Comparing Restoring a Broilmaster to a Weber


 
Stefan:
It sounds like you are in a similar situation to me. I have passed on several grills this summer as I already have a stable that needs attention. I have picked up some, but mostly free or $30 and under deals that were just too good to pass on. I have passed on a few deals that I really wanted but I am glad now that I let them all go. My goal is to get down to just a couple grills left at the end of the Wisconsin rehab season. I want something I can get started on early next spring before people start dragging their old grills out for the new grilling season and decide it is time for a replacement.

IMO, if you really want a Broilermaster, just keep your eyes open and you will likely find an even better deal.
 
Stefan,

I kind of agree with Bruce that there will probably be other deals out there if you are patient enough. I will say that I have not seen one in all of south Florida in the last 3 or 4 months, but that doesn't mean everything. The third one I got with the help of fellow member Chiku was just like what you are looking at and got it for only $100. That was a crazy bargain and not likely to be reproduced. Still, it shows you what could be out there. It is just hard to say when.

If you were in, say, Chicago I would definitely hold out. But, if you really want one to keep for yourself and the money is OK with you, then maybe this wouldn't be a bad choice. It looks nice enough. I am getting ready to try an flip my first one (the smaller "4" model) and am well aware that the market is very limited. Unfortunately, a lot of people can't tell a Broilmaster from a 1970s Kenmore or whatever, because they don't look modern or stylish. They are just simply built with long-lasting components (mostly) and very powerful for their size.
 
Last edited:
Jon that is how I look at it. Those grills look like a lot of 1980's chinese grills. I bet there are deals out there where they are being sold for next to nothing by family members clearing out Grampas garage and put out for free or sold for a few bucks or even being toted to the landfill. You just have to wait for one. Kind of like the Skylines. All of a sudden "it is raining Skylines".
 
I've looked at broilmaster quite a bit and I agree with you both. They look like the old 70s 80s grills to me too. They are an extremely high quality product but are they better than a vintage Weber equipped with rcplanebuyer flavorizors and grates? I don't think so and the weber is a much better looking grill (in my opinion anyway).
 
Better is kind of a hard quantifier. Better in some ways? Sure you bet. Not so much in others again a yes. Where a BroilMaster shines is simplicity. Also in rugged build. Basically almost nothing to rust out though I wish they're burners were made of heavier material and had better coverage (especially on the large P3 series). Better in terms of absolute fierce heat when you want it? Again solid YES. However there are some limitations. A little less versatile overall than an older Weber Genesis. The 3 burner side to side (E/W) burners on the Weber give it a HUGE advantage in versatility over the BM. But..............as a straight up grilling machine they cannot be beat (easily)
 
Greg,

I have only been rehabbing these Broilmasters for a short time and have only tried actually grilling with one twice...I guess that doesn't give me much in the way of expertise!

I would offer a few observations about the differences:

1) These Broilmasters are basically almost entirely cast aluminum and 304 stainless steel. The only comparable Weber would probably be the 2005-6 Platinum, and even that had painted steel panels for most of the cart underneath. The first Broilmaster I restored was nothing more than a pile of scrap parts that had been laying out in the guy's yard in the Florida wet salt air. Even so, it was readily restorable - no rust to deal with.

s45qaq.jpg


2zob51z.jpg


2) From my brief experience, I can say that they are also quite powerful, capable of generating higher temperatures than I think a Genesis can do:

znvmlj.jpg


How important or useful this is, I guess depends on how it is being used. This is their regular gas burner model; they also have a full infra-red and half infra-red model (expensive) that can reach even higher temperatures. At the same time, I am told that they also do extremely well holding low and slow temperatures and with a wood chip box do a very respectable job of barbecue. I do really like that you can flip the "waterfall" grates to set them at different heights (2 levels on the smaller Broilmaster, 3 on the larger one).

3) They are STILL genuinely Made in the USA. That is another point that matters more (or less) to different people, but Broilmaster is certainly among the very few that have held on with an American factory and American workers. The debacle Weber had with its defect-riddled "Limited Edition" red kettles made in China contrasts pretty starkly.

Please don't get me wrong. I LOVE Webers and always will, especially our favorite classic ones. They represent a brilliant stroke, combining engineering quality with design creativity. They work great, last a long time and LOOK COOL on your deck:cool:! Broilmaster's frumpy looks aren't even close. An E-W Weber also would be a much better choice for rotisserie style cooking.

You don't see Broilmasters on CL or OfferUp all that often. Unlike Webers, there aren't millions that have been sold across the country - even though Broilmaster has been making gas grills for decades longer than Weber. George :george: deserves credit for pioneering a niche and cementing name brand recognition. I agree with Bruce that Broilmasters have the potential to be put up for sale cheap by people who inherit them or otherwise have one without knowing what they really are. If you come across one and have room to add it to your arsenal, I think they would make a pretty compelling choice under those circumstances. But don't push a Weber off the deck to make room for it;)!
 
