Finally Bought a Grill

I'm glad your son is home for now. Have a great time!
Happy birthday!
Peggy

Hi Peggy.. Thanks very much.. BUT.. I have 4 son's.. and this is not the one in Bagdad.. wish it were.. but, not yet. This the one that is a pilot stationed out of Colorado.. the airlines don't give him many days off that he can count on.. but this one is in the hopper fer shur.

Yep, hitting a big one tomorrow.. 65.. sheesh.. aint' no way.

happy b-day and why cant he plop that big bird down on 101 for a few and say hi to you hehe. jeff

Why the weber? Does it have a flat griddle? I've been looking too!

got2smoke.. Ain't no way the freeway is wide enough to land a big bird.. Just happy to have him home for a few days.

RaiderBill.. Nah, the Weber doesn't have a flat griddle.. but, what the heck.. I have a nice cast iron griddle that I can put on it any time. I would think that any grill that has a built in griddle would make a good part if it relatively inflexible. This way, you can add the griddle any time you like.

This one comes with a side burner for corn or chili or whatever. I also bought the rotissery (sp?) and will buy a smoke box before the party to add a little smoke flavor to the faster cooking meats or veggies.

All in all, I think the combo of the Smokette for low and slow, combined with the Weber for grilling will fill my needs pretty well.. until I begin wanting to go into small time catering

I'm leaning towards a commercial chargrill 36-48 inches. I figure I can make a flat griddle to pop in for my pancakes and eggs, but have not ruled out a regular BBq grill if I can find the right one.
Anyone know what would be the best steel or iron to make a griddle of? Historically, I've tended to like cast Iron.

quote:

Originally posted by RaiderBill Largo, Fl:
[qb]Anyone know what would be the best steel or iron to make a griddle of? Historically, I've tended to like cast Iron. [/qb]

Lodge makes some pretty dang good cast iron cooking utinsels.. That's what my griddle is and I have a dutch oven by them.. love'm both.

I also like using the griddle on the stovetop as well. We also have one.. not sure of the mfg.. that has griddle on one side and ridges on the other side.. you can put some nice criss cross decorations on whatever you are grilling on it.

Raider Bill, If you're in the market for a cast iron griddle, and IMHO they're the best, or some other cast iron utensils you might try shopping some flea markets, junque shops and antique shops. We've picked up some really nice pieces of Griswold and Lodge cast iron at an excellent price and the bonus is they're already seasoned.

Just as a safety precaution, give them a light coating of veg oil or shortening and chuck 'em in a 350 degree oven a couple hours. That'll kill any of those pesky little bacteria that might be lurking in there.

EZ

I flip flop on this more than a fish on a hot dock! I've got a bunch of cast Iron cook ware and love everyone. The griddle I have now on my grill is cast iron. I really like the no stick properties and believe me that babies seasoned!
I'm really twisting between buying a quaility off the rack BBQ grill such as the weber Platinum or comparable then taking a thick peice of metal, welding 3 sides about a inch tall on it and using that as a griddle. Not sure what type of metal would be best for that purpose. This way I can make it as big as I want. Most of the add on griddles are too samll for my use. I have one that goes on the stove but hard to get enough nice sized pancakes on it at once. I have looked at commercial grills and figure I can buy a radiant chargrill and make a griddle for it. I would have the run off gutter this way instead of my dribbles going down into the unit. None of these take into consideration wanting a couple burners and possibly a oven.
This is all being built in so I want to do it right.
One other thing is I have to use LP. Someone on this site mentioned that it would take a lot of LP to power a commercial unit? I did notice the inlet pipe on one is about 1" dia as opposed to a BBQ grill which is 1/4.
I spent way too much time mulling this topic over..............

Got a chance to try my new Weber over the weekend. Had a b'day party for myself and had to do all the cooking We did three slabs of spares and a WAD of chick thighs, grilled vege's (which I've never done), a black bean salad, green salad, potato salad and "cone" bread. Course, had the needed wines and beer, etc

The Weber performed flawlessly.. had to burn it off for a bit to get rid of the forming oils used on the stainless.. but after that was burned off, it worked great. BTW, I bought this from a local hardware store rather than a big box store. Reason(s).. buying local and supporting small business.. plus, they assembled and delivered it (free) to my back porch which is no small thing beings I live on a hillside and it is about 30 steps to my front door.. PLUS they gave me a 10% discount on all accessories.. try getting that from a big box corporate store. Got the rotissary, cover, vege grills, smoke box, etc. I gave the guys a bag of smoked chicken as a thank you. When I returned to the store a couple days later to get some stuff.. the manager came up to me and was all smiles and thank you's for the chicken he got to try. Gave me an additional discount on stuff I bought that day. Wow..

