Lodge Sportsman Grill


 
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glennwarrenbaker

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Anyone using a cast iron Lodge Sportsman Grill? Thinking of getting one for camping / small meals at home to save on fuel & warm up time. I already on a Performer & Genesis. Any advice?

Glenn
 
My brother has one. He actually welded an extender to his stainless performer cart so it sits next to the table. He swears by it and cooks steak on it all the time.
 
I have an original Birmingham Stove and Oven Sportsman Hibachi grill that is probably older than I am. I dropped and busted the cooking grate a while back and it made me sick.

So.... I ordered a replacement from Lodge and was pleased to see that it fit.

I use my Sportsman a couple times a month. It is a solid, well-made grill. Big enough for 4 or 5 burgers or a couple of steaks.

Doesn't use much fuel, gets really hot. I use a aluminum pan as a "lid" when I'm cooking on it.

The downsides are (1) its heavy; (2) there isn't any good way to choke off the fire once you're finished cooking so you burn all of the coals you used to cook (but that isn't much, so not a problem); (3) the heavy cast iron grill stays hot for a long time so don't plan on moving it in your car for a few hours after you finish cooking; and (4) when you are carrying the grill by its handle, it has a propensity to want to tip - causing - as I learned, the cooking grate to fall off!

For camping and small meals at home, I think I would recommend a Smokey Joe Gold - with the lid holder - over the Lodge, although the cast iron body and cooking grate makes for some very consistent temperatures that hold for a long time for an uncovered cooker and killer grill marks.

Pat
 
I have both the Lodge grill and the Smokey Joe. I like them both but for camping the Smokey Joe is more practical.
 
Love the lodge for steak. You just cant beat it. Smokey joe comes in a second place for me but I own both and to me they do different jobs
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Thanks for your replies. I mostly just like the look of the Lodge Sportsman. But then again I have a thing for cast iron. Not a lot of today's products have the build quality of this little grill. Price is decent too.

Glenn
 
Yep - it is a solidly built grill and I'm a sucker for cast iron, too. The old Birmingham Stove and Oven (or Oven and Range, I forget) grill was rusting in my Dad's barn when I found it and spent considerable time re-hab-ing it and reseasoning the cast iron. I was sick when that cooking grate tumbled off and broke.

If you get one, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Pat
 
Pat is right on point with the feedback. I haven't tried putting my grate inside a kettle for searing yet, but I presume it would work well. The other gripe people usually have is the medallion logo in the center of the grill messing up grill marks.

I got mine for $25 on craigs list. It's an older version with the duck and nature scene in the charcoal door instead of the Lodge logo.
 
I use mine exclusively for steaks. It gets rocket hot on half a chimney of lump. I flip the grate to get it closer to the heat. It grills a mean steak.

I don't think I would try burgers or chicken on it though. If you get a flare up you've got no place to retreat to except another adjacent grill or a plate.
 
Hey, what size tank is that hanging off of your performer? It looks like a standard tank. Did you need to modify anything to get that to hang there or hook up?

Why have I never thought to do that?
 
Originally posted by Mike Newhouse:

I don't think I would try burgers or chicken on it though. If you get a flare up you've got no place to retreat to except another adjacent grill or a plate.
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I use it for burgers regularly and the flareups do give a nice char to them.
 
Originally posted by Frank C.:
Hey, what size tank is that hanging off of your performer? It looks like a standard tank. Did you need to modify anything to get that to hang there or hook up?

Why have I never thought to do that?
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It's my brothers performer, and I think he just has it resting on the bottom rack.
 
Frank after looking under my table at the tank I found my propane line was too close to the kettle due to the bigger tank and it was close to melting all the way thru. I ended up getting a propane shop to make a longer hose and I have the tankunder that shelf I built for my hibachi. I plan on welding a shelf to get it off the ground. Will post a pic when I get it done
 
How do you like the Bubba Keg? I've seen the Green Egg at Ace Hardware and liked it . Are they about the same price? It looks pretty nice!
 
Glenn, did you find one locally or are you crossing the border to buy one? I've been eyeing them up for a couple years now and Target has them for a good price. I'm only 45 minutes from the border, it's so tempting.
 
Originally posted by Ray W:
How do you like the Bubba Keg? I've seen the Green Egg at Ace Hardware and liked it . Are they about the same price? It looks pretty nice!
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Ray I love the bubba keg. I know you can get a BSK 2000 for 299 from OSH.com right now. thats a great deal but it will cost about 200 to ship unless you klnow someone in so. cal. Thats about half the cost of a Large BGE
 
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