Off Topic but BBQ Grill question for the restoration folks


 

Greg D from WV

TVWBB Member
Been searching for a Weber to restore, hasn't come together yet. In the meantime I returned home from work and found out my wife had agreed on FB to take in a free Char-Griller Duo 5050 that was going to be homeless. Long story short, I'm restoring this grill but found out that the original interior is unpainted. No longer, seems like the bottom was rusting out and was painted.

I'm leaning towards replacing the bottom half of the drum. Already took it apart once, it functions fine and gets to temp fast (supplied thermo pegs over 700) and there is no smoke from the paint. Assuming it's the typical Rust-Oleum high temp stuff. Thankfully the charcoal side is nearly unused, swapping over the grates and warming rack from that side for now.

Looking for thoughts from the many fine folks who have done restoration work.

(If you want to see the grill I'm taking about just Google "Chargriller duo 5050".
 
Greg, sorry but IMO you're trying to put lipstick on a pig. Don't waste your time and $$$$
 
I have this grill, have had it for about 7 or 8 years. I got it on sale for less than $250. It's OK, but its not really something I would put a lot of money into, I replaced the grates, the heat shields and the mounts for the heat shields (they rot off) last year, put some high temp flat black on it where it was rusted and called it a day, I may have painted in the inside of the lid but not the cook box below. You're supposed to keep that grill seasoned with cooking oil, its a pain, and it rusts really easily if not done.

I only did the above repairs because I could get the parts cheap on Amazon, and to keep me grilling until I found a Weber, which I have.

The gas grill has hot and cold spots, and I pretty much only use the charcoal side (with added firebox) for smoking. it's an OK charcoal grill as far as that goes. It's not even a great smoker with the fire box, I have a tough time keeping the temp consistent.
 
No worries, this was given to us, only $$ I've spent is the heat shields ($15 on Amazon like you said) and sweat from taking it apart and reassembling it. Just need to look at the lower barrel and see if they painted it, some overspray I think. My kettle grill I've had for 6 years finally died so this one will keep me cooking until I get a Silver B/C to restore. Still have all the parts from that Maroon C that had frame rot.
 
Ok, I hope i didn't sound to negative on it, I've used it for a long time, it's certainly not junk, otherwise I would have replaced it.
 
Unfortunately, this grill and the similar, maybe slightly better, Oklahoma Joe version are lower end knock off lookalikes of expensive offset burner grills with a mediocre gas grill thrown in. Not saying they can’t cook well, but keeping it going as has been recounted already, would be a lot of work and regular part replacement. I have seen these around me, and their cool style is appealing as an off the wall restore. Couldn’t find much in the way of positive reviews, though.

I wasn’t clear what you were saying, but I would oil regularly but never paint the inside of the grill.
 
Is this the grill you are talking about:

Unfortunately already deleted, but this is the link to the company web site:

https://www.chargriller.com/collections/dual-fuel-grills/products/duo-5050-gas-charcoal-grill

lower end knock off lookalikes

Oh believe me I know what you mean, this was basically my wife trying to help me get a grill after ours died, and agreeing to the free one before I knew what was up.

I took a look last night, and it DOES look like a high temp flat black paint is on the inside of the firebox part of the gas side. Not sure if I want to try cooking on that side. Replacement is $50 which isn't horrible but still... locally a Silver B with rusted out frame is $50, let alone if someone replaced any bars/grates (up in the hundreds). Just don't want to throw good money after bad.

Buying expensive lipstick for a pig LOL
 
If you are looking for a good overall grill, just keep patient and wait for a Weber Genesis 1000-5000 or a Silver/Gold B or C to pop up. You should be able to find a suitable one for under $50 soon. A bad frame is usually a deal breaker since they are hard to replace. But a lot of other flaws can be remedied pretty easily and inexpensively.
 
