Buying a new grill or smoker can be as tricky as buying a new car. You confront an even broader choice of brands and models, just as many accessory options, and in some cases a similar level of sticker shock. Compounding the problem, shops that carry outdoor cooking equipment, unlike car dealers, don’t congregate in auto parks or along the same busy streets. You have to track them down like a Scotland Yard sleuth, and when you find a good one, they seldom sell more than a fraction of what’s available on the overall market.
As with a car, no single solution is perfect for everyone. Too much depends on individual interests, budgets, outdoor spaces, even personalities. So we can’t tell you what to buy, much less what you need, but we’ll try to help you make those decisions for yourself. In the following pages we provide general guidelines that we personally use in shopping, review the extensive range of outdoor cooking equipment offered today, and comment on the strengths of the products we’ve used. If you know the choices you face and the questions to ask, you’re most of the way to a solid answer.
We’re constantly shopping for grills. Even when we have no intention of adding another one to our overstocked collection, we look and wonder. As we do, one question always predominates: “How well does this baby cook?” If a grill doesn’t pass that test beyond a reasonable doubt, it isn’t going home with us, even if it’s the prettiest, sexiest, sleekest, grandest, most incredible hunk of metal we’ve ever seen.
Many grills-even expensive ones-don’t cook well in all respects. The widespread acceptance of the conventional wisdom about covered cooking, discussed in the previous chapter, sways a lot of American manufacturers to engineer their grills-particularly gas models-for that purpose alone. This means their products will roast and bake food just fine but often lack the searing firepower needed for true direct-heat grilling without a cover. If you cannot grill steaks, chops, and shrimp as well as or better than the top steakhouse in your neighborhood, either you’re cooking them wrong or your grill isn’t ready for prime time.
Almost all charcoal and wood grills produce the necessary firepower, a major point in their favor. Stick with them if everything else seems equal in your mind. They require more time and effort than other grills, but you’ll always have the means to cook a full range of foods to perfection.
Gas and electric grills warrant greater caution, even when manufacturers brag about prodigious BTUs. The thermal units certainly matter, but it’s the level of heat that reaches the food that really counts, not the BTUs generated. The distance between the burners and the cooking grate, in particular, significantly impacts the actual grilling temperature. Most Australian gas grills, such as the widely distributed BeefEater (beefeater bbq.com, 866-550-2333), position the fire near the food, which increases the searing power of the BTUs. Never partial to the notion of covered outdoor cooking, Australians like to ensure good open-grilling temperatures by placing the burners two to four inches below the cooking surface rather than the six to eight inches typical on an American gas grill. We suspect other manufacturers may move in this direction in coming years, so one of the first things we look for on a new gas grill is close proximity of the burners to the cooking grate.
We also check right away for infrared capability, another sure sign of high-heat potential. It comes now in a variety of forms. Some grills cook only with infrared, and others combine conventional and infrared burners in one unit A few high-end manufacturers, such as Dynasty (jadeappliances.com, 866-820-1401), offer separate infrared searing stations as an option in a full outdoor kitchen, and others, such as Fire Magic (rhpeterson.com, 800-332-0240), make infrared burners designed to be interchangeable with regular gas elements. TEC (tecinfrared.com, 800-331-0097) pioneered infrared and remains an industry leader in the field, but Solaire (solairegrills.com, 800-782-1365) has become a major presence as well, competing effectively on quality and price.
If a gas grill lacks infrared and has burners well below the cooking grate, we insist on seeing it in action before considering it further. All we need to do is measure the peak cooking temperature with the hand test. When we’re holding our hand a couple of inches above the cooking grate, we see if the fire forces us to pull away in one or two seconds, which indicates real searing intensity. If a store cannot provide that kind of minimal demonstration of cooking capability for a piece of equipment, we’re quickly waving good-bye.
Once we know a grill will manage all outdoor cooking methods well, we explore other factors that affect a buying decision for us. Grate size comes next on the checklist for all types of grills, from charcoal to gas. Since we entertain outside regularly, and have a ravenous extended family, we want a reasonably substantial grilling surface. We figure the grate should be able to hold up to ten burgers or chicken breasts without crowding and provide enough extra room to allow us to move the food away from flare-ups and to make changes in the cooking temperature as necessary.
