Gas grill from Costco/Sam's
Nabeel Ibrahim
for a large crowd soon. I know that both Costco and Sam's sell large
stainless steel gas grills. They look pretty, but does anyone have any
experience with cooking with them? Comments?
Nabeel
Tim May
<ibr...@Stanford.EDU> wrote:
My own gas grill is relatively small, but I have "helped" (= salvaged)
some grilling efforts by friends who have the very large "Kirkland"
(Costco) grills.
My advice: if surface area is the constraint, buy two or even three of
the charcoal-fired standard Webers.
(The chief advantage of gas grills is convenience. If the "cooking for
a lot of people" thing is the rationale, then this advantage is lost.
Just fire up N vastly less expensive Webers.)
Nothing sillier than buying a $600 gas grill and then only using it,
afterwards, for the usual small family cooking.
I have cooked enough for a party of 40 people on one Char-Broil 7000
and a supplemental Weber kettle. I fired up the grill around 5 p.m. and
it was running until 9 p.m.
The whole idea of a grill party is to serve people over a period of a
couple of hours, not to cook food for a large party so they can all eat
at the same time.
In other words, don't buy a white elephant.
--Tim May
notbob
> stainless steel gas grills. They look pretty, but does anyone have any
> experience with cooking with them? Comments?
I know a couple that bought one about 3-4 weeks ago. They seem very
happy with it. She's in the food industry, so would know if it's not
up to snuff. I haven't heard any negatives.
nb
BAD
Grills. They "Highly Recommended" the Weber Genesis Silver A and B. We
have had the Genesis Silver B for over a year and like it.
BAD
--
All emails scanned by Norton Anti-Virus 2003
"Nabeel Ibrahim" <ibr...@Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
news:bj90lt$duk$1...@news.Stanford.EDU...
Reg
BAD wrote:
> The July/August 2003 issue of Cooks Illustrated has a review of upscale Gas
> Grills. They "Highly Recommended" the Weber Genesis Silver A and B. We
> have had the Genesis Silver B for over a year and like it.
I'll second the nomination for the series B. If you get it, buy the rotisserie
attachment along with it.
--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com
Dave Kearns
"Reg" <r...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:GYn7b.418$6l7...@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com...
>
> I'll second the nomination for the series B. If you get it,
> buy the rotisserie attachment along with it.
>
And I'll second the nomination of the rotisserie - best cooking
investment I've ever made!
-dave
Kent H.
it won't perform is to sear a steak with the lid up. When you cook a
steak with the lid down too much of the steak gets cooked, so you can't
make a char-rare steak. It is good for fish, hamburgers, etc. where the
above isn't an issue. Webers are cheap, an incredible pain to assemble,
and fall apart after a fixed time so you have to get new parts.
I wish I had purchased the CostCo product, though I haven't been able to
find from anyone if that will sear a steak with the lid up. It's
obviously well made. I am told that Virco, manufacturer of the CostCo
grill also makes Dynasty, and some Jennair grills.
Good Luck
Kent
Reg
Kent H. wrote:
> The genesis silver B is well thought out, though cheaply made. One task
> it won't perform is to sear a steak with the lid up. When you cook a
> steak with the lid down too much of the steak gets cooked, so you can't
> make a char-rare steak. It is good for fish, hamburgers, etc. where the
> above isn't an issue. Webers are cheap, an incredible pain to assemble,
> and fall apart after a fixed time so you have to get new parts.
> I wish I had purchased the CostCo product, though I haven't been able to
> find from anyone if that will sear a steak with the lid up. It's
> obviously well made. I am told that Virco, manufacturer of the CostCo
> grill also makes Dynasty, and some Jennair grills.
> Good Luck
> Kent
The silver B is difficult to assemble? Gimme a break. It took me 5 minutes.
Yip Yap
> The genesis silver B is well thought out, though cheaply made. One task
> it won't perform is to sear a steak with the lid up. When you cook a
> steak with the lid down too much of the steak gets cooked, so you can't
> make a char-rare steak. It is good for fish, hamburgers, etc. where the
> above isn't an issue. Webers are cheap, an incredible pain to assemble,
> and fall apart after a fixed time so you have to get new parts.
Oh Kent. Have you actually cooked on a Weber, or
have you just seen them in the stores? I've
owned a Weber gas grill for years and the quality
is very good, certainly much better than the
other brands in the same price range -- Char-broil,
Kenmore, etc.
I'll bet that you got pretty excited when you
went to Costco and saw that big hulking stainless
steel box they sell.
