BBQ Buyer's Guide to Stainless Steel Charcoal Grills

[@shumardi1]

You fill a really interesting niche in the outdoor cooking scene. Most of the outdoor cooking KZbinrs I follow demonstrate how to cook various proteins in different ways and review a few products. You are the only KZbinr I am aware of that does a deep dive into the various cooking options within a given category and discusses the pros and cons of each. That sets you apart as being a very unique KZbinr. That is hard to achieve in a very crowded market. I salute you for a noteworthy achievement.

[@waynec3121]

First of all Thank You for all your work on these projects.I agree with your pick of Hasty Bake and Pitts and Spitts being true charcoal burners

[@craigjohnchronicles2504]

You can also get a custom 10" high lid for the Pitts and Spitts adjustable charcoal grills if you ask nicely. :) ...if you want a little more room underneath for larger cooks (whole turkey, large roasts, small hogs). Otherwise, it's about 6.5" from cooking grate to the lid.

[@lamarwilliams185]

I’m pretty sure the custom grills can add a hole for a bbq guru. I don’t know why they never think of this. If it can be used as a smoker? Then they design the air intake holes in a way that you can not use a bbq guru. Some how they thought of temperature probes. If you bbq? You know those days when everything was set right. You walked away. When you came back. Fire went out. The temp is too high. The temp outside changed and you have to readjust. Charcoal used did not burn even or faster than expected. Etc.,..

[@AntonioRosso]

M36-S MOAG, M1-S

[@SmokeMasterD]

All very good pits 👍

[@robolive123]

Yes, good pits, but only 11" from charcoal grate to food grate with charcoal grate at lowest point. This info came from the manufacturer of the grills. Not enough for direct heat without burning food, unfortunately. More of a reverse flow smoker.

[@Isovapor]

I wouldn’t purchase any grill or smoker in stainless steel. It doesn’t rust is the only thing going for it. It is the worst metal to keep clean and looking good. It shows fingerprints demonstrating that it is horrible for grease and cooking. I’d choose painted black metal where I touch up the tiny rust spots with high heat paint and 3 cents worth of sandpaper. Save your money and headaches! Cheers!

[@SmokeMasterD]

Interesting viewpoint. I'd never thought of it like that before.

[@keneric]

That's fine and dandy for the outside of the cooker but as everyone knows the internals of a high heat regular steel charcoal grill will soon turn into a rust bucket without copious amounts of anti-rust maintenance. Barbecue sauces and any type of vinegar based spray is like acid on those grills and needs to be completely cleaned up right after you cook. And then there's the ability of leaving your cooker in the rain or just hosing it down and power washing it to make the inside look like new. It all comes down to the amount of maintenance. I'd rather spend my time cooking. Along with many different types of cookers, I own a Pitts and Spitts offset in all stainless and one in painted carbon steel. I don't have to do anything to the stainless but my carbon steel cookers required hundreds of hours of maintenance and hundreds of dollars in Pam cooking spray over the years to keep them from rusting away. Now if you're talking about a big thick heavy duty smoker then go ahead and let it rust, it actually looks pretty nice. But all the thin regular steel metal charcoal grills will rust away in a few years with any regular use, but the stainless ones will keep on truckin' with little to no maintenance.

[@Isovapor]

@@keneric great point but I hate stainless steel which should be called stainful steel. I have stainless cookers outside and they look the worst. It would take 30 years for a piece of painted steel to rust through with proper care. You live in a humid environment and can’t manage carbon steel. Thats what you just told me! Up your cooking game! Cheers!

[@keneric]

​@@IsovaporYou are talking about a piece of painted steel!? I am talking about the inside of a charcoal grill that sees upwards of a thousand plus degrees where the charcoal meets the metal. Show me the inside of a carbon steel charcoal grill that has lasted 30 years with regular use. We're all waiting. 😂😂 Your other assumptions are also completely wrong. But I get what you're saying about what's important to you. You're more worried about polishing up dainty little fingerprint marks, degreasing some food stains using the the latest high end biodegradable cleaners and touching up specs of micro rust all over your cooker using paint covered q-tips, rather than actually making good food. Explain no more! Got to keep them looking good for when your neighbors come over for that tough and dry brisket. So if you actually buy a stainless steel cooker that actually doesn't come from a big box store and doesn't have cheap Chinese 403 stainless steel or worse, all you need is a wet paper towel to keep it looking like new, I think it should tick all your check boxes above. You need to up your maintenance game.

[@ants8632]

I have a Weber gas burner in stainless I clean with a STAINLESS STEEL CLEANER/POLISH that has kept the outside metal looking nice over the last almost 10 years.