Need a New Grill

[GophersInIowa]

I'm going to be looking for a new grill soon. Anyone ever buy one of those grill/griddle combos?

 

[BarnBurner]

I have two Rec Teq's, combo smoker and grill. Love them. They have lots of different options. Take a look. Great customer service as well.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

You've come to the right place, I'm here to tell you. I do a shitload of grilling/smoking and my next door neighbor is Girls Can Grill (girlscangrill.com), an extremely successful competitive griller/smoker, barbecue judge, you name it. She's awesome, helps me out a lot when I have questions and being a backup taste tester for her is a tough job but someone has to do it

First things first, I would highly, Highly recommend going with a wood pellet smoker. I haven't used a traditional grill one single time since getting my first Traeger about 8-9 years ago. Cleaner, more reliable, no flame up, better heat control, it's just a no-brainer IMO. When I moved into this house about 10 years ago I did a bunch of homework and bought a higher end Napoleon gas grill, out of Canada, for about $1800. I had the same bullshit problems with that grill as you would with a $170 one from Lowe's.

BB says Rec Teq, I've heard good things about them but don't know anything about them.

I've had a number of Traegers and I love them all, most recently the Timberline series. The Timberlines are more expensive and have thicker walls and are better at maintaining consistent temps for long periods of time but I think they're a little harder to clean and maintain than the old, bare bones original smaller Traegers. Ultimately, unless you're doing a lot of lower heat, long smokes, you don't really NEED something like the Timberline or Ironwood.

My most recent purchase and my every day one right now is my first Yoder. I heard great things and I absolutely love it. They are expensive, but it's super heavy duty, very well made, I'm a huge fan.

In places like Sportsmans Warehouse or Mills Fleet Farm, Menards (maybe?), places like that you can still find older versions of the earlier Traegers for as low as $350-$500 I think and that's all you need.

Someone else might have a different opinion but I've never found any use for the additional technology on some newer ones, specifically like the wi-fi to control temps, apps for your phone, etc. I've never used it once on any smoker I've ever had.

 

[GophersInIowa]

You've come to the right place, I'm here to tell you. I do a shitload of grilling/smoking and my next door neighbor is Girls Can Grill (girlscangrill.com), an extremely successful competitive griller/smoker, barbecue judge, you name it. She's awesome, helps me out a lot when I have questions and being a backup taste tester for her is a tough job but someone has to do it

First things first, I would highly, Highly recommend going with a wood pellet smoker. I haven't used a traditional grill one single time since getting my first Traeger about 8-9 years ago. Cleaner, more reliable, no flame up, better heat control, it's just a no-brainer IMO. When I moved into this house about 10 years ago I did a bunch of homework and bought a higher end Napoleon gas grill, out of Canada, for about $1800. I had the same bullshit problems with that grill as you would with a $170 one from Lowe's.

BB says Rec Teq, I've heard good things about them but don't know anything about them.

I've had a number of Traegers and I love them all, most recently the Timberline series. The Timberlines are more expensive and have thicker walls and are better at maintaining consistent temps for long periods of time but I think they're a little harder to clean and maintain than the old, bare bones original smaller Traegers. Ultimately, unless you're doing a lot of lower heat, long smokes, you don't really NEED something like the Timberline or Ironwood.

My most recent purchase and my every day one right now is my first Yoder. I heard great things and I absolutely love it. They are expensive, but it's super heavy duty, very well made, I'm a huge fan.

In places like Sportsmans Warehouse or Mills Fleet Farm, Menards (maybe?), places like that you can still find older versions of the earlier Traegers for as low as $350-$500 I think and that's all you need.

Someone else might have a different opinion but I've never found any use for the additional technology on some newer ones, specifically like the wi-fi to control temps, apps for your phone, etc. I've never used it once on any smoker I've ever had.

Really good info, thank you!

Probably a dumb question, but do you use the smoker for things like your burgers and brats as well? I use my current grill for things like sweet corn and twice baked potatoes.

 

[Full Speed Ahead]

Buying a grill is a serious decision, much more so than say picking what college to attend or what degree for your major. I take it you're talking about a home grill vs one for tailgating or skiing. When I grill I don't want to wait for charcoal (but definitely admire those folks who do), so I use propane and slide apple woodchips into the bottom of it (I've got a lot of apple trees in my yard, so there's never any shortage of apple wood). As for the grill itself, about two decades ago I bought a heavy cast aluminum grill that's about 3/8" thick and it's been great (the brand name of it has long since disappeared). You could shoot a bullet at it and it'd be fine. I need to replace the burners every other year or so and refinish the wood cutting boards, but the grill itself is great. So for my two cents, go with thick cast aluminum versus any sort of stamped steel.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Buying a grill is a serious decision, much more so than say picking what college to attend or what degree for your major. I take it you're talking about a home grill vs one for tailgating or skiing. When I grill I don't want to wait for charcoal (but definitely admire those folks who do), so I use propane and slide apple woodchips into the bottom of it (I've got a lot of apple trees in my yard, so there's never any shortage of apple wood). As for the grill itself, about two decades ago I bought a heavy cast aluminum grill that's about 3/8" thick and it's been great (the brand name of it has long since disappeared). You could shoot a bullet at it and it'd be fine. I need to replace the burners every other year or so and refinish the wood cutting boards, but the grill itself is great. So for my two cents, go with thick cast aluminum versus any sort of stamped steel.