Last edited:
Good additional info and thoughts Jon. Even though I don't care for their looks but I am intrigued by the durability factor. I will say the ability to generate higher heat doesn't really appeal to me. My 2 genesis grills get plenty hot for my cooking needs. But durability is very important to me.

As someone who went through probably literally 10 to 15 grills (can't remember exactly) in my first 30 years of home ownership I prize durability very highly. And after rehabbing my vintage Weber grills I have had zero maintenance/repair issues the last few years. That's a first for me.

So I see the appeal of broilmaster grills but at this point I'm a guy totally satisfied with his two vintage webers. But please keep posting about your "broilmaster adventures" . It's very interesting to me and I'm sure others as well.
 
I decided not to buy it although I would have been interested to compare it against the Weber Silver C I have. I have some other expenses coming up and the Weber grills I have do the job very well. Plus the Broilmaster might be hard to resell. Hardly anyone knows that brand. As for looks I don't really care either. I only care about usability and quality.
 
Jon Tofte said:
You don't see Broilmasters on CL or OfferUp all that often. Unlike Webers, there aren't millions that have been sold across the country - even though Broilmaster has been making gas grills for decades longer than Weber. George :george: deserves credit for pioneering a niche and cementing name brand recognition. I agree with Bruce that Broilmasters have the potential to be put up for sale cheap by people who inherit them or otherwise have one without knowing what they really are. If you come across one and have room to add it to your arsenal, I think they would make a pretty compelling choice under those circumstances. But don't push a Weber off the deck to make room for it;)!
Click to expand...

I managed to pick up a Broilmaster P3 Ducks Unlimited NG (that's what the green ones are called) for $40 on Kijiji here in Toronto. The grill was owned by a senior citizen who was moving to a retirement home - she used it 2 or 3 times and then left it sitting covered and un-used for years. Even came with the cooking grate lifter tool. The inside of the lid was still the original aluminum colour (no carbon deposits) and the ceramic briquettes were still a nice pink colour. The son who was selling it told me it originally cost them over $1200 CAD. it went through 2 contents sales, and it seems nobody wanted it because it looked like a cheap 1970's BBQ. All I had to do to restore it was to sand and re-oil the teak shelves and teak handle and repaint the lid with high heat Rustoleum green paint. (Had to order the paint in USA because they don't sell it in Canada.)

My latest Broil Master restoral project- someone in my subdivision put out a Broilmaster P3 NG (black one with redwood shelves and a black cart with blue pinstripes) in the garbage. I spotted it when driving past - I saw the tell tale Broilmaster ridges on the aluminum lid. The inside of the grill was filthy - looks like it had never been cleaned and the burner crumbled when I pulled it out. So far I managed to grind off all the carbon on the inside of the lid (Harbour Freight wire wheel brushes on the end of my drill) and I bought a replacement stainless burner to install. The porcelain coating is worn off the cooking grates in a few spots too. The thermometer on the lid was rotted out so I ordered a non OEM oval one from Ebay for $5 and the mounting holes even lined up.
This one has redwood shelves that seem salvageable....and other than a bit of surface rust that sandpaper and black paint will fix, the cart is in perfect shape.
 
Last edited:
Marty,

Welcome to the forum! I think it is cool that you have found two classic Broilmasters. We would all love to see pictures, so check out something like Imgur or Tinypic.com so that you can upload them there and then paste the links on your posts. Both sound very special, so it would be a treat to see them. You may have noticed already, but the wood handle on one of the two I have done was home-made. My artist friend painted the logo onto the wood and I coated it with mulit-coats of spar urethane.

Jon
 
Jon Tofte said:
Marty,

Welcome to the forum! I think it is cool that you have found two classic Broilmasters. We would all love to see pictures, so check out something like Imgur or Tinypic.com so that you can upload them there and then paste the links on your posts. Both sound very special, so it would be a treat to see them. You may have noticed already, but the wood handle on one of the two I have done was home-made. My artist friend painted the logo onto the wood and I coated it with mulit-coats of spar urethane.

Jon
Click to expand...

Here's some photos:

Broilmaster Ducks Unlimited P3 before my minor restoration (photo taken after I refinished the teak):
2u8z7ms.jpg

2z8vp8w.jpg


Broilmaster Ducks Unlimited P3 after minor restoration:
2helt9j.jpg


My latest restoral project (the before picture):
2dhvhps.jpg


Any Broilmaster experts here? - I can't find the model of the black grill anywhere - I realize it's a P3 but I can't find any more details about it - the label with the model and serial number is so weathered it's unreadable.

Canadians seem to get some Canada specific Broilmaster models - bilingual (French English labels) and Broilmaster seem to have had some of their models made by the same heating hardware company that made our humidifier when I was a kid "Wait" Ltd.
 
Last edited:
There were/are 2 versions. The slightly larger version has the "waterfall" grates which can be used in multiple positions. The standard version body only accommodates standard flat grates.
 
LMichaels said:
There were/are 2 versions. The slightly larger version has the "waterfall" grates which can be used in multiple positions. The standard version body only accommodates standard flat grates.
Click to expand...