-- Yip
to...@well.com
> I've
>owned a Weber gas grill for years and the quality
>is very good,
As another data point, I've had two (a big one and a small one) in the
backyard exposed to the weather for at least 10 years. No problems
whatsoever.
T.
========================
Tony Roder, speaking his mind....
Steve Wertz
>On 11 Sep 2003 08:10:44 -0700, yip_y...@yahoo.com (Yip Yap) wrote:
>
>> I've
>>owned a Weber gas grill for years and the quality
>>is very good,
>
>As another data point, I've had two (a big one and a small one) in the
>backyard exposed to the weather for at least 10 years. No problems
>whatsoever.
That's California weather though. They don't fare as well in other
territories.
-sw
mango boy
(though i just bought the $149 patio caddie that home depot sells
and i'm quite happy with it).
orlando
In article <eaf0009c.03091...@posting.google.com>,
Gleb Arshinov
Kent> One task it won't perform is to sear a steak with the lid
Kent> up. When you cook a steak with the lid down too much of the
Kent> steak gets cooked, so you can't make a char-rare steak.
Not true.
Bring steak to room temperature (very important). Preheat Weber, lid
down, all burners set to max (at least 10 minutes, more depending on
the weather). Turn off middle burner. Plop the steak over the middle
burner, close lid. For an "average steak" cook 3-4 minutes on each
side.
Main problem is compromise between cooking at high temperature and not
setting the whole thing on fire. The leaner/better trimmed the steak
the higher the temperature you can use. With poorly trimmed steaks
you'll need to turn down outside burners in the beginning -- you can
bring them back up as the fat melts off.
True you can't achieve dry crust on the outside, rare on the inside
consistency as well as they can with 1000F professional ovens, but I
doubt any grill in the price range can.
Gleb
Kent H.
minutes. It takes well over an hour. I guess that like me you got yours
from Home Depot preassembled by the store for the same semi-list price,
still overpriced. $450 for an adult erector set is a ridiculous joke.
Kent H.
by side. The Performer will char a steak with the lid up. The gas
Genesis B won't.
Kent H.
burners on high, and with the grill cover closed as you do. Still the
interior of a steak you really want char-rare gets too done.
Cheers,
Kent
Dave Kearns
manual. As to the inability to sear with the top up - don't know what
you're doing wrong, but mine works quite well. I often use it to
simply sear a steak which I then finish in the oven.
And after 2 years none of the parts have fallen off - and its used an
average of 2-3 times per week. Maybe its you, maybe you got a
lemon....
-dave
Guy Bannis
temperature to how you'd like the steak cooked, and walk away until the
alarm sounds.
In article <3F610DA6...@comcast.net>, "Kent H." <kh6...@comcast.net>
wrote:
Reg
Kent H. wrote:
> I have the instruction book on my lap. It can't be assembled in five
> minutes. It takes well over an hour. I guess that like me you got yours
> from Home Depot preassembled by the store for the same semi-list price,
> still overpriced. $450 for an adult erector set is a ridiculous joke.
>
>
Congrats on having a book. I put mine together. 5 minutes, maybe 6.
Kent H
Guy Bannis <g...@ether.net> wrote in message
news:guy-110903...@192.168.1.100...
Kent H.
Kent H.
Kent H.
Reg
Kent H. wrote:
Are you a top poster out of principle? Just curious.
The only part that I couldn't manage by myself was lifting the
main piece onto the leg assembly. My wife helped with that, which
took 30 seconds. The leg assembly came together in a few minutes.
Hooking on the side table piece took about another minute. Sundry
activities took a few more.
FWIW, I do agree that the leg assembly is not well made. If you move
your grill a lot this isn't the one to buy, as it will eventually fall
apart. But the price/performance is good, given what you pay.
Doing a leg of lamb on the rotisserie this weekend. Can't wait.
Kent H.
heat up the interior of the lamb and the interior meat will get
overdone. It doesn't make any sense to rotisserie a piece of meat that
small. Make sure you trim away the entire fell,or connective tissue
covering the leg. Don't cook it to an internal temp. greater than 125F.
Domestic lamb legs are larger, but tastier, in my opinion than those
itty bitty ones from NZ or Aussieland.
Cheers,
Kent, a dedicated top poster out of principle
Steve Wertz
wrote:
>You should do a leg of lamb indirectly over charcoal. The metal rod will
>heat up the interior of the lamb and the interior meat will get
>overdone. It doesn't make any sense to rotisserie a piece of meat that
>small. Make sure you trim away the entire fell,or connective tissue
>covering the leg. Don't cook it to an internal temp. greater than 125F.
