Consumer Reports has some tips for those of you who are grill shopping this week. Our favorite? Bring a magnet! CR says some grills are made of crappy stainless steel that magnets will stick to.
Bring a magnet. Many grills are made of a mix of grades of stainless steel. Our tests have found that 300-series stainless is less likely to rust than cheaper, 400-series stainless. Magnets will usually stick to cheaper grades, so bring a magnet with you to test the metal.
More grill shopping tips at Consumer Reports.
Tip of the Day: Shopping advice for gas grills [Consumer Reports]
(Photo: Getty)
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We bought a stainless grill from Costco 3 years ago… cost $799 at the time.
Over a period of 3 years the outer parts looked great but the burners had literally disintegrated into dust. Worse yet, the burners on this grill weren’t replaceable in the way that cheap grills’ are.
As is usually the case Costco simply took the grill back, and I bought a newer model from them.
Interestingly, the new grill’s box devotes a great deal of copy to the “lifetime warranty” on the burners. The old ones must have led to lots of returns.
Yeah, only cheap stainless is magnetic. That explains why all my high end All Clad pots and pans are made with an exterior of crappy magnetic stainless steel.
@meadandale
Too bad. Sounds like you were ripped off.
Hmm, Hank Hill is authentic Texas. He’s just not West Texas like most people seem to assume all Texans are. Mike Judge, grew up in the DFW area and he put old Hank and his family in somewhere in the Metroplex. Growing up in the area during the 70′s my sister and I seem to be the only ones to get some of the inside jokes. Yea, the family looks at us crazy when we laugh at comments about French restaurants named “The Magic Pan.”
Oh and er…go Weber!
@ustna:
No, it sounds like you don’t know what you are talking about and the article makes an overly simple generalization.
In fact, my pans are CLAD which means they are a 3 layer sandwich of 304 stainless on the cooking surface, aluminum in the core and magnetic stainless on the exterior. Neither the interior or the exterior of my pots is particularly prone to rust but the interior is more corrosion resistant.
However, using the magnet test as a simple indicator for quality would incorrectly identify my cookware as inferior.
Bottom line, simple generalizations are rarely correct.
So who the heck sticks a magnet to a grill anyway. Stainless steel grills are the new BMW or something? We are all getting snobby about the metal quality of the darn grill!?
“Yeah the Jone’s have a Stainless steel grill, but get this, its magnetic, he he can you believe it- he thinks its top of the line…”
Get a life you Morans.
@Ash78:
Great! Just saved myself some money. Thanks guys!
@dman19: Not Texas, not KC. Memphis. mmmmmm….
@johnarlington:
It depends what kind of meat you are cooking. For tough cuts like brisket, etc. slow smoking (barbeque) is the only way to go. For steak, fast, high temperature grilling is best.
ceejeemcbeegee (AKA!)Try cutting a beer keg in half like the Keg-A-Que
Gas grilling is outdoor cooking, and NOT the same thing as Bar-B-Qing IMHO. A lot of people enjoy the challenge and process of using charcoal and wood as much at least as much as the results. I have to give Memphis Bar-B-Que a positive nod. I’ve never tried the Carolina style, but it looks like I’d like that variation too.
Feh, to say that DFW’ians are Texans is like saying there are cajuns north of I-10. Bunch of yankees.
@quail
Perfectly correct. People outside the state always seem to equate “Texan” with West Texas cowboy culture. But there’s more to Texas than that. In East Texas it’s the Deep South, the Hill Country was influenced by a wave of German immigrants in the mid-19th cent., and San Antonio southwards is pure Tejano (i.e. Texas Hispanic).
So yeah, I think Hank Hill is a Texas archetype. Just not my kind (says the guy who grew up in Austin
@cecilsaxon: The magnets are just a test to tell you the alloy (and EnOne has the right answer on that, btw).
The point that CR is trying to make is that lots of companies will chince out and use a lower grade SS on their products to cut costs. The down side? Without a clearcoating, they’ll rust. All stainless steel is not created equal, and great for Joe Consumer to know when out grill shopping. Nothing to do with status, just corrosion protection.
Another way to check is to inspect the grills that are left out in the elements at Lowes and HD – especially at the end of the season. The surface rust will tell the story.
Great tip, Meg!
You guys have it wrong. Neither 300 series nor 400 series is ‘cheap.’ They’re both alloys made with a specific set of properties. Neither set of properties fits all situations. And don’t forget, ‘stainless’ is a misnomer. It’s just stain/rust resistant. If you *really* want grills that are corrosion resistant and barely blink at the sort of temperatures your grill can generate, go have your grates made of Inconel.
Why do you guys keep arguing about whether gas/charcoal is barbecuing? Neither is or both are. Barbecue is when you use low, indirect heat, no matter what the heat source is.
@ClayS: The titanium grates are easy to spot. They’re non-magnetic, weigh the same as the aluminum ones, and cost more than the rest of your grill did.
Skip the metal grills altogether and get a big green egg! [www.biggreenegg.com]
Those who don’t like the setup and cleanup of charcoal grilling should check out the Weber Performer: It’s the classic kettle but it’s got a propane lighter for your charcoal and an enclosed ash catcher, so cleanup is a piece of cake. Add the prep table, the built-in thermometer, and the charcoal bin and it’s easily worth the price.
I grill on mesquite charcoal rather than briquettes for the higher temps (gets the steaks rare) and for the flavor. Easy as pie, and there’s a free fireworks show in every bag!
to all of the Weber guys here:
If you are looking for a great gas/propane grill – take a look at FireMagic – these are incredible grills
They make Charcoal versions too
@Michael Belisle: @Michael Belisle: Amen. Charcoal is the only way to go.
@Spamwich:
…cast iron…
Word. Every year I look for a replacement for our ancient little Hibachi, which is getting dilapidated after about 30 summers. But nothing on the market – except Lodge grills – comes close to the cast iron. Perfect cooking, perfect charring. And since the body is still intact and functional even though the feet and handles rotted away or broke, it will soon begin its third decade of service. I was a child when my folks bought it, but I know they didn’t have a lot of money at the time, so it must have been the cheapest style they found. Cast iron is still relatively inexpensive nowadays too.
Lodge cast-iron Sportsman’s Grill:
[secure.lodgemfg.com]
my mini webber grill FTMFW! lots of mileage and still not corroded in any way.
i detest benzene burgers, which is sometimes a problem with a lot of these kinds of set ups, but my mini webber grill has been around longer than most of my girlfriends.
@BrianU:
There is no “Q” in barbecue.
@e.varden I could very well be incorrect, but there are regional differences in the spelling, as well as usually acceptable personal variations that still convey the intended subject reasonably well. I once heard a debate from grilling pros as to what the original Spanish word was and how it evolved or devolved into what the average American says and spells. I remain surprised that spelling and grammar experts are so disproportionally numerous in posting on a consumer site with non-consumer related information. And I’ll admit a discriminatory bias I have due to never meeting an English teacher or English major that wasn’t socially inept, and usually a bit of a P.I.T.A. in all interactions, especially ones that would benefit from diplomacy, restraint, and generally “going with the flow.” Still, I am willing to learn by being corrected even if it’s never a pleasant experience. Thank you.