Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Our church owns a large acreage far from our coastal location. The property is way out in the boondocks and has been adapted to serve as a "boot camp" training ground for teenagers going on summer missions trips as well as for some weekend camping trips for church groups.
I know that for many of you northern friends, your image of Florida is something like this:
NO!!!!!!!
I have come to learn that REAL Florida looks like scenes below from our property we have uncreatively named "The Land":
SAW PALMETTO
LIVE OAKS, Florida's native shade tree. (You thought we only have palm trees
.)
There is a kitchen facility with a nice porch there, and it currently has four grills. They sit outside all year, and although there isn't the salt air factor like where I live near the ocean, the Florida humidity and heat is still not kind to them. It doesn't help any, that three of them are Master Forge and one is a "stainless" Weber Spirit. The Spirit still cooks well and looks fine inside, but the cheap, highly magnetic stainless exterior looks like it has a bad case of the measles.
Master Forge - The bean counters at Weber have expanded their reach
The Master Forge grills were fairly large and made of cheap stainless. One was older and completely shot, while two were identical and slightly newer. Two had well-fashioned rodent nests in them and wasp nests under the side tables. They all looked terrible.
Can you believe that Master Forge made these grills with no realistic way to remove the bottom tray?!!!!!
What was very interesting is that the older grill had solid stainless grates, though they were magnetic - not 304. These grates were fairly thick, maybe 7mm. The other two, newer model Master Forge's had thinner, plated stainless grates that was already delaminating, especially on one grill. We decided to junk the older grill but restore the grates to use as a substitute on one of the newer grills.
Not only did the bean counters at Master Forge dumb down the quality and thickness of the grates, but they also decided to make them a 1/4 of an inch shorter front to back. Fortunately, I had brought a bag with my grinder/brush that had cutoff wheels in it. A friend there was able to shave off just enough to make these better grates fit in one of the newer grills.
First time working on a Broil King
The nicest grill out there was a Broil King Baron. It was filthy, but you could tell that it was a better grill. That showed in little things like the insides of the cabinet being made of porcelain covered - not painted - steel (Weber take a hint!) and the thickness of the drain pan. The Master Forge pans were paper thin and both already had burn-through holes. More importantly, the Broil King grates were true, non-magnetic stainless bars. Hats off to them for that! Definitely thick enough for most people to be very happy. Though dirty, they cleaned up easily, whereas the Master Forge ones required severe treatment with the grinder/wire brush. Quality materials do have a better chance in a rough environment.
On the inside, though, I was pretty disappointed to find five supposedly stainless burners all looking bad and only one actually working. The rest were totally clogged up and beyond reasonable repair. I was told this grill was only two years old, so that is not very good performance. Broil King uses a "double" tube burner with holes on both sides.
We decided this grill was nice enough to be worth buying 5 replacement burners at $15 a pop. Hopefully, the grill will be fully operational when the summer mission teams arrive next week and maybe last more than two more years this time...
It was a hot, dirty day, but I enjoyed helping out and spending a day in the REAL Florida country.
I know that for many of you northern friends, your image of Florida is something like this:
NO!!!!!!!
I have come to learn that REAL Florida looks like scenes below from our property we have uncreatively named "The Land":
SAW PALMETTO
LIVE OAKS, Florida's native shade tree. (You thought we only have palm trees
.)There is a kitchen facility with a nice porch there, and it currently has four grills. They sit outside all year, and although there isn't the salt air factor like where I live near the ocean, the Florida humidity and heat is still not kind to them. It doesn't help any, that three of them are Master Forge and one is a "stainless" Weber Spirit. The Spirit still cooks well and looks fine inside, but the cheap, highly magnetic stainless exterior looks like it has a bad case of the measles.
Master Forge - The bean counters at Weber have expanded their reach
The Master Forge grills were fairly large and made of cheap stainless. One was older and completely shot, while two were identical and slightly newer. Two had well-fashioned rodent nests in them and wasp nests under the side tables. They all looked terrible.
Can you believe that Master Forge made these grills with no realistic way to remove the bottom tray?!!!!!
What was very interesting is that the older grill had solid stainless grates, though they were magnetic - not 304. These grates were fairly thick, maybe 7mm. The other two, newer model Master Forge's had thinner, plated stainless grates that was already delaminating, especially on one grill. We decided to junk the older grill but restore the grates to use as a substitute on one of the newer grills.
Not only did the bean counters at Master Forge dumb down the quality and thickness of the grates, but they also decided to make them a 1/4 of an inch shorter front to back. Fortunately, I had brought a bag with my grinder/brush that had cutoff wheels in it. A friend there was able to shave off just enough to make these better grates fit in one of the newer grills.
First time working on a Broil King
The nicest grill out there was a Broil King Baron. It was filthy, but you could tell that it was a better grill. That showed in little things like the insides of the cabinet being made of porcelain covered - not painted - steel (Weber take a hint!) and the thickness of the drain pan. The Master Forge pans were paper thin and both already had burn-through holes. More importantly, the Broil King grates were true, non-magnetic stainless bars. Hats off to them for that
! Definitely thick enough for most people to be very happy. Though dirty, they cleaned up easily, whereas the Master Forge ones required severe treatment with the grinder/wire brush. Quality materials do have a better chance in a rough environment.On the inside, though, I was pretty disappointed to find five supposedly stainless burners all looking bad and only one actually working. The rest were totally clogged up and beyond reasonable repair. I was told this grill was only two years old, so that is not very good performance. Broil King uses a "double" tube burner with holes on both sides.
We decided this grill was nice enough to be worth buying 5 replacement burners at $15 a pop. Hopefully, the grill will be fully operational when the summer mission teams arrive next week and maybe last more than two more years this time
...It was a hot, dirty day, but I enjoyed helping out and spending a day in the REAL Florida country.
Last edited:
!