BBQ Equipment: Charbroil Double Door Smoker and Grill

I'm back from an OK weekend. I hope you guys had a good one.

First up, I want to congratulate my friends Nancy and Greg from Purple Turtle Caterers for winning the I Love BBQ Festival in Lake Placid, NY this weekend. Great job guys! Congrats also to my buddies over at I Smell Smoke for taking an unusual second place; I Smell Smoke wins so often it must have come as a real shocker!

For me, I wound up having to work on Saturday, but on Sunday I raided my garage and took out and reassembled my Charbroil Double Door Smoker and Grill. (Yeah the name STILL sucks)

The fine folks over at Charbroil sent this offset smoker to us back for the Paul Kirk Pit Master's Class in October, but due to various shipping issues, it came too late for the class. After a brief stop at RUB, the smoker meandered its way to my garage in Brooklyn where it sat until this weekend.

Here's some info from Charbroil on the grill itself:

• Double door access reduces smoke and heat loss


• Center Door Stop removes providing full access to cooking chamber


• Cast iron porcelain-coated cooking grates for even heat distribution


• 738 sq. in. total cooking surface area in cooking chamber and firebox


• Removable Ash Drawer simplifies clean-up


• Firebox door with damper provides access and heat control


• Removable front shelf and lower storage rack


• Chrome-plated spring-style handles


• Cast iron wheels with rubber tread


• Top-mounted smoke stack tumbles flavorizing smoke within the firebox


• Heavy-gauge steel construction for years of reliable cooking performance


• Bonus Veggie Rack and Water Marinade Pan included!

My game plan was to smoke a couple of racks of ribs, but after seasoning the grill with vegetable oil and doing a test burn, I discovered that my ribs were still frozen solid. Damn. I could get around this, but that would mean eating very late. Then the wife called and said we needed to travel to the end of Long Island and retrieve the daughter. Double damn. I was really looking forward to finally using this beast.

Oh well, I did grill up some chicken on the Weber Kettle for dinner. You'll have to wait a few more days for the ribs and the review of the Charbroil Double Door Smoker and Grill. Talk to you later.

Hampton Smoker - Take a bow

This just came across my email. It's a story from USA Today about the Charbroil TEC grills and my buddy Matt Fisher aka The Hampton Smoker is interviewed for his opions. Take it away USA Today....

Infrared burners are ready to barbecue

By Elliott Minor, Associated Press

ALBANY, Ga. — For a quarter century, chefs at pricey steakhouses have been searing meat on burners that cook with infrared energy. Now the high-temperature technology may be coming to a backyard barbecue near you.

With the expiration of a key patent, major gas grill manufacturers, including market leader Char-Broil, have scrambled to bring infrared cooking to the masses with models in the $500 to $1,000 range. Previously, such grills cost as much as $5,000.

"Infrared is really hot," said Leslie Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, an industry group in Arlington, Va. "They're great for searing and then either you turn it down or move over to another burner for cooking."

The grills are still powered by propane and have traditional gas burners that heat mostly by convection — or hot air. But they also can cook foods with radiant heat generated by one or more infrared burners. (Infrared falls between visible light and microwave energy on the electromagnetic spectrum.)

Char-Broil says its advanced burners operate at 450 to 900 degrees, hotter than the 450 to 750 degrees of standard gas burners. And unlike charcoal, which can require 20 to 30 minutes to reach its 700-degree cooking temperature, heat from the infrared burners can be adjusted quickly.

Most leading grill makers, including Solaire, Weber and Whirlpool's Jenn-Air, also offer grills that use infrared.

"It's terrific," said Wheeler, who owns an infrared grill. "Grills nowadays give you many options."

Cooks can sear steaks or hamburgers, steam vegetables and give their meats a smoky taste by tossing a few wood chips onto the burner, said Rob Schwing, a Char-Broil vice president.