>Domestic lamb legs are larger, but tastier, in my opinion than those
>itty bitty ones from NZ or Aussieland.
I was gonna contradict most everything you said here, but I figured
"What's the use? This is Kent."
>Kent, a dedicated top poster out of principle
Dedicated, that's fer sure.
-sw
Steven Scharf
> I'm in the market for a large grill since I (well, my dad) will be cooking
> for a large crowd soon. I know that both Costco and Sam's sell large
> stainless steel gas grills. They look pretty, but does anyone have any
> experience with cooking with them? Comments?
The $729 stainless steel grill at Costco is an excellent
grill from all I've read.
I looked at the Webers, but they're not well made. Other
stainless steel grills are at least several hundred
dollars more than the Costco model. I am thinking of
getting one of the Costco gas grills, but it's still a
lot of money, and we have a built in charcoal grill
already.
Tim May
Scharf <sch...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Yes, $729 is a lot of money for a propane grill.
I have a $120 Char-Broil grill I've used since 1996. No, it can't sear
a steak (unless, I suppose, I close use both burners, close the lid,
and wait a long while). It works perfectly fine for what I use it for:
grilling steaks the normal way, hamburgers, chicken, sausages, etc.)
The propane grill is mostly very, very convenient. Instant starting, of
course, which is the big thing. Setting up a charcoal grill takes a
commitment.
I have a Weber kettle I can set up for searing, I suppose. (Actually, I
may be using my Weber more, as some tree clearing on my property has
caused me to come into quite a lot of oak, madrone, and, most
importantly, manzanita (like mesquite).
A friend of mine has one of the huge stainless "Kirkland" (Costco)
grills. It didn't produce steaks noticeably different from the ones I
produce on my grill which cost one fifth the price. (I took over at one
point when all of the several steaks were burning and the inside of the
grill looked like a blast furnace.)
By the way, I keep my Char-Broil out of the rain as best I can. Not
because the sheet metal (painted black) is likely to rust, but because
all of the various valves and fittings ought to not get soaked...a
propane leak is not a good thing to have.
--Tim May
Reg
Kent H. wrote:
> You should do a leg of lamb indirectly over charcoal. The metal rod will
> heat up the interior of the lamb and the interior meat will get
> overdone.
Blah blah. You seem more uninformed than dangerous, so my only response
would be that you should just come over and try some. We're having
around 100 for dinner Sunday.
Ciccio
news:120920031153376778%
> Yes, $729 is a lot of money for a propane grill.
>
> I have a $120 Char-Broil grill I've used since 1996. No, it can't sear
> a steak (unless, I suppose, I close use both burners, close the lid,
> and wait a long while). It works perfectly fine for what I use it for:
> grilling steaks the normal way, hamburgers, chicken, sausages, etc.)
Geez, this is getting scary. I'm actually exceeding Tim May in TimMaying. I
bought a used WarmMorning propane grill at the Goodwill for $25 about 15
years ago. I guess that would be about $45 today. It has 468 sq inches of
true cooking area. It's nothing fancy, just a double burner, that needs
matches to get lit.
Anyhow, I have used it very frequently, once per week or more
during warm weather. During the winter I put it underneath an overhang and
use it about once every few weeks. I've done good sized turkeys for about
10 Thanksgivings using the rotisserie. I've cooked every type of meat and
grilled a variety of vegetables. I've done all cuts from thin carne asada,
to nice thick 2" aged steaks. All have been simply sumptuous. And why
wouldn't they be cooked to perfection?...I DO know how to cook.
People who spend close to a thousand dollars for a bbq grill must trying to
overcome poor BBQing skills or giving themselves some confidence. Yet,
"It is a poor workman who blames his tools." But it is their money and not
mine...
Ciccio
Tim May
<cic...@attbi.com> wrote:
> "Tim May" <tim...@removethis.got.net> wrote in message
> news:120920031153376778%
>
> > Yes, $729 is a lot of money for a propane grill.
> >
> > I have a $120 Char-Broil grill I've used since 1996. No, it can't sear
> > a steak (unless, I suppose, I close use both burners, close the lid,
> > and wait a long while). It works perfectly fine for what I use it for:
> > grilling steaks the normal way, hamburgers, chicken, sausages, etc.)
