Cheap Grills, What Should You Buy?
July 2, 2010 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
I was contacted by Ryan Abeling at www.cheapism.com regarding an article he wrote calling it the Cheap Grills Buying Guide. I have to say, I agree with the fact that where you shop is going to limit your selection, especially if your shopping at the big box stores. If you have a specialty grill store in your area, check them out, they may have a low cost option as well, and they will usually be more knowledgeable, and help make sure your getting what is right for you..
Now, lets get back to the article, and here are some of my opinions.
Gas Grills – Gas grills are the most popular grill owned, for various reasons, bottom line, they are easier to learn and to use. One other point I want to bring out is, if you were used to having a grill, that had ample space between the actual burners, and the grate, with a layer of lava rocks in between, this is not the typical design anymore. The newer designs, use a deflector plate, just above the burner, and that is it. Unfortunately this newer design is more prone to fires! It is real important to keep your grill clean.
We want the best of the cheapest, and Ryan’s pick here was pretty much value based on cooking area, BTU’s, and cost, and he picked the Char-Griller 3001. This is a pretty solid choice for this price range. However, CharBroil does have a couple in this price range that are pretty good performers as well, in case you do not see this in your Big Box Store. If you intend on using this grill often, I think you really need to reconsider your price range (if you can).
I live in Florida, and I cook on my grill all year long, so longevity is a real issue for me, and if it is for you, you need to attempt to get into the $400 range and above and consider a Weber. Weber’s entry level Spirit line, is solid and the Weber E-210 is a great little Grill starting right at $400.
Charcoal Grills - Charcoal grills are a different animal entirely, here is where many get their first taste of fire control, a real outdoor flavor, and real satisfaction if, you have the time to do it! If your willing to take the time to get your fire going (the best method is using a charcoal chimney, and not lighter fluid), use either a hardwood briquet or lump charcoal. There is no doubt THIS IS the better way to grill food.
Back to the article, and my opinion.. Ryan’s pick here was the Char-Griller 2123, now I am not real sure I agree with that particular model. I really don’t want to appear that I don’t like Char-Griller because I do, they are very popular on this site, but not necessarily as a grill. Their popularity here is mostly as a low cost offset firebox smoker (with optional side firebox, and with some mods given in a tutorial on this site). But I know Char-Griller does work as a real solid charcoal grill as well.
My personal choice here though, is the Original Weber Kettle, you can still buy an 18.5″ Kettle for around $69 and a 22″ kettle for around $88 (you may have to look harder for these, but they are available on Amazon). I have had my Weber Kettle for about 16 years, and it still works just as well, and almost looks as good today as it did the day I bought it, and I have never even considered replacing it. Now I believe Ryan did mention the One Touch Gold, which gives an easier way to handle ash, but it is more expensive.
Whatever grill you decide on, please make sure you keep it clean, and it will be much easier to stay safe!
There’s a Sale Going On!
May 24, 2010 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
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Just a quick note to let you know, our Memorial Day Sale (a little early) is happening…
HomeBBQ.com is in the Jack!
September 3, 2009 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
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Jack Daniels Invitational
With only 2 draws in this years drawing HomeBBQ.com was drawn to represent Florida in this years Jack Daniels Invitational World Championship.
