Broilmaster P3X


 
Josh Dekubber

Josh Dekubber

TVWBB Hall of Fame
I picked up this Broilmaster last night in the rain. I haven't done a full evaluation on yet to know what direction I want to take it or how far. This is my third Broilmaster with my first one being completed and part way through working on my second one.
The internals look pretty good in the dark. It does have the SS waterfall grates. The SS cart does have wheels. It originally came as a LP Grill and was switched to natural Gas but still has both fuel systems with it so I will convert it back with the original propane setup. It looks kind of funny now with the SS flip table on one side and the plastic flip table on the other side. The SS flip table on the right is also a infrared side burner. Hopefully that's still in good working condition. I know those aren't cheap. It's in the garage now drying off hopefully I'll get a better look at it today.Screenshot_20251113_155044_Facebook.jpg
 
Jon Tofte said:
Look forward to following your restore on this one, Josh!
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Thanks Jon! I peeked at it a little closer this morning and it needs a new bow tie burner which I already have and the igniter collector box is missing so I might order a new igniter setup. Upper and lower grates look to be in good shape.
 
@Jon Tofte the top screen on the infrared side burner is a bit brittle but if I can get it going and it works properly I'll order a new top screen for it. They're available in the $20 range. The entire infrared side burner assembly is around $500 so if I can get it in good working order for around 20 bucks that would be great.Screenshot_20251114_042319_Photos.jpg
 
Man that is a GREAT find especially with that IR side burner. If you're gonna build one really good BM to "keep" that would not be a bad one to have. Although (especially with ceramic tiles) those things get so intensely hot seems the IR burner is over kill. Though my experience with using it with the tiles rather rock or ceramic briquettes is IMO the tiles make it too "directional". IOW I felt they made the grill too "one dimensional" and I actually took it back to the briquettes as they seemed to help the grill be more multi purpose by allowing better heat dispersion as opposed to really intense and concentrated
 
LMichaels said:
Man that is a GREAT find especially with that IR side burner. If you're gonna build one really good BM to "keep" that would not be a bad one to have. Although (especially with ceramic tiles) those things get so intensely hot seems the IR burner is over kill. Though my experience with using it with the tiles rather rock or ceramic briquettes is IMO the tiles make it too "directional". IOW I felt they made the grill too "one dimensional" and I actually took it back to the briquettes as they seemed to help the grill be more multi purpose by allowing better heat dispersion as opposed to really intense and concentrated
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This one came with the ceramic briquettes that looked to be pretty clean and in pretty good condition for the most part so I'll be able to give that a try and maybe I'll put them on my P4 and test them out on there also. I also have two boxes of new ceramic tiles and a 5 gallon bucket full of lava rock so I can test all the different methods. Although the lava rocks don't seem that appealing to me out of the three options. I Could be wrong though I haven't tried them. I agree with you about the IR side burner maybe being Overkill. It's not an option I would pay for but if I can recondition it for fairly cheap then I think it's worth keeping. With the lid closed it's still a nice clean looking stainless steel side flip table. I do like my P4 More than This P3 but after I restore it I may end up keeping it to use also but my other P4 I'm definitely keeping.
 
Honestly Josh, I think the ceramic briquettes are the "sweet spot" to me. They allow the best combination of fierce heat and dispersion (obviously not as good at dispersion as lava rock or fierce heat as the tiles) but for good overall general grill use and versatility I thought they did the best job
 
LMichaels said:
Honestly Josh, I think the ceramic briquettes are the "sweet spot" to me. They allow the best combination of fierce heat and dispersion (obviously not as good at dispersion as lava rock or fierce heat as the tiles) but for good overall general grill use and versatility I thought they did the best job
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I will definitely give them a try now that I have some ceramic briquettes on hand. I really like the ceramic tiles a lot though and I don't mind having different grills for different purposes. Right now my P4 with the ceramic tiles is the best grill I've ever used for steaks. Also when turned on low the heat seems to regulate to lower temperatures just fine. It's not blasting heat or nothing if you know what I mean.
 
Josh Dekubber said:
I will definitely give them a try now that I have some ceramic briquettes on hand. I really like the ceramic tiles a lot though and I don't mind having different grills for different purposes. Right now my P4 with the ceramic tiles is the best grill I've ever used for steaks. Also when turned on low the heat seems to regulate to lower temperatures just fine. It's not blasting heat or nothing if you know what I mean.
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Oh yeah they're gonna blast out steaks like no body's business
 
Another incredible find at the friendly "Josh " price-free! Amazing what you've found up there, and a lot in the rain too! Becoming the BM master as well.
It's amazing how those lava rocks are still around, but they still do the job and let quite a while. All we had back in the day before Weber created flavorizer bars in NH-had converted my old grill there to the ceramic bricks as they promised to last far longer than lava rocks, but both did a great job with steaks. Really threw the heat, and best of both worlds as Larry outlined.
 
BobH-SCW said:
Another incredible find at the friendly "Josh " price-free! Amazing what you've found up there, and a lot in the rain too! Becoming the BM master as well.
It's amazing how those lava rocks are still around, but they still do the job and let quite a while. All we had back in the day before Weber created flavorizer bars in NH-had converted my old grill there to the ceramic bricks as they promised to last far longer than lava rocks, but both did a great job with steaks. Really threw the heat, and best of both worlds as Larry outlined.
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Thanks Bob! These Broilmaster grills are definitely a another worthy rabbit hole. Also very old American made grills from back when stuff was made to last generations. I definitely have no shortage of projects or interests.
 
Cody Bratton said:
That looks like a real beauty! That sideburner makes me tingle! What is its BTU rating?
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Thanks Cody! The infrared side burner specs say 10,000 BTUs. It looks like they're regular side burner is 15,000 BTUs. I'm not an expert on side burner design differences but I'm sure there's a reason they made them the way they did. Maybe with the design of infrared the BTUs don't need to be as high to be as effective as a regular burner. That's my guess. Otherwise I'm not sure why the infrared burner is more expensive and less BTUs.
 
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Infrared doesn't heat the air and cooks by radiation (electromagnetic waves), unlike a flame that heats by convection (heating the air, cooking via heated air). Infrared is more efficient in this case, so fewer BTUs for IR but fewer BTUs lost to the surrounding environment.

EDIT: three types of heat transfer: https://www.greenteg.com/en/faqs/detail/three-types-of-heat-transfer
 
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