Shopsmith Forums

Most brands (no offense to Char-Broil owners, but it's the prime example IMO) sold in the big box stores will catch your eye, but they're like Harbor Freight: it will, in fact, perform its function, but not all that well, nor for all that long. They're the definition of "false economy." Every grill, gas or otherwise, will have hot spots, but words cannot fully express how impressed I have been with the Weber Genesis line. Mine's an E-320, which I believe has become the Mark V 510 to the Genesis E-330's Mark V 520.

Diatribe time: while I do prefer the results of good mesquite wood or charcoal grilling, I'm a single dad with two kids, an office job, and an often crazy DC beltway commute. If I were to allow ideological purity to govern my grilling habits, I'd only really ever grill a couple times a month, and with a small household, it's not really worth the effort to deal with charcoal or other solid fuels just to grill up 3-4 burgers or a dozen pieces of dark meat. Instead, I go open my propane valve, turn three knobs, push a button, go rub sea salt and pressed garlic on three ribeyes, and have them on the grill within ten minutes of starting. Basically, start-to-finish, grilling three thawed/unfrozen steaks takes 20-25 minutes from the time I put on my shoes to the time the steak is resting on the dinner table. Going to a gas grill has made grilling possible even if my girls and I don't get home before 7pm.

To be fair, I'm still planning on building a Texas-style reverse-flow smoker so that I can BBQ (note: grilling is NOT BBQing), but for everyday use, you can't beat a Weber gas grill in terms of value and results. Get any Genesis or Spirit, and I think you'll be happy.

Also, the question of what a grill would look like if it were built by Shopsmith is intriguing. I'd say a reverse-flow smoker might be the South Bend lathe, the Weber-style grill island is a Tannewitz sliding table saw, the vertical barrel smoker is a Walker Turner drill press, and the Weber Smokey Joe is an old Rockwell contractor saw.

But the Shopsmith of grills would have to be sort of a versatile grill, oft-maligned by purists, with a cult-like following, but in the right hands among the culties, a formidable device, right? I nominate either the Pit Barrel Cooker (standard model) or Big Green Egg.

The odd thing is that I'm all about almost anything Shopsmith, but while I'd probably really like a Pit Barrel Cooker, my multiple experiences with a Big Green Egg were not particularly positive. Good results, but a real pain.

Go Weber. After a fair amount of research I have found that Weber has bought up most manufactures. They seem to be the best for spare parts, have a quality product and while at the higher end of the cost spectrum they are a good value.

I bought a weber and you all know how cheap I am.

I picked up a Lion gas grill last winter. This may seem extravagant to the casual griller. But we are a family of 12, and we grill year round. So I didn't mind spending the extra $$$.

I got an amazing deal on their 40" natural gas model L90000. But it was still over $1,300 plus shipping.

This grill is amazing, great heat control, and a breeze to clean. The rotisserie is an option I never had before, but now I won't be without.

Well my charbroil has held up very well. I use it several times a week but I do keep it covered. It still cooks as good as new. I grilled some rabbit burgers on it night before last.
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Weber all the way. Easy to find repair/replacement parts way back. I'm still using my Weber Genesis after 28 years, can still buy parts. Reminds me of Shopsmith!

Sorry guys, I must of hit sort accidentally because I apparently revived a really old thread yesterday. Didn't realize I had replied to a 3 year old thread.

letterk wrote:Sorry guys, I must of hit sort accidentally because I apparently revived a really old thread yesterday. Didn't realize I had replied to a 3 year old thread.

What does that matter?

letterk wrote:Sorry guys, I must of hit sort accidentally because I apparently revived a really old thread yesterday. Didn't realize I had replied to a 3 year old thread.

Actually it wasn't you, there was a "spam" post (now deleted) that brought this topic back to life.

Ok, so that explains that I'm not losing my mind. JPG was does it matter? Because I think he probably decided on a grill during the 3 prior years, lol.