>
> Geez, this is getting scary. I'm actually exceeding Tim May in TimMaying. I
> bought a used WarmMorning propane grill at the Goodwill for $25 about 15
> years ago. I guess that would be about $45 today. It has 468 sq inches of
> true cooking area. It's nothing fancy, just a double burner, that needs
> matches to get lit.
Mine now needs matches, too, after the piezoelectric sparker failed
(the feedthru rusted out and I haven't bothered to try to nig^H^H
jerry^H^H jury-rig it to make it work again...I just use kitchen
matches for the reason they got the name).
Generations of cooks, and most cooks in foreign countries, have cooked
over small gas burners, or over charcoal- or dung-fed braziers (and I
_don't_ mean "using two 10-pound bags of Kingsford").
And generations of barbecuers and smokers have made do with homebuilt
rigs made out of cans, etc. When they are grilling (_not_ barbecueing
in the classical sense) I expect they can also do just fine with Webers
and with low-end propane grills, if they choose to use propane.
This idea that Americans need $ 9^3 stainless-steel propane grills is
crazy.
>
> Anyhow, I have used it very frequently, once per week or more
> during warm weather. During the winter I put it underneath an overhang and
> use it about once every few weeks. I've done good sized turkeys for about
> 10 Thanksgivings using the rotisserie. I've cooked every type of meat and
> grilled a variety of vegetables. I've done all cuts from thin carne asada,
> to nice thick 2" aged steaks. All have been simply sumptuous. And why
> wouldn't they be cooked to perfection?...I DO know how to cook.
Just so.
> People who spend close to a thousand dollars for a bbq grill must trying to
> overcome poor BBQing skills or giving themselves some confidence. Yet,
> "It is a poor workman who blames his tools." But it is their money and not
> mine...
Well, my friend whose expensive Kirkland stainless steel grill looked
like a blast furnace inside didn't blame the tools...he just shrugged
and his wife suggested I give him a hand.
Most people would do well to learn to grill on a small grill. Probably
more than the hibachis we of a certain generation used to have outside
our college apartments, but nothing very large.
I cooked steaks the night we had Feynman over for dinner, and they
turned out just fine. No, surely I am not joking.
--Tim May
David Arnstein
Tim May <tim...@removethis.got.net> wrote:
>I cooked steaks the night we had Feynman over for dinner, and they
>turned out just fine. No, surely I am not joking.
Did you ever write anything about this visit? I mean, for public
consumption.
Feynman is one of my favorite characters.
--
David Arnstein
arnstei...@pobox.com
Tim May
<arns...@panix.com> wrote:
> In article <120920031756313166%tim...@removethis.got.net>,
> Tim May <tim...@removethis.got.net> wrote:
> >I cooked steaks the night we had Feynman over for dinner, and they
> >turned out just fine. No, surely I am not joking.
>
> Did you ever write anything about this visit? I mean, for public
> consumption.
>
> Feynman is one of my favorite characters.
I will here.
I was at UC Santa Barbara, in the "College of Creative Studies,"
studying physics. CCS was the reason I picked UCSB over Berkeley, which
I was of course accepted into. (Stanford and MIT were too expensive,
even in 1970. I applied to see if I could get in, I guess, but we all
knew Berkeley would be the likely place. Going to either Stanford or
MIT would have meant working in the cafeteria several hours per day,
even with the money saved from my various summer and other jobs,
including working in an immunology lab for two years...my father made
enough money to disqualify me from the good aid packages but not enough
to provide for the hefty costs. Maybe part of why when I hear about
Stanford students eating at all the trendy, spendy places I have a
negative reaction.)
In 1973 several of us living in an apartment in Isla Vista were in an
advanced seminar in physics. (We took a lot of grad classes.)
We invited Feynman to speak to our group and he accepted. He talked to
our little seminar, then came over to our apartment for dinner.
A great guy, just exactly as he was later portrayed through his popular
books and t.v. coverage following the Challenger debacle.
Besides the pure physics, the usual stuff about quantum electrodynamics
and the like, he also talked about his experiences at Los Alamos.
Including his famous lock stories, like the time he was asked to break
into a safe whose combination had been lost. He had already scoped out
this safe and knew it was set to the manufacturer's setting. But he
made a big deal about how he was "working on it" to those waiting
outside, as he sat and read a comic book. Then he triumphantly
announced he had done it. A charming story, made more poignant by the
fact that even then, during a world war, he was a hero. Today, the
minwage numbskulls would have him arrested under violations of the
Patriot Act.
