Lava rocks master of the obvious article


 
They soak up the grease and that causes a hard to control fire. I learned the hard way when I cooked burgers for a party at a friends house. šŸ˜‚
 
I was disappointed that he didnā€™t say more about ceramic pyramids nor mention the tikes with holes in them. Both still have adherents who claim better results than with flavorizer bars. I used them in a Broilmaster I used to own and my crazy ā€œThe Judgeā€ Sunbeam.

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It's a balancing act between flavor and out of control fire. Too much absorption and you have great flavor (for a little while) and then you have rancid, smelly grease and uncontrollable fire no matter what you do. Not enough and you lose some of that "outdoor flavor" Every company will have their take on it.
 
My experience is based on the year or so that I've had with the Broilmaster P3. I opted for the OEM ceramic briquettes. They work just fine and they can be flipped over if they get too crusty on the top facing side. I would also consider those tiles Jon displayed.
I think one would be hard pressed to notice any difference in flavor between the ceramic products and metal flavorizers. Although, for durability/longevity, I have to think the metal flavorizers win.
 
I can understand the pros and cons of both. However, the simplicity, functionality and convenience of Flavorizer bars just seems to make them a clear cut winner overall. I am sure some people will swear by the other options and in some applications, they may clearly be the best choice, but overall, I think there is a reason that almost all grills made today use some version of the Flavorizer bar.
I have used both lava and ceramic, although not for a couple decades.
 
Yeah, that's interesting even if very expensive. I would love to see an honest comparison test of that vs ceramic pyramids and vs. ceramic tiles. Compare results but also price. The ceramic does last a fair amount of time, but not likely to compete with that 304 stainless arrangement.

To get all those bends and ventilation holes in a one-off quality piece of 304 stainless probably would set you back quite a bit at any shop. If you can do it yourself, that might be another story.
 
LMichaels said:
Maybe not so ridiculous. Look at the material alone. It ain't no cheap stuff
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Perhaps. I would say the only three weak links in the Broilmaster are the bowtie burner, the porcelain coated steel grate for the ceramic tiles or briquettes and the ceramic products themselves. But the grate can be replaced with a stainless one fairly easily...$166 is $66 more than I paid for the grill. Hard to get past that for me!
 
Jay D in Jersey said:
Perhaps. I would say the only three weak links in the Broilmaster are the bowtie burner, the porcelain coated steel grate for the ceramic tiles or briquettes and the ceramic products themselves. But the grate can be replaced with a stainless one fairly easily...$166 is $66 more than I paid for the grill. Hard to get past that for me!
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Jay,
I agree about the burner and definitely about the grate for the ceramic briquettes. You have clocked a bunch more Broilmaster cooks than me, so I am interested in why you included the briquettes in your ā€œweak linkā€ list. I know they wonā€™t last forever, but my brief experience was actually positive. Did you have a more negative experience, particularly over a longer time period?
 
Larry, I guess I was kind of smoothing over the distinction between ceramic pyramids/briquettes vs. those tiles. I have mostly used the tiles. I haven't done enough cooks on either, though, to have nuch experience to share. I do know the tiles worked well on "The Judge" which hasn't been used in several years. A summer project maybe to get that one back on the bench!
 
Yeah the tiles do a decent job of protecting the burner. Much better than the ceramic briquettes. Ranked for burner protection. I would rate metal tents and lava rocks 1, ceramic tiles 2, ceramic briquettes and hybrid systems 3,
 
Jon Tofte said:
Jay,
I agree about the burner and definitely about the grate for the ceramic briquettes. You have clocked a bunch more Broilmaster cooks than me, so I am interested in why you included the briquettes in your ā€œweak linkā€ list. I know they wonā€™t last forever, but my brief experience was actually positive. Did you have a more negative experience, particularly over a longer time period?
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No. They are actually quite durable. I only included them in my post as they are not stainless or cast aluminum and are subject to the extreme heat, cooling, grease, acids, weather...essentially one of the sacrificial components of a gas grill cooking system. They deteriorate with use over time and require replacement. Although, I believe they are as durable, if not more so, than porcelain coated steel flavorizers.
 
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