This really made the difference in my smoked chicken.. no more rubbery skin.. hee hee.

I bought a couple of those chicken on a throne wire thingies at Wally World when I first got my CS. I was disappointed with the skin issue and finally decided I didn't need the added moisture in the CS.. however, with the new grill, I'm going to pre-cook a couple of birds this week in the CS with the birds on the throne. Give them a good smoke and then finish off in the Weber. That, I'm looking forward to.

Speaking of cast iron products.. another thing I want to try in the Weber is to do a jap corn bread in the Weber with a bit of wood in the smokebox. Smokey corn bread sounds good to me.

quote:

Originally posted by RaiderBill Largo, Fl:
[qb] ... then taking a thick peice of metal, welding 3 sides about a inch tall on it and using that as a griddle. Not sure what type of metal would be best for that purpose. This way I can make it as big as I want. [/qb]

RBL.. My F-I-L had a griddle built for our camping trips to do bacon, eggs and flapjacks on the campfire. He had it built from 1/8" steel and had the edges formed so the "bowl" was about 3/8" deep. This thing was about 12"x18" or so. The only thing wrong with it was that the heat torqued it. I think this will be a common problem with any steel griddle you make. There are a lot of built in stresses in steel that come from the forming/rolling process as it goes from the pour to the sheet that is rolled. Cast iron rocks.

At least that's my humble opinion...

Thanks a lot, now Jack will want to confiscate my cast iron for the smoker! I got them all seasoned just perfect for corn bread and eggs and stuff! We had a guest once who decided to clean my cast iron. "Scrubbed all that nasty black off of them." I'm hoping he doesn't see this post!

Peggy

Hey Peg.. Once you taste it.. you'll get over it.. grin.

I was thinking about using a 1/2 inch thick peice of stock at least. I have seen some that are one inch but I'm concerned with the warm up time for something that thick.

Might or might not get as much warpage.. however, warpage might not be a concern for you. It depends on how concentrated the heat source is under a specific portion of the steel plate. One benefit of the thicker pieces is that you won't have hot spots as the heat will be destributed much better before it reaches the cooking surface.. however, the main benefit is that you won't have to be concerned about letting the surface 'reheat' before putting on a second cook.. for instance flapjacks as there is so much heat retained in the thicker pieces.. and, once the plate gets to the proper temp.. there will be less chance of burning as with thin pieces.. think of a cheap alum frying pan and how easy to burn something vs a thicker cast iron one. Just another opinion

Agreed and that's why the thicker stock is prefered by me. Flap jacks are one of my biggest concerns why I'm looking for this size home griddle. The 2 at a time method just doesn't work for me.
BTW, tomorrow I'll have owned my Harley 31 years and still going strong!

Well I went to the BBQ store yesterday all set to buy a weber summit gold D model. After all this thought I decided this was the one. When I got there theyh had a floor sample Sunshine with griddle, charbroiler and wok plate for half price $250. Sold. Saved myself $1400. The sunshine resembles a commercial grill once you take it out of the stand.

Sounds great.. Not familiar with the company.. but, best wishes from the left coast..

I believe it's austrailian made. Theres also a Sunshine grill that's similer but no as well made.
Now off to Home Depot for metal studs!

Since you saved a bit of money on the grill, have you considered buying a commercial gas(or electric) griddle. If you have the room for one, they make a great addition to an outdoor kitchen. I've got one thats 18"x24" and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Not only is it good for summer morning breakfast, but to tell the truth, I like steaks cooked on it almost as much as ones cooked on the grill. If you've ever been to an Outback or a Longhorn Steakhouse, you've had steakes cooked on a griddle.

A new gas model about 36"x24" could be had for about $600, used maybe $250. The tops on these woluld be anywhere from 1/2" to 1". Electric would cost slightly more and need 220V service. I bought my gas version for $150 lightly used.

The reason I bought this one is that it comes with a griddle! Looks to be about 18x18 along side the char grill. Love my weekend breakfast!