Both my Ducks Unlimited and the black one are natural gas. Both came with the same "waterfall" grills - though the ones with the black grill have some of the porcelain coating worn/chipped off and are a bit rusty.
 
Marty in Toronto said:
Both my Ducks Unlimited and the black one are natural gas. Both came with the same "waterfall" grills - though the ones with the black grill have some of the porcelain coating worn/chipped off and are a bit rusty.
Click to expand...

Cool grills:cool:! They are both great foundations as your one cleanup already shows.

Your pictures made me feel good about my home made wood handle. I just came up with the idea on my own, so I was happily surprised that the actual old handles were similar- minus my artist friend’s beautiful logo addition!

I don’t claim to be any expert on these, but having purchased three and finished restoring two I have learned a little. At least in more modern times there are two sizes: “4” which is the smaller size and the “3” which ironically is the larger size. There are many letter codes that are added to the 3 or 4, but the firebox and lid are identical as far as I know. The smaller 4 does offer a waterfall grill, but it can only be set at two different levels.

28hdamw.jpg


As Larry states there is also a entry level 4 where the grate is just flat and cannot be raised or lowered.

The larger 3 has waterfall grates that can be set at one of three different levels. I have one of these awaiting restoration. It has three separate cast iron grates, so you can conceivably have three different zones.

sywdu8.jpg


I also picked up a stainless set for this grill but they are just two halves. You can still set them at three different levels, but obviously only two at a time:rolleyes:!

The larger grill comes with different burner options ranging from the same bow tie burner used in the nicer 4 model to half infrared and full infrared. The base 4 smaller grill has a cheaper burner that looks like an old 1970s Charmglow or something similar. Incidentally, while Broilmaster is all US manufactured and uses high grade stainless on the grates and carts that have stainless, the nicer bow tie burner is actually made in Taiwan and is not 304 stainless.

4ikmyd.jpg


Although it is not 304 it is well built and makes very even, INTENSE heat!:eek:

I have found that you have to search around for the best prices on replacement parts. I can look up the ones I used if you are interested.
 
Last edited:
Jon Tofte said:
Cool grills:cool:! They are both great foundations as your one cleanup already shows.


The larger 3 has waterfall grates that can be set at one of three different levels. I have one of these awaiting restoration. It has three separate cast iron grates, so you can conceivably have three different zones.



The larger grill comes with different burner options ranging from the same bow tie burner used in the nicer 4 model to half infrared and full infrared. The base 4 smaller grill has a cheaper burner that looks like an old 1970s Charmglow or something similar. Incidentally, while Broilmaster is all US manufactured and uses high grade stainless on the grates and carts that have stainless, the nicer bow tie burner is actually made in Taiwan and is not 304 stainless.


Although it is not 304 it is well built and makes very even, INTENSE heat!:eek:

I have found that you have to search around for the best prices on replacement parts. I can look up the ones I used if you are interested.
Click to expand...

Years ago I shopped at the bankruptcy sale of the Canadian distributor of Vermont Casting BBQ's that also happened to be the Canadian distributor of "Grill Pro" BBQ parts and accessories.

All the damaged box/store returns BBQ parts and accessories were $5 ea. I spent around $100 on a couple of big cardboard boxes of parts, figuring some day I'd use 'em. (When I went through the stash I found 2 adapter hoses that convert my Weber Q $25 Kijiji bargain to use a full sized propane tank - bonus - I had totally forgotten)

From that stash I have a new no-name adjustable grate that fits over the burner to hold the ceramic briquettes (ya I know not OEM so it's not a true restoral) and 3 boxes of ceramic briquettes.

I bought a new stainless burner on line (I spent around $75 USD for the stainless bow tie burner).

I am going to see if I can clean up the cast iron grates to see if they are salvageable - Has anyone tried grinding off the flaking porcelain coating to leave raw cast iron?

Today I spent an hour sitting outside sanding the front handle.
 
Marty,
I think most of us here would agree that there is nothing wrong with judiciously using non OEM parts. In fact, some things like grates from Dave Santana/ “rcplanebuyer” are clearly a LOT BETTER than their OEM counterparts.

It is possible to scrape off the porcelain coating on cast iron but those who have done it testify that it takes a lot of work and care to be sure you got it off all the contact points. An alternative fix might be to find another Broilmaster with stainless bar grates or pony up for a set if you are so inclined. Either way you will have excellent grates. The stainless rods are just easier maintenance.
 
Great restoration thread. Learned a lot about this grill.

I was checking the website to see one could buy this grill and it seems that it’s only sold in the Midwest. Oh wait, that’s wrong. Seems the default view only shows a cluster of locations around Missouri. I entered my zip code and then I see a few locations in Mass plus locations in Tenn and other southern states. The website map seems wonky.

I’ll have to keep my eyes open for one of these grills. Is the company good about you switching a grill from LP to NG or vice versa?
 
The company is in Belleville IL which is why. It's a division of Empire Mfg which makes various types of gas heaters and the like. Fireplaces also
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top