The last time we used the grill, Tina couldn’t get the burners to turn off and there were flames coming out of places that they shouldn’t. Tina bought this grill for me for Father’s Day years ago when we lived in the Mall house. It only cost $150 from Sears and over the years I’ve had to replace the burner bar and the grate and had to buy a new tank for it when they changed the laws regarding the connectors. Even so, it’s been a damn fine grill for 10 years. We bought a grill cover in the beginning, but it was always a hassle to get on and off, so it was soon lost. I also made an effort early on to keep inside during the rainy season, but that also fell by the wayside after a couple of years. Thus, it has been just outside our patio door underneath the eaves all year round whenever we cared to use it.
Well, we wanted to have steaks yesterday, so I was tasked with fixing the grill. I fired it up and soon found the problem: the burner bar was completely rusted through in the middle. The current grate was also quite rusted, so the combined replacement cost of these convinced me that it was time for a new grill. So after dinner we dropped by Lowe’s to see what they had. They saw us coming from a mile away because they had a nice array of pre-assembled grills displayed outside. After I briefly tried to convince the family that the $119 model looked like an excellent replacement for our current grill, we decided that stepping up to the $199 was a better idea.
You can see the details by clicking on the picture, but here’s the main selling points:
- 640 sq. in. cooking area (rated for 28 burgers in their flier)
- Three burners that produce 42,000 BTUs
- Porcelain cooking grates
- Porcelain heat tent
- Stainless steel
- Push-and-turn ignition
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We fired her up tonight and cooked the steaks. The push-and-turn ignition is sweet and it heated up pretty quickly. The steaks were fair and cooked a little uneven. I’ll have to learn the cold spots on this grill.
Bike odometer: 6122 miles
Current reading: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Smoke and Guns by Kirsten Baldock and Fabio Moon
Recent listening: A Prairie Home Companion, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
Recent viewing: Lakers at Suns, Cavaliers at Pistons, Mavericks at Spurs, Nova, Sportscenter, The West Wing
Recent playing: Poker Room
Recently Accomplished: bought a new grill
Imperative To Do: Bike repairs, get watch fixed, truck shopping, bank
Cool link: The Wrongness Singularity