Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I have been looking for options for carts for my Broilmaster projects. One advertiser on eBay turned out to be right next door to me in Stuart, Florida. I decided to drop in person to see what I could find. The sales guy who finally appeared agreed to email me prices on Broilmaster parts, but while I was there I checked out several interesting all stainless, high-end grills:
Here's one called Twin Eagles:
Interesting item on this one is the very thick grate "rods" that are shaped like hexagons:
The theory is that they hold more heat since they have more mass than a similar round rod. More important to me was that this design provides a flat surface for the food to touch. It seems like it would give sear mark results with sharp defined edges more along the lines of what I like about GrillGrates.
They also had a TEC infrared grill, basically like the one I restored but twice the size:
One thing that got settled by my visit is that I confirmed that the "v" shaped grates are, in fact, supposed to be placed with the pointed side up. This is based not only on their display but the new catalog they had there.
These TEC grills use infrared burners, but unlike how they are used in some other grills, there is a sheet of high temperature glass similar to a smooth top electric range, that completely protects the burner(s) from drippings. What drips down is vaporized when it hits the super hot glass. I used the TEC I picked up for just $100 for a number of cooks. I can attest that the system works as described. I just was never really convinced that it was all that impressive. My old Genesis Silver with GrillGrates and a smoker box underneath them gave me what I considered to be better results.
Another grill they had was a sparkling new DCS. I see a lot of old ones of this brand being dumped for low prices. The salesman praised their design but readily admitted that after five years or so, a lot of the internals will all have to be replaced:
These grills uses long ceramic tubes as radiant heat distributors. These newer ones have interesting grates. They appear to be one piece molded stainless steel. I used the description "cast stainless" but the salesman claimed that would mean that they were stainless plated and that these were, in fact, solid 304 stainless steel. To me, it meant they were cast in a mold as one piece, similar to what I would think is done to make molded "cast" iron grates. Maybe someone here can help bring clarity to that. If you look at the second picture from the catalog it clearly says "cast stainless steel."
If you read the copy and look carefully you will also see that the "W" channels are meant to channel grease to the front of the grill where there is a drain area that is NOT above the burners. This is supposed to greatly reduce flare-ups. Seemed like a good idea to me.
These were all very nice, very expensive grills. I am sure some if not all of them grill wonderfully, at least when everything is clean and working. To be honest, they just don't resonate with me that much. I love the warmth of a classic Weber with stained wood slats, or at least a grill with some color and not just all monotonous stainless. I also like a simpler, easy to cost-effectively maintain grill. That's probably why a bunch of us here still like our classic old Weber's
Not mine, but a very pretty redhead.
If you want something more modern, at least make it with some color and charm:
Here's one called Twin Eagles:
Interesting item on this one is the very thick grate "rods" that are shaped like hexagons:
The theory is that they hold more heat since they have more mass than a similar round rod. More important to me was that this design provides a flat surface for the food to touch. It seems like it would give sear mark results with sharp defined edges more along the lines of what I like about GrillGrates.
They also had a TEC infrared grill, basically like the one I restored but twice the size:
One thing that got settled by my visit is that I confirmed that the "v" shaped grates are, in fact, supposed to be placed with the pointed side up. This is based not only on their display but the new catalog they had there.
These TEC grills use infrared burners, but unlike how they are used in some other grills, there is a sheet of high temperature glass similar to a smooth top electric range, that completely protects the burner(s) from drippings. What drips down is vaporized when it hits the super hot glass. I used the TEC I picked up for just $100 for a number of cooks. I can attest that the system works as described. I just was never really convinced that it was all that impressive. My old Genesis Silver with GrillGrates and a smoker box underneath them gave me what I considered to be better results.
Another grill they had was a sparkling new DCS. I see a lot of old ones of this brand being dumped for low prices. The salesman praised their design but readily admitted that after five years or so, a lot of the internals will all have to be replaced:
These grills uses long ceramic tubes as radiant heat distributors. These newer ones have interesting grates. They appear to be one piece molded stainless steel. I used the description "cast stainless" but the salesman claimed that would mean that they were stainless plated and that these were, in fact, solid 304 stainless steel. To me, it meant they were cast in a mold as one piece, similar to what I would think is done to make molded "cast" iron grates. Maybe someone here can help bring clarity to that. If you look at the second picture from the catalog it clearly says "cast stainless steel."
If you read the copy and look carefully you will also see that the "W" channels are meant to channel grease to the front of the grill where there is a drain area that is NOT above the burners. This is supposed to greatly reduce flare-ups. Seemed like a good idea to me.
These were all very nice, very expensive grills. I am sure some if not all of them grill wonderfully, at least when everything is clean and working. To be honest, they just don't resonate with me that much. I love the warmth of a classic Weber with stained wood slats, or at least a grill with some color and not just all monotonous stainless. I also like a simpler, easy to cost-effectively maintain grill. That's probably why a bunch of us here still like our classic old Weber's
Not mine, but a very pretty redhead.
If you want something more modern, at least make it with some color and charm:
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