If you seldom grill for anyone except you and your spouse, you can save money and storage space by downsizing the grate. In that case, we would look seriously at the proliferating number of small portable grills, made to use both at home and at tailgating parties, picnics, and campouts. Charcoal models range in design from the familiar kettle shape to the aptly named Tool Box Grill (toolboxgrill.com, 866-227-3861). Gas and electric versions sometimes feature infrared burners.
We also pay careful attention to the quality of workmanship and materials relative to price. Some grills will last a lifetime, some barely a season: know what you’re paying for. Buy as much as you can afford of heavy metal construction, sturdy legs and wheels, tight-fitting parts, easy-ignition features, and cleanup conveniences. Beware of loose and flimsy elements, a shaky structure, poor assembly and operation information, and doodads that do nothing.
If you live in a city, condominium, or apartment complex that allows only no-flame outdoor cooking, explore the new generation of electric grills. We would ignore the popular low-fat griddle devices called “grills,” which cook much differently than the name implies. We would focus instead on electric infrared alternatives and innovative products such as the Electri-Chef (electri-chef.com, 800-442-7207), powered effectively by a 220-volt electric outlet. Check other new wares as well. Given the extensive potential market for real, no-flame grilling, we suspect the number of good options will increase substantially in the years ahead.
Most charcoal grills-from hibachis to kettles to contemporary creations-offer solid value. They can often double as wood grills, usually last for years, and cook dependably without problems day after day. Even some of the most expensive models remain a value, particularly when they offer an adjustable charcoal rack or cooking grate that allows you to raise or lower temperatures quickly and easily. For examples of this handy feature, check out grills made by Hasty-Bake (hastybake.com, 800-426-6836) and Char-Broil (char broil.com, 800-252-8248).
Tuscan-style grills, designed to fit inside fireplaces, cook over wood coals burned down from log fires. Outdoors-but never indoors-you can substitute charcoal for the wood and use the simple metal frame on any heatproof surface. Curiously, we’ve seen the clever contraptions more often in garden stores and catalogs than at kitchen and grill outlets.
We’ve found few real values among the least expensive gas grills. Most of the ones that we’ve used didn’t reach searing temperatures, cooked inconsistently, and seemed unlikely to enjoy any longevity. The one exception in our experience-and it was limited experience-was a Fiesta grill from a warehouse store.
On the whole, you need to budget more for gas than charcoal to get an equivalent cooking capability. The best values, we think, exist in moderate price ranges and above when you follow the shopping guidelines outlined earlier.
One of the hottest trends in home design is the “outdoor room.” The promoters and planners of the idea really want to sell us on an outdoor house, complete with a casual living room, entertainment center, bar, dining room, and kitchen. You can buy outdoor TVs, stereo systems, wicker-style sofas and chairs, lamps, freestanding fireplaces, refrigerators, wine coolers, dishwashers, wood-burning pizza ovens, and even prefabricated “islands” that incorporate most of these features. You may want to go inside to sleep, but you don’t need to for much else.
The centerpiece of this outdoor house, according to the pros, must be a high-end gas grill. Some of the best grills on the market fall into this category, but so do some of the most overpriced. The major manufacturers include recognizable outdoor names such as Weber, with its Vieluxe brand (vieluxe.com, 866-843-5893), and unfamiliar faces such as Twin Eagles (twineaglesinc.com, 562-802-3488), which designed many of the original top-of-the-line grills for other companies. Even indoor appliance makers are moving outside to claim a share of the sales. Kitchen-Aid (outdoors@kitchenaid.com, 800-422-1230), Viking (vikingrange.com, 888-845-4641), and Maytag, which owns Dynasty (dynastygrills.com, 800-884-5233), all now boast a full range of solid patio products.
If you’ve got the bucks, they’ll build it. Just keep in mind some elementary design considerations. Place the grill out of the wind and away from wood walls or low overhangs, positioned so that sun isn’t in your eyes and broiling your skin at prime cooking hours. If you have natural gas in your home, figure out how to connect it to the grill to have a hassle-free, continuous source of fuel. To keep the cooking flames going as much of the year as possible, we would always opt for a built-in fireplace fitted with a Tuscan grill, which provides both heat for cool evenings and a spot for grilling with wood.
