Looking for Recommendations on a Gas Grill

We have a Weber. It's been with us for 11 years and still works very well. My husband does do a thorough cleaning once a year and that helps a lot!

Get what you can afford - but look for sales. They are everywhere!

Weber is the best brand. They have lower end units that are very good - and as parts rust out it's easy to get replacements and extend the life of your grill. We had boought others over the years but got a Weber about 8 years ago. We've replaced a lot of the parts last year or the year before that. It works like a charm.

If you can afford a Weber--choose that!
Otherwise, I think a grill is O. of those things that you get what you pay for.
BUT, if you have to go lower end, it will be nicer to have that for a few years than a rusting O., right?

We have a Ducane that we bought from Home Depot several years ago. We paid over $1000 for it but they do have some lower end models.

We have a Weber charcoal grill and love it as well.

Remember that you get what you pay for... instead of going low end from a place like KMart , Wally world, etc... go to Lowes, Home Depot and a grill specialty store... you never know what you might find on a closeout. If you go the cheap route, you'll be buying another one in a couple of years.

Good luck

We bought a second hand Weber and love it. You can tell it is made of quality parts. Your budget is your budget but certainly shop sales and second hand before settling on a lower end model. I will say at least in our area covering the grill is an absolute must. My mother has gone through both expensive and cheap grills because she refuses to cover them. Both of our grills are about 10 years old now and still going strong because we so carefully cover them when not in use. The propane gage we use is low tech but nice. It is a lever you place the bottle on. As the propane is used, the tank gets lighter and the gage moves to indicate the tank is running out. There really is nothing worse than running out in the middle of cooking. The only other suggestion I have is adding lava rocks to the grill. It gives the food flavor which is a common complaint with gas grills. Good luck whatever you decide.

We use our grill at least 3 times a week. I like the gauge so that if I am getting low on fuel, I am aware I need to pay attention I case the tanks need to be switched. You can purchase the gauge seperatly, it is a better deal.

This looks good. Will you have a place to keep rain etc off of it? If not I suggest you also purchase a cover the sun and rain, really do wear out a grill.

You will need a long lighter and eventually if you all grill a lot, consider having an extra tank, so if you are low on fuel or run out, no one has to jump in the car and dash to a store to trade the empty one.

He is going to love it, so will you!

My husband bought a Weber off craigslist. We had to eventually replace some of the racks but the burners are still fine and all that. Actually the biggest reason we replaced the racks were he wanted the stainless steel ones.

My point is it doesn't rust out, you can just keep buying parts as you need to. Much better to buy a Weber second hand that the one you linked to. That will just fall apart in a couple years and you will be spending more money again.

Oh those gauges tend to be inaccurate and leak. Better to just have a second tank that you can swap out when the other is empty.

We've had more expensive grills but we're a small family, we don't grill a whole lot, and we don't need anything fancy.
About every 5 or 6 years we get a cheap $99 Home Depot grill.
It's just perfect for us.

This is it:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Maxfire-Torch-2-Burner-Propane...

We also love our Weber. We had an old one that just rusted out when we moved into our house and since we've bought our Weber we love it! If you can, I recommend having the gas line connected to your house's gas line. It is SO much easier and you never have to remember to buy a tank!

We have a 19-year-old Weber. We've had to replace parts and repair it over the years, but it's still going. It was a top-of-the-line model at the time. My dad really likes the brand that Sears carries. Is it Brinkman? They might be a little more reasonably priced. He likes the controls in front of the grill as opposed to on the side like many Webers have.

Check Consumer Reports for "best buys" and repair records.

We have a Kenmore and it's very serviceable. It does not even have the side burner like the one you saw at Kmart - I have never needed that.

I don't know what you mean in your SWH about transporting a grill for camping - the one you show is far from portable unless you have a big RV or something like that. It's not collapsible.

All the propane tanks have gauges now, and you can usually find those that can be added to standard propane tanks. My old one had a magnetic strip you put on the side of the tank - I'd just pour hot water on it and the condensation would be different at the point where the propane was, so if you were a few inches from the bottom, you had to refill. I'd say it's important - there's nothing worse than running out in the middle of a BBQ or a party. But they're far from expensive. You can't tell from the weight of the tank - they are so heavy anyway, I think. If you have a propane station that lets you pay only for what you actually use to fill up (as at a gas station), that's better than the ones that charge a flat rate no matter what. But obviously it's a hassle to take the thing in to be refilled if it's not necessary.

We have a Sears outlet near here, and there are always things on sale - last year's model, something with a scratch on the side, the floor model, etc. You can almost always negotiate because they want that stuff to move. My neighbor went in to buy a tractor lawnmower and pretty much said, "I won't pay the asking price and I won't pay delivery" and they said "okay". So if Sears or any other large retailer has an outlet, check there.

The fewer accessories you have, the less stuff there is that can break! Most grills have replacement parts too, so if you find something that needs a new grill rack, it's not expensive at all to do so. I also have those little individual thermometers that are great for doing burgers when not everyone wants the same degree of doneness. Also the cheaper grills don't always heat evenly so it's better to use a thermometer than to cut open any meat which kind of wrecks it!

Get a good cover with some velcro straps so it doesn't blow off in a wind storm. And before the first use of the next season, check everywhere - we have found everything from a nest for small animals to 2 hornets' nests!