He had something to do with my decision to change my emphasis from
studies of black holes, relativity, etc. to more "applied" areas. I
asked Feynman what he thought about the fact that many aspects of
relativity may not be testable for centuries, given the difficulties in
reaching black hole regions. He agreed that the glory days of physics
had probably already peaked, given the energy scales and costs of
building accelerators to reach new energy regimes, and that probably if
he were to be doing things over again, just starting out, he'd look at
computers and computer science. (And he did work in the 80s on the
nature of computation and did work for Thinking Machines, Inc.)
I joined Intel the following year to work on device physics issues.
ObFood: And I cooked the steaks. We sat in the living room of our
apartment eating the steaks from plates on our lap and having a great
old time. I can send a photo of Feynman and a few of us at this dinner
to the really interested. (Can't post it here for obvious reasons.)
--Tim May
Nabeel Ibrahim
>news:120920031153376778%
>
>> Yes, $729 is a lot of money for a propane grill.
>
>overcome poor BBQing skills or giving themselves some confidence. Yet,
>"It is a poor workman who blames his tools." But it is their money and not
>mine...
I don't recall if I mentioned it in my original post, but the reason I was
looking at those grills was because we're going to be cooking for a very
large group of people and need a large grill. Given my past performance, I
suspect that grilling for large groups of people will occur frequently
enough that buying a grill in this price range will be worth it.
Nabeel
Kent H.
carries. It's about $1250 and has about twice the cooking area. I don't
think the small one is that much larger than the Weber Genesis. At most
it's 50% larger.
John S. Watson
> In article <7ot8b.426842$o%2.194122@sccrnsc02>,
> Ciccio <cic...@attbi.com> wrote:
> >"Tim May" <tim...@removethis.got.net> wrote in message
> >news:120920031153376778%
> >
> >> Yes, $729 is a lot of money for a propane grill.
> >
> >People who spend close to a thousand dollars for a bbq grill must trying to
> >overcome poor BBQing skills or giving themselves some confidence. Yet,
> >"It is a poor workman who blames his tools." But it is their money and not
> >mine...
>
> I don't recall if I mentioned it in my original post, but the reason I was
> looking at those grills was because we're going to be cooking for a very
> large group of people and need a large grill.
I don't know if this is an option for you,
but one about 10 years ago, we rented the facilities
at one of the parks in Mountain View ... Questa Park?
(the park south east of El Camino and Grant Rd., near the hospital).
They have huge grills there. I'm not sure what they're charging
now to rent the facilities now.
Also, another thought: rent a grill.
Obgrills: I've used a "smokey joe" weber for years now.
I love it cause it smokes the food just about as much as it cooks it.
Steven M. Scharf
news:bjtsjf$n5$1...@reader2.panix.com...
> In article <120920031756313166%tim...@removethis.got.net>,
> Tim May <tim...@removethis.got.net> wrote:
> >I cooked steaks the night we had Feynman over for dinner, and they
> >turned out just fine. No, surely I am not joking.
>
> Did you ever write anything about this visit? I mean, for public
> consumption.
>
> Feynman is one of my favorite characters.
Just was reading one of his books for the umpteenth time and laughing
hysterically. Of course reading Franken's new book put me in the mood
for _Surely, You're Joking_.
David Arnstein
Steven M. Scharf <scharf...@linkearth.net> wrote:
>Just was reading one of his books for the umpteenth time and laughing
>hysterically. Of course reading Franken's new book put me in the mood
>for _Surely, You're Joking_.
I've been meaning to read Franken's book. I'm sure that I'll have
time the next time I'm downsized, outsourced, offshored, or whatever.
In the mean time, The Onion has some news for you:
http://www.theonion.com/onion3701/bush_nightmare.html
"Our long nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."
Boy howdy.
I haven't talked to you in person since your Sierra Singles days. I
hope that all is well with you.
--
David Arnstein
arnstei...@pobox.com
Yip Yap
>>
> I don't recall if I mentioned it in my original post, but the reason I was
> looking at those grills was because we're going to be cooking for a very
> large group of people and need a large grill. Given my past performance, I
> suspect that grilling for large groups of people will occur frequently
> enough that buying a grill in this price range will be worth it.
Have you considered charcoal? I own one of these for
charcoal grilling:
http://www.bbqgalore-online.com/bbq2001/shoponline/products/barbecues/GrillDetails.asp?sku=165267
It's got quite a large cooking area (approx. 20 by 30
inches), and it's built to last a lifetime. With this
and a somewhat smaller grill, we cooked lamb kebabs for
120 people at a backyard party.
-- Yip