Even on a moderate budget, you can get most of what you really need, if not everything you might want. Careful planning becomes critical. In our case, we designed a small built-in grill island near our kitchen door, giving us ready access to everything inside. That allowed us to eliminate any thought of a sink, fridge, side burners, or other costly frills. The only extra we elected was a rotisserie for the grill, because we knew it would roast better than any kitchen oven. We came up well short of the whole shebang, but we still met our needs just fine.
The first thing to understand about smokers is that they are essential for good barbecue and smoke cooking. Most food magazines and many cookbook publishers pretend the opposite, telling their writers to modify every outdoor dish-even the most traditional-to be cooked on the kind of standard grill found in most backyards. They figure it’s all just outdoor cooking, with no real variation in cooking methods and flavors, so anything can be done with one piece of equipment.
Not even close. We all have both stovetops and ovens in our indoor kitchens for different kinds of cooking, and the same should be true outside when we want to practice multiple outdoor methods. You can add smoke flavor to food on a grill, but that’s not cooking with smoke in the style of real barbecue. If it’s the latter you want instead of a pale facsimile, get a dedicated smoker to sit alongside your grill.
At the very least, if space is a major issue, upgrade your standard grill to one that is truly designed for smoking as well. We’ve found only two types that do an equally good job with both methods. The best overall perhaps is the Big Green Egg (biggreenegg.com, 800-793-2292), a thick-walled ceramic grill and oven that looks exactly like the name suggests. Modeled on an Asian smoker called a kamado, it uses charcoal for fuel, plus wood chunks when smoking. The other option is a grill with an adjustable charcoal rack or cooking grate, such as the previously mentioned models from Hasty-Bake and Char-Broil. The ability to move the fire closer or farther from the food gives them the flexibility for both grilling and smoking.
These combination cookers fall into a moderate price range, but you can spend much less to add a simple smoker to your existing backyard equipment. The least expensive and most popular style is the domed, waist-high device called a vertical water smoker. Many warehouse clubs and other large stores sell them for as little as $30. We prefer the electric-powered models to the ones that operate on charcoal because they maintain a steadier cooking temperature.
For a much better but more expensive electric smoker, check out the Smokette II from Cookshack (cookshack.com, 800-425-0698), a company that makes mainly commercial barbecue equipment. Like its big brothers in restaurants, the home smoker burns wood chunks in a tightly sealed oven that you turn on and don’t touch again until you’re done. Bradley Smoker (bradleysmoker.com, 800-665-4188), a Canadian firm, also offers good outdoor ovens for smoking.
The smokers just mentioned all work fine except for the most traditional barbecue meats, especially fatty cuts such as spareribs, pork shoulder, and beef brisket. These meats need to shed a few pounds of fat during their cooking, shrinking their mass and concentrating their flavor. The smokers that do that most effectively are log-burning metal pits, home versions of the larger pits frequently used in real BBQ joints.
In some models based on southern pits, the wood goes directly under the cooking surface, usually two feet or more beneath the food. More common, however, are Texas-style pits with an offset firebox at one end, a barrelshaped cooking chamber in the center, and a chimney at the other end. You can find moderately priced versions of these, made by a variety of companies, at discount outlets, at hardware stores, and in mail-order catalogs.
Premier versions from custom fabricators cost more-in the same range as a quality gas grill-and weigh several hundred pounds. The heft and expense come from the use of thick, heavy-gauge metal that’s capable of standing up to a lifetime of log fires. Manufacturers include Pitt’s and Spitt’s (pittsandspitts.com, 800-521-2947), Smokemaster (smokemaster.com, 800-362-5432), JR Enterprises (jrenterprises.com, 800-432-8187), Bar-B-Que Pits by Klose (bbqpits.com, 800-487-7487), and Texas Pit Masters (texaspitmasters.com, 877-697-7487).
Until recently, propane enjoyed a virtual monopoly as the fuel for big-pot cooking. Most people bought all the components together: a gas burner, large wide-mouth pot, propane tank, and maybe some packaged accessories. These remain readily available at stores that carry a broad range of outdoor cooking equipment, but you should also take a look at newer electric-powered cookers.
