If so, recommendations? I read this whole thread, but most of it is higher end than what I'm going to be looking at.

And if I can't get anything decent with gas, what are the best briquet choices?

Thanks in advance.

(I could swear I asked this question several years ago when I was considering moving and got some suggestions, but it isn't in this thread. Maybe the shit I just bought thread? Or maybe it was even on FoH. Either way, I imagine things have changed in terms of brands and such.)

Yeah, definitely under $400, so I guess charcoal it is

Void said:

Yeah, definitely under $400, so I guess charcoal it is

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The Green Mountain I got two Christmas ago is $349 now, maybe less of you have a local distributor. It has been perfect for the two of us and easy to grill or smoke on.

Intrinsic said:

The Green Mountain I got two Christmas ago is $349 now, maybe less of you have a local distributor. It has been perfect for the two of us and easy to grill or smoke on.

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Well, I was hoping to be significantly under $400 (that's just the price he mentioned), but that Davy Crockett looks really fucking nice, and right up my alley. Never used pellets before, is it pretty easy for even the simple-minded like myself? Pellets actually appeal to me more than both other options, I just forgot it was even a thing.

I'd have to wait awhile to get something like that, but it might be worth it if it is going to last me longer and be more convenient. Any further info about it would be appreciated.

Void said:

Well, I was hoping to be significantly under $400 (that's just the price he mentioned), but that Davy Crockett looks really fucking nice, and right up my alley. Never used pellets before, is it pretty easy for even the simple-minded like myself? Pellets actually appeal to me more than both other options, I just forgot it was even a thing.

I'd have to wait awhile to get something like that, but it might be worth it if it is going to last me longer and be more convenient. Any further info about it would be appreciated.

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Other die hards will have to chime in with pros and cons at their level of grilling or smoking. Personally we just use it to do ribs, boston butt, burgers, chicken, fish. We're not competitive grillers or hardcore.

It is pretty easy to operate though. Fill up your tank with pellets, press the on button, and dial in a temperature. At low smokes the pellets aren't consumed very fast. Think I've done a 12 hour smoke without having to refill. So a large fertilizer or top soil size bag will last a while. Pretty sure clean up is consistent with any other grill as far as maintaining the grates or anything else that dirties up the grill. It is the part that I'm absolutely terrible at.

This is the first grill we've ever owned and other than almost burning the house down the first night it has been really easy. For the two of us it has been large enough to hold up to a 9 lb roast, probably could go a tad bit larger.

Seemed to offer good flexibility and point to start for learning how to grill a variety of things. Don't have to worry about propane tank storage or refills. And gets up to temp fairly quick. We have a gas line nearby for the fireplace so was considering getting something I could run to that, but ended up with the Davy Crockett and have been happy.

BrutulTM said:

A lot of people really like the pellet grills. I think that they make a better smoker than a grill, since most of them have a hard time getting super hot to sear steaks but maybe with some grillgrates you could even do that. I think that the pellets are a bit more expensive than charcoal/gas/electric, but it's not that bad. Seems to be the best balance of "set it and forget it" convenience and actually cooking over wood.

Speaking of pellet grills, did Kiroy ever get that Yoder? I've been thinking about those ever since you posted about getting one. It's hard to justify the price, but I really like the looks of them.

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Yeah I think my GMG only lets you set it up to 550? It'll get hotter, mine has been to 700 or something but that isn't recommend. We definitely don't try and sear steaks on it.

That's why we sous vide.

Yeah my dad gave me his 20 yr old webber gas grill last year after he got a new one for fathers day. He did keep it in the garage and just pulled it out to grill, but still, 20 fucking years and the thing is like brand new. Just had to replace the heat/flame baffles below the cast iron grill grates ($40 for set) and its literally like brand new. Also had to do a throrough cleaning, scraping and re season the griling grates since they were all gunked up with shit.

I like having a gas grill like this around, I mean everyone should. Fast cheap meals in the summer. Shis kabobs, grilled chicken, steaks, burgers, fish, shrimp veggies... all basically 20 min or less. dont get me wrong I love my smokers and charcoal shit, but thats more like and all day event on special ocasions, the gas grill is basically my everyday summertime range top.