"Infrared has done to the grill business what the microwave did to the indoor kitchen," he said. "It's presenting consumers with a whole new way of cooking."

Bill Best, founder of Thermal Electric of Columbia, S.C., developed the technology in the 1960s, primarily to give automakers a faster way to dry the paint on cars. That led to high-end grills for professional cooks and wealthy consumers.

When his patent expired in 2000, grill companies saw a future in America's backyards.

But original infrared burners — and some offered currently to consumers — contained ceramic material that was hard to clean, prone to flare-ups and fragile, Schwing said.

Char-Broil formed a strategic alliance with Best's company to develop a new generation of burners known as the Char-Broil TEC series. The fragile ceramics have been eliminated. They have a layer of glass to shield the burners from drippings and provide even heat distribution.

Seven years after Best's patent expired, those improvements are available at a price more affordable to weekend grillers.

"I think it's significant," said Matt Fisher, who tested one of Char-Broil's grills. "It really brings a whole new technology to the market for most people."

Fisher, who lives in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., maintains the The Cook's Kitchen website and a blog devoted to barbecue.

Fisher said gas grills are convenient, but he still prefers wood and charcoal.

Barbecue and barbecue accessories are a $4 billion industry in the U.S., with 17 million grills shipped to retailers last year, a 15% increase over 2005, said the industry association's Wheeler.

Pomona, Calif.-based Cal Spas has been selling high-end grills with infrared burners since 2003. Nicole Lasorda, a spokeswoman for the company, said the faster and more predictable way the burners cook allows people to spend more time relaxing and less time cooking.

"More and more people are barbecuing now and they don't necessarily want to stand in front of the barbecue all the time," she said.

Associated Press writer Doug Gross in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

BBQ Equipment: Cooking on the Charbroil Tec Gas Grill

When we last talked about the Charbroil TEC Grill, I let you know about the packaging, the construction and ease of setup. So what about cooking on the thing? Well here goes.

The Charbroil TEC Grill that I was given has two traditional high-output gas burners, one TEC gas burner, an infrared rotisserie burner and one external high-output gas burner.

As I mentioned before, I've never owned a gas grill before, but I have cooked on them a few times. Please keep that in mind when you read my review.

Since this was a new grill, I decided that we'd put it through all of it's paces utilizing every burned and all the grill space we could. We (my brother and I) decided that we were going to make clams, chicken, fajitas (flank steak and London broil), onions, peppers and corn on the grill. The only thing we weren't going to do, was use the rotisserie for this cook. (Why? Because the rotisserie is an optional piece of equipment that needs to be purchased separately.)

We fired up the grill and I was a little taken back by the effort required to light it. The TEC grill and the external burner lit without a hitch. The rotisserie burner lit, sputtering out flames. Lighting of the the rotisserie reminded me of lighting an old Coleman lantern. You could hear and smell the gas gather and then the flames burst out. We let the rotisserie burn for about 20 minutes until it burned off all its packing and manufacturing materials.

We put out the other burners and tried lighting the traditional gas burners. On other gas grills I've used it is a matter of simply turning on the gas and hitting the ignition switch. Not so with this grill. You need to hold down the igniter for at least a minute before the gas lights. At first I thought I put the flame tamers in wrong, I removed them and the burners lit easily. Replacing the flame tamers, the grill would not light quickly. I checked the manual and adjusted the igniter wire which allowed the burners to light with the flame tamers installed. But they still didn't light as quickly or easily as expected.

First on the grill were the stuffed clams. They cooked quickly and became our snack as we played with the rest of the grill. Next up were the onion slices and peppers for the fajitas. I learned a long time ago that wood or charcoal fires have hot spots and cool spots, and I assumed that the gas grill would as well. By grilling onion slices, it would be an easy test to see where the hot and cold spots are on this grill.