We love the convenience, safety, and ease of use of our Turk ‘n’ Surf electric model from Masterbuilt (masterbuilt.com, 800-489-1581). Sold for under $100 at most retailers, it comes with a thirty-quart pot, a perforated inner basket and hook for removing food, and an adjustable thermostat control. It’s deep enough to fry a fourteen-pound turkey (in less than an hour), wide enough to steam lobster, and roomy enough to boil a dozen ears of corn. We use it regularly for anything we want to cook in those ways.
We never let foul weather mess up our plans for outdoor cooking. We move inside when necessary, a strategy we would also employ if we lived in a situation without an outdoor space or where cooking outside is prohibited.
For indoor grilling, we use a Viking gas cooktop that came with an optional grill capable of cooking at a full range of temperatures. It requires a heavy-duty ventilation system and doesn’t offer an abundance of grate space, but it grills as well as any of our outdoor equipment.
Before we installed the cooktop during a remodel, we opted for a ridged grill pan instead of substituting oven broiling or accepting an underpowered electric grill. The best versions of the grill pans, in our view, fit over two burners and feature high-heat metals such as cast-iron or the kind of sophisticated combinations found in All-Clad products. Avoid ones with low ridges, which can leave some meats sitting in their fat.
Stovetop smokers work even better for their intended purpose. You place wood dust or chips-packaged with the smokers-in the bottom of a rectangular pan. A drip tray and food grate go directly above. You cook over
the front and back burner of a stove, using low to moderate heat to gently ignite the wood and generate a puff of smoke, which is trapped inside the pan by a tight-fitting lid and absorbed by the food during the cooking process. The crafty, inexpensive devices excel with chicken breasts, fish fillets, and other ingredients of a comparable size that respond well to a light smoke flavor.
How about a branding iron to emblazon your initials on steaks? Or maybe you would like a battery-powered meat thermometer in the shape of a long fork to let you know when your chicken is done? If you’ve already got both, you’re surely in the market for a French apron touting you as Le Roi de Barbecue. Virtually anything you can imagine wearing, using, or otherwise flaunting in your outdoor kitchen is for sale today.
We buy a few foolish things for the fun of it but stick close to the basics when we’re looking for real cooking tools. For grilling, everyone needs a couple of good tongs and at least one spatula for moving food on the grate and taking it off the fire. We prefer spring-loaded tongs of regular kitchen size, which are easier to manage than extra-large models. Versions with rubber inserts on the sides provide a sure grip and keep your hands off the hot metal. We like sturdy spatulas with a wide blade and an offset handle that allow you to get under fragile foods without risk of touching the grate. If you smoke or roast whole birds and large cuts of meat, you’ll also want heatproof mitts or easily cleaned hot pads for handling the food.
Be kind to your grate, which often suffers a lot of abuse. Apply a light coat of inexpensive cooking oil to the preheated grate before you grill, using a dedicated brush or rag or even a handful of paper towels. Paint and pastry brushes work better than the longhandled ones in fancy sets of grill tools. Clean the grate thoroughly right before oiling it or just after you finish cooking, with a wire grill brush, nylon scrubber, or stainlesssteel scraper, depending on your grate finish. If it’s handier, substitute crumpled foil for the cleaning job.
You probably already have most other useful tools and supplies in your kitchen. We replace our instant-read thermometers every year or two and regularly check them against each other to verify their continuing accuracy. We replenish our stock of aluminum foil even more frequently, using it for everything from wrapping leftovers to covering plates of raw food we’re taking outside. Every cook needs a few good knives and knows to keep them sharp. For a cutting board, we use acrylic versions for raw foods, because they can go into a dishwasher, but switch to a wood surface for finished dishes. Clean wood boards in hot soapy water, dry them, and then re-oil the top.
Among more specialized products we’ve seen in recent years, we’re especially enamored of the cedar grilling planks from Sautee Cedar (sauteecedar.com, 404-355-2981), flavored wood smoking pellets from BBQr’s Delight (bbqrsdelight.com, 877-275-9591), and cradle-style rotisserie attachments sold by Weber (weber.com, 800-446-1071) and other companies. Any of these goods, and a potential wealth of others, should help cement your reputation as Le Roi de Barbecue.