I have the double play - it was my first ever grill purchase as I wanted gas and charcoal combo for parties, and it works great. My biggest problem is that the heat on the gas side is extremely difficult to tune, I can have one burner on low, and the grill will sit at 250, if i turn two on it'll spike to 550. Apparently - according to CharGriller - you aren't supposed to let the heat go higher than 450. I agree with it, because the one time I just went to town on it and forgot about it when I went to the bathroom, it went to about 700 and I had to spend about 2 hours hitting it with caliper cleaner, vinegar, and some good old fashion elbow grease because of significant amount of rust when the coating came off (Luckily i got to it early). I baby the heck out of my grill because I don't want it to rust out. I have since gotten into restoring a genesis 1000 to have on my patio under my deck for bad weather. I am probably over protective, but I can't justify spending the money on a chargriller and not taking the precautionary measures to have my investment last.

That being said - if you decide to fix it up - go for it but don't have too high of expectations - the metal is just so thin and poor that it's going to require maintenance, moreso than a weber. If you buy flavorizer bars, get them from an aftermarket - as the porcelain ones have rusted on the edges and corroded, and I've only had the grill since the start of summer. Just ensure you give it a good seasoning of oil and bacon grease and let it sit for an hour or two at 250 to 375 to season it well. I spray the outside with oil every so often because we have such a humid environment, it gets discolored overnight when I leave the cover off.

Good luck!
 
I've had two of those. They do actually cook pretty good once you get familiar with them. But as mentioned they are thin metal. And the burner covers plus the tabs they sit on will give you problems because they are not made to last. the charcoal side on the other hand will give you longer service simply because there is less inside to rust out. With the optional smokebox I was able to make some good low and slow BBQ. But it did require paying attention to the temperatures and babysitting it. They're not bad girls by any means, but they're definitely not built to last. The reason I had two of them was because I liked it so much that when you first one rusted to the point that I didn't want to fix it I bought another one. With that said the reason I had two of them was because the first one rusted to the point where I didn't want to put the money into fixing it.

Use it and enjoy it until something else comes along that you're interested in. since you already have a charcoal and propane grill now you have time to be patient and wait for a good deal on whatever it is you would like to get next.
 
Appreciate all the advice folks. Just spent 2 hours seasoning the gas side (and slapping some lard on the coal side) and about to throw a strip on to try cooking. It seems like this should work but it is really funny watching the parts function so similar to a Weber, but just...Not. It was quite fun heating up the lard in a pot on the side burner to slather on to the grill.

.... and as I type this, I found the side smoker box for $30. I may fall down the rabbit hole. (Yes I know it's not a good smoker) just an amusing thought.
 
For $30 that isn't bad. It certainly works, I've used it for a long time. The way I look at it is, if it needs babying it's an excuse to sit in the back yard and have a few while the food smokes. Haha.
 
Can you post a picture of your grill? I’m curious what the smoke box look like. I don’t see it on the company website.
 
Can you post a picture of your grill? I’m curious what the smoke box look like. I don’t see it on the company website.

On my phone, having a heck of a time trying to post any photo. I don't have the side box yet but it is a $60 stand alone coal grill or add on to the side of the charcoal side. Requires some tweaks to the things to get it to work well, but who knows.

https://statich.smokingmeatforums.com/2/23/2312a8e5_IMG_5056.jpeg

Link might work for an example photo, I'll try imgur later when I have time.
 
Thanks for the link. I took the liberty of embedding the picture. Just click on the image icon and paste the image url.

2312a8e5_IMG_5056.jpeg
 
A smoker is a smoker lol so don't put yourself down for wanting to use it! If you get the smoke box just pickup some high temperature fire tape and put it around the areas it attaches to the main body, and on the lid of the firebox in order to give a better seal. I've even seen some people run a duct from the chimney in order to regulate the air flow. If you can keep it to temperature, it could be a barrel from an oil factory, it'll smoke the same as any old smoker.
 
A smoker is a smoker lol so don't put yourself down for wanting to use it! If you get the smoke box just pickup some high temperature fire tape and put it around the areas it attaches to the main body, and on the lid of the firebox in order to give a better seal. I've even seen some people run a duct from the chimney in order to regulate the air flow. If you can keep it to temperature, it could be a barrel from an oil factory, it'll smoke the same as any old smoker.

This is true, i've made some great stuff on that exact setup. It works, it just takes attention.
 

 

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