The hottest spot by far is the TEC burner. That was to be expected. Next came the gas burner and the other side of the grill, with the burner in the middle putting out noticeably less heat. I don't have a problem with this, but my brother who is a gasser in more ways then one, tells me that this is a flaw in the construction. He feels that all burners should perform exactly the same.

Next up came the chicken and beef. I used the TEC burner to sear the meat, which provided some lovely grill marks. I should have left the beef on the burner longer, but I was anxious to see how quickly the TEC burner would provide grill marks.

I felt that the grill overall took a little longer to heat up then I expected. We placed a pot of cold water on the external burner for the corn and that also seemed to take a long time to reach the boiling point. Remember, these are just observations coming from a cook who is used to wood and charcoal fires. I just assumed that a gas grill would heat up much faster.

Is the Tec Grill the ultimate grill? Probably not. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good grill. It's possibly great but I haven't had it long enough to make that statement. I really enjoyed cooking on the grill. Would I recommend you purchase one? Yes. In a New York Minute.

As you know, I'm a charcoal and wood guy at heart, but this is definitely one of the better gas grills I've ever used. I found it to be sturdy, well put together and I was unable to find any areas where Charbroil obviously cut corners to save money.

As I already told you, it was packed and shipped beautifully. I've never seen better packaging for the hardware needed to put a grill together. The assembly instructions were clear and easy to follow.

The Tec grill has some issues. It takes a long time to light and heat up, or at least longer then I expected. The mid-burner on mine doesn't seem to get as hot as the other one. (I've spoken Matt Fisher at The Hampton Smoker who doesn't have this problem with his Charbroil grill)

I don't see how you can attach the rotisserie and operate the side burner without removing the rotisserie brackets. There's a large opening on the back of the hood which I haven't figured out yet. I assume it's for ventilation, but I've never seen this on other grills.

I also expected a cook book or some sort of instruction manual for using the Tec burner and the grill. I know there's information on the web, but I want something I can look over while I'm at the grill, not at my computer. For the money, I also expected the rotisserie attachments and a cover to be included.

So, if you're in the market for a grill, go take a look at this beast. Even with it's minor faults, I think you'll be happy you did.

It Was A Good Weekend

Ahh, it was a good weekend. Even though NYC was drenched with 8" of rain, I got some time on Saturday to grill. Yes, I actually cooked over a live fire. Hmm, I wonder if I pissed off Mother Nature and that's why she sent the Nor'Easter on Sunday?

A while back I mentioned that I was attending the Charbroil roll-out for their new TEC grills. One of the perks of the roll-out was that Charbroil was going to send me, and anyone else who attended, a TEC grill for evaluation. I only agreed to evaluate the grill if Charbroil would accept criticism as well as praise. Their response, "Bring it on."

You may have seen reviews about this grill already at The Hampton Smoker, Men In Aprons and at The BBQ General. My grill was delivered last week. It was unpacked and assembled and christened on Saturday.

I'm doing taxes today, so I don't have time to post the full review yet. I will be giving you the nitty-gritty during the week but to sum it all up, I like this grill.

Post 500

Wow, this snuck up on me. I knew it was coming and was planning on writing a deep philosophical diatribe about blogging, barbecue and life for post 500, but alas, it's not to be.

Instead I’m offering a tip of the hat to the fine folks over at Hogwild BBQ. Hogwild is a great new blog all about backyard barbeque. Just take a look at his picture of a recent meat run of his. Anyone's who's buying and cooking that much meat is a friend of mine!

Be sure to check out Hogwild BBQ. It's a great read from the backyard cooker's perspective.

And while you're surfing the net, take a look at Get Your Grill On. Get Your Grill On is a compendium of blogs and websites dedicated to the art of outdoor cooking. If you're into barbeque, grilling, cowboy cooking or dutch oven cooking you'll find something intersting to read at Get Your Grill On.

And if you'd like to join the staff of fine writers at Get Your Grill On, drop me a note at BBQWhiteTrash. The pay's not so great, but it sure is fun.