I do know what you mean, but it usually works well for something like prawns which don't need much cooking time, anyway. Sometimes I thread the fruit onto a separate skewer for better control.

Sweet! What time of grill is this? We use regular cookware pans. Those work fairly well.

Actually the Lowes guy said in the last couple years they had a defective part (regulator?) that wasn't allowing the proper flow of gas to the grill. Your friend should call and get a replacement shipped!

Its a Jenn-Air 52" Natural gas grill. It has 75,000 BTUs + a side burner. Built in smoker box, brass burners, etc.

I'm also going to pick up the rotisserie (I've never used one before)!

I absolutely love the grilling process and I love to eat so it was about time for me to invest in a nice grill! I was going to get the same kind as JFE but I don't have a mansion and thought it would be overkill (just kidding. It was just a bit out of my price range).

It's not a mansion :mad:

But I do love my grill :cool:

Basic cooking... The size of the veggies and meats you skewer should all be of a size that finish cooking at approx the same time. That is, your meat pieces will be smaller than that of the veggies. Simple.

Too much cutting just to make sure they all are the same size

I like the rustic look ;)

How much is the lowest I can spend for a good quality gas grill? Are all the ones with brass burners >$1k? I could see in the few hundred range, but would like to stay well south of a thousand. I assume this puts searing units out of range (i really don't understand exactly how they work anyway - they still use gas, right?). Also, our new house (if we ever get to close :mad: :mad: :mad: ) is not a mansion like the Versailles of the Rio Grande area.

I know that there are folks that like the convenience of gas grills, but you simply cannot get the same effect with a gas grill as slow-smoking meat over wood and/or charcoal.

I had a gas grill once and used it maybe twice. It was extremely disappointing after eating charcoaled or wood-smoked meats.

YMMV

OK, I usually get mad, but this one made me chuckle :D

Unfortunately brass burners and searing units are expensive, but that doesn't mean you can't get a decent grill for less money

My old charbroil worked pretty well

Just look for the following

• Heavy grill grates (keep and distribute the heat better)
• No windows, it just gets dirty and makes a mess
• At least 2 zones, some items cook faster than others
• Side burner, only used mine a few times
• Rotisserie, first time I own one, haven't used it, yet ;)
• Gas or Charcoal (convenience vs taste)

For those that don't understand the searing concept, here is a nice explanation of how infrared works

http://www.charbroil.com/TEC/index2.html

You are correct that wood/charcoal is always going to be better. But you can come a long way if you can keep the heat very low on the gas grill (this is hard on most grills) and use the right smoke chips.

This was the best thing we did. I had a cheapo gas grill that was rusting out anyway, so I ditched that and got a charcoal grill. The chimney starter makes it very easy to not use lighter fluid. (I remember always using tons of lighter fluid growing up.) Pour some briquettes in there, stick a wadded up piece of newspaper in the bottom, and light the paper. Give it a while and you have perfect coals. The only tricky part is pouring them out. The chimney gadget gets plenty hot. I have two silicone oven mitts that I use for this purpose.

Yeah, I just use enough to make a single layer, and actually usually only for half the grill, because when it's just the two of us I'm not cooking that much.

Do you actually manage to do this just after you pour the coals and put the grate down (so you don't have to try to hold up the grate and oil it somehow) or is that just not possible? If so it's definitely the trick I've been looking for.

One of these days I'm going to try the cedar plank salmon. I have some cedar planks bought for that purpose, but we're kind of afraid to ruin good fish. Some of our fish grilling tries (they were on the old cheapo gas grill, though) came out so-so, and some not so great.

Also want to try wood chips again. I tried a smoker box a couple times on the gas grill, but I wasn't too impressed with that. Might try the real lump charcoal one day.

How did you do it on the gas? It took me a few tries before I figured a way out that produces good smoke.

I only used the smoker box once on my grill, and it incinerated the soaked wood chips

I am going to have to adjust the gas valve :o

What is your box made out of? The one I use is cast iron, thick and heavy.