Here is the Official Listing from the KCBS Website;
OFFICIAL Jack Daniel’s Draw Winners
September 3, 2009
21st Annual
Jack Daniel’s World Championship
Invitational Barbecue
“The Draw”
AUTOMATICS:
4 Legs UP BBQ, Great Bend, KS, 2008 Jack Daniel’s
Four Men and A Pig, Olathe, KS, 2008 American Royal Open
Blazen BBQ, Hillsboro, TX, HLS&R Barbecue
Sweet Swine O’Mine, Olive Branch, MS, Memphis in May
Pellet Envy, Leawood, KS, Seven + Wins
Bub-Ba-Q, Canton, GA, Seven Wins
Munchin Hog’s @ the Hilton, Prairie Village, KS, Seven Wins
Rhythm ‘n QUE, Phoenix, AZ, Seven Wins
Swamp Boys, Winter Haven, FL, Seven Wins
Boss Hogg Barbecue, Fairbanks, AK, AK State Winner
cancersuckschicago.com, Westmont, IL, AZ State Winner
R2 – BQ, Wantagh, NY, CT State Winner
PA Midnite Smoker, Willow Street, PA, DE State Winner
Cool Smoke, Richmond, VA, DC Winner
“Team Ida Q”, Boise, ID, ID State Winner
I Smell Smoke, Malden, MA, MA/VT State Winner
3 Eyz BBQ, Owings Hills, MD, MD State Winner
I Que, Hopkinton, MA, ME State Winner
Blake’s BBQ, Gilbert, AZ, NV State Winner
Lakeside Smokers, Methuen, MA, NH State Winner
Parrothead Smokers, Dakota Dunes, SD, PA State Winner
Spitfire, Fargo, ND, SD State Winner
Hoochie – Que, Park City, UT, UT State Winner
Just Smokin’ Around, Frederick, MD, WV State Winner
Burnin Bobs Butts n Bones, Morrison, CO, WY
State Winner
CONTEST STATE TEAM NAME HM STATE
AL Wild Bunch Butt Burners, AL
AR Tee Wayne’s Smoking Lipps, LA
CA All Hogs go to Heaven, CA
CO Wild Hogs BBQ, CO
FL HomeBBQ.com, FL
GA Jack’s Old South, GA
IA Iowa’s Smokey D’s BBQ, IA
IL Ulcer Acres BBQ, IL
IN Shigs In Pit, IN
KS Rubbin It & Lovin It BBQ, KS
KY Monty Pigthon & the Holy Grill, KY
LA QUAU, IL
MI Extreme Roasters, MI
MN The Heat Is On, MN
MO The Pickled Pig, KS
MS Big Boyz Cookin’ Crew, MS
NC Checkered Pig, VA
NE To The Bee BBQ, NE
NJ Lo’ -N- Slo’ BBQ, NJ
NM Naaman’s BBQ, AR
NY lunchmeat, MA
OH Hoosier Crawdaddy, IN
OK STU’S Q BBQ, OK
OR Fat Dad’s Barbeque, OR
SC Chatham Artillery BBQ, GA
TN Music City Pig Pals, TN
TX Redneck Cookers, TX
VA Dizzy Pig , VA
WA Smoke A Fat One BBQ, WA
WI Dr. Porkenstein, WI
A DIY Digital Meat Thermometer with Predictive Filter?
June 15, 2009 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
We have certainly seen high tech in BBQ the last few years.
With the Digi-Q II, the FEC 100, the Therma-pen, and the list goes on and on. Well, I received this email today from Humberto Evans with nerdkits.com regarding a DIY project that is near and dear to all of our hearts.. A DIY Meat Thermometer with Predictive Filter! uh… ok! I get it, I think.
Humberto Evans and his partner Mike Robbins, both MIT Grads create a video and web page that tells you how to do it. I will let Humberto’s own words explain this for you, and be sure to check out the web page at http://www.nerdkits.com/videos/meat_thermometer/
From Humberto Evans:
Even though cooking is an elegant art form, the at-home chef often has a number of fancy gadgets. From counter top grills to USB coolers, high end electronics have made themselves available in most aspects of modern food preparation and enjoyment. In keeping with our DIY spirit, and with Father’s Day and July 4th grilling right around the corner, we decided to build a DIY Digital Meat Thermometer using a temperature sensor, an LCD, and a microcontroller. To our delight, getting this project to work well required some interesting bits of engineering including advanced signal processing.
In this video tutorial, we outline the process for building the DIY Digital Meat Thermometer. In order to speed up the measured reading, we estimate what the transfer function of the system is and use a predictive filter to “guess” what the actual temperature is at the tip of our probe. The concepts, and the some of the intuition behind it, are presented in our video tutorial. The meat thermometer can be used with a computer to give a live temperature graph, or be used with just the LCD. Whether it’s a fathers day gift, or just a fun weekend project, this little gadget is sure to draw some attention at the next family cookout.”
YouTube Videos
January 22, 2009 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
HomeBBQ.com Backyard BBQ and Grilling Classes Start Tonight!
January 14, 2009 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
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Oviedo, FL – 5 Time FBA Team of the Year Champion, and the 2008 FBA Triple Crown Champion, Kevin Bevington, of HomeBBQ.com begins his first in a series of Backyard Barbecue and Grilling classes at All About Grills in Oviedo, FL, tonight at 6:30pm.
The first class will be “Basics on the Grill”, in this class he will cover easy to prepare dishes on the grill, including a side dishes and desert.