I love my current grill as it was my first one when we bought our house. Have used it a lot but it’s about time to retire her.

 

[Unregistered User]

…my next door neighbor is Girls Can Grill (girlscangrill.com), an extremely successful competitive griller/smoker, barbecue judge, you name it.

Does you neighbor use a pellet or stick burner for competitions?

 

[BarnBurner]

Really good info, thank you!

Probably a dumb question, but do you use the smoker for things like your burgers and brats as well? I use my current grill for things like sweet corn and twice baked potatoes.

Absolutely. You can reverse sear burgers and NO ONE will have a better burger than you turn out of your own back yard. I have a set of grill grates that increase the temp for searing. They work great.

Check out the rec teq site. Also, there are a couple of forums that are all rec teq folks. Ask a question, and you get an answer usually within minutes. Great groups always helping others cook better.

Baked potatoes on the RT are phenomenal. Smoked baked beans!

 

[GophersInIowa]

Absolutely. You can reverse sear burgers and NO ONE will have a better burger than you turn out of your own back yard. I have a set of grill grates that increase the temp for searing. They work great.

Check out the rec teq site. Also, there are a couple of forums that are all rec teq folks. Ask a question, and you get an answer usually within minutes. Great groups always helping others cook better.

Baked potatoes on the RT are phenomenal. Smoked baked beans!

Nice, I definitely will. Thanks again.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Really good info, thank you!

Probably a dumb question, but do you use the smoker for things like your burgers and brats as well? I use my current grill for things like sweet corn and twice baked potatoes.

EVERYTHING.

I actually cook bacon on it; grease goes into the drip tray, the house doesn't fill up with bacon smoke/smell, no grease splatter in your kitchen, etc.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Does you neighbor use a pellet or stick burner for competitions?

That's a good question, and I'm not entirely sure. I can text her and find out. She's got a huge utility trailer that she takes on the road and I know she's told me she has about 6-8 smokers/grills laying around that manufacturers just give her to try out and review

EDIT: She said Hunsaker Smoker drums with Cowboy lump charcoal and briquets. And she's leaving tomorrow for the world championships in TN.

 

[Full Speed Ahead]

Here's a "what you can do with a grill that you probably haven't thought of before" tip...

I've got a lot of maple trees in my woods so every spring I tap a few. I then pour the sap into an aluminum foil basting pan that has a pinhole in the bottom and put that on the top shelf inside my grill. The sap warms up (which is good) and slowly drips through the pinhole into a second pan on the bottom grill, where the water boils away to leave the maple syrup. I just keep adding sap to the top pan every 15 minutes or so, and in a few hours I've got a lot of nice maple syrup sitting in the bottom pan that I can bottle.

 

[Unregistered User]

That's a good question, and I'm not entirely sure. I can text her and find out. She's got a huge utility trailer that she takes on the road and I know she's told me she has about 6-8 smokers/grills laying around that manufacturers just give her to try out and review

EDIT: She said Hunsaker Smoker drums with Cowboy lump charcoal and briquets. And she's leaving tomorrow for the world championships in TN.

View attachment 27511

After I posted my question, I went to find her on youtube and saw that setup.

The only video I really watched was a short of her doing 3-2-1 ribs, and coincidentally had done some ribs that same day.

Very similar process, but instead of a smoker drum, I use an offset, and used the same Cowboy lump charcoal, but I was using mesquite and apple as my wood.

Ribs are my biggest challenge to do really well on a smoker. They always come out good, but not enough of them come out great.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

After I posted my question, I went to find her on youtube and saw that setup.

The only video I really watched was a short of her doing 3-2-1 ribs, and coincidentally had done some ribs that same day.

Very similar process, but instead of a smoker drum, I use an offset, and used the same Cowboy lump charcoal, but I was using mesquite and apple as my wood.

Ribs are my biggest challenge to do really well on a smoker. They always come out good, but not enough of them come out great.

I don't get very adventurous with my smoker unfortunately. I should do so much more. Honestly I use it as a grill for at least 65% of what I do on there.

For ribs, I've never done anything but 3-2-1; and I have used that method for some other closely related meats also.