Every wednesday will be a class which includes recipes from the DVD’s from HomeBBQ.com, “Grilling with HomeBBQ.com” and “Backyard Barbecue with HomeBBQ.com”. Class details are below;
January 14th - 6:30 pm Basics on the grill
January 21st - 6:30 pm Classic Steak House
January 28th - 6:30 pm Beef on the Grill
February 4th - 6:30 pm Seafood on the Grill
February 18th - 6:30 pm All About Ribs
February 25th - 6:30 pm Barbeque Beef
March 4th - 6:30 pm - Seafood
March 11th - 6:30 pm – All About Pork
March 18th - 6:30 pm – All About Chicken
Early Bird Registration – $45 per person, or $75 per couple
For more Information, Contact All About Grills at the contact info below;
All About Grills Oviedo
71 Geneva Drive
Oviedo, FL 32765
407-366-7301
HomeBBQ.com Wins FBA Triple Crown Championship
December 15, 2008 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
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Perry, FL – The FBA Triple Crown Championship
HomeBBQ.com wins Grand Champion in this first ever Invitational event for the Florida Barbeque Association, that hosted 10 teams from each of the qualifying states of Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.
Contest Results are as follows;
Rank Overall
1 HomeBBQ.com 758.96666
2 Jus-Fer-Fun 758.84999
3 Bub-Ba-Q 755.95001
4 HoocheeQue 751.33336
5 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company
6 Forrest’s Fine Foods 747.90001
7 Munchees Smokehouse 747.83333
8 Jacks Old South 746.35001
9 Swamp Boys 743.46665
10 Pork Avenue BBQ 743.13333
11 J & J ’s southern smokers 742.33335
12 Uncle Kenny’s BBQ 738.78335
13 GB’s BBQ 738.39999
14 Bubba Chuck 738.31667
15 Team Bobby-Q 737.28333
16 Big Papa’s Country Kitchen 735.95000
17 Tiger Creek BBQ 734.95001
18 Fine’ly Ready BBQ 732.59999
19 Red Baron BBQ 728.98333
20 This Butt’s For You 728.08334
21 Big Daddy Q 727.93335
22 The Ross Team 726.41666
23 Kick the Tire, Light the Fire 725.11666
24 Barbeque Crew 723.78334
25 Flirtin’ with Disaster 721.38332
26 DW’s Kountry Cookers 720.46669
27 Mr. Cook’s Portable Smokehouse 710.39998
28 Bethel Smokers 697.54997
29 Kinfolks BBQ 676.69999
Chicken
1 Bubba Chuck 194.54999
2 Team Bobby-Q 194.28333
3 HoocheeQue 192.56668
4 Bub-Ba-Q 192.43334
5 RED BARON BBQ 191.36666
6 Tiger Creek BBQ 190.21668
7 Mr. Cook’s Portable Smokehouse 188.86667
8 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company 188.41667
9 HomeBBQ.com 187.65000
10 Munchees Smokehouse 187.06666
Ribs
1 HomeBBQ.com 191.66667
2 Jus-Fer-Fun 191.43334
3 Forrest’s Fine Foods 191.43332
4 HoocheeQue 190.50000
5 Kick the Tire, Light the Fire 189.79999
6 Bub-Ba-Q 189.24999
7 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company 188.53333
8 J & J ’s southern smokers 187.81667
9 Tiger Creek BBQ 187.00000
10 Fine’ly Ready BBQ 186.96666
Pork
1 Jus-Fer-Fun 194.49999
2 Jacks Old South 192.65001
3 Big Papa’s Country Kitchen 190.00000
4 Bub-Ba-Q 188.65001
5 Pork Avenue BBQ 187.40000
6 Munchees Smokehouse 187.26667
7 This Butt’s For You 186.93334
8 HomeBBQ.com 186.49999
9 J & J ’s southern smokers 186.23333
10 Team Bobby-Q 185.75000
Brisket
1 HomeBBQ.com 193.15000
2 Jacks Old South 192.16668
3 Jus-Fer-Fun 191.44999
4 Swamp Boys 190.56666
5 Pork Avenue BBQ 190.11666
6 Forrest’s Fine Foods 189.50001
7 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company 188.61666
8 Big Papa’s Country Kitchen 188.58334
9 Munchees Smokehouse 187.94999
10 GB’s BBQ 187.41666
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