Grill recommendation!!

lockedup5

lockedup5

overcompensating underachiever
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Location
Burke County (Hildebran)
I know all you rednecks love to grill and everyone has an opinion so I come here for advice on a new grill.
After twenty years my old grill has finally given up after years of abuse.
This isn't a discussion about gas vs. charcoal. But I'm looking for a good gas grill or a grill/smoker if possible.
Please point me in the right direction. Pros/cons. Where to buy. I need to buy one by Friday cause I have a b-day party to cook for Saturday
Let the argument begin!!!
 
For a gas grill I would buy a Wilmington or holland grill. They are expensive but quality is top notch.
 
anvilrubi said:
For a gas grill I would buy a Wilmington or holland grill. They are expensive but quality is top notch.
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IMO, Wilmington is a much better grill. I went through that process several years ago and narrowed it down between Wilmington and Holland. I ended up with a Wilmington and haven't regretted it one bit.

My deciding factor was that every single part on the Wilmington grill is stainless, from the burners, to the grates, to the nuts, bolts, washers, cotter pins, etc etc where the Holland has a mix of stainless, aluminum, and carbon steel. Wilmington was more than twice the price but it will last a lifetime and beyond without the need to replace any parts due to corossion. :)
 
Wilmington grill's are bomb proof. We keep one outside in the elements at our house on the water at the beach. Aside from having to replace the cast iron burners (with cast stainless) that thing looks brand new and it's going on 15 years old.

And just to piss y'all off I got one for free off of nextdoor.com :flipoff2:
 
$150 Charbroil gas grill will last 5-8 years. I could buy one every 5 years for the next 30 years and not equal what many of the high dollar ones go for. That's just me though.... I'm not one to be PROUD of spending shit-tons of money on something just to impress others.
 
Oh and in your area the only place I saw Wilmington Grills was at Killian's Hardware. There may be other places but I don't get back to Hickory much and when I do I rarely venture out
 
Where is it going? If it's a permanent location, build one.
 
orange150 said:
Wilmington grill's are bomb proof. We keep one outside in the elements at our house on the water at the beach. Aside from having to replace the cast iron burners (with cast stainless) that thing looks brand new and it's going on 15 years old.

And just to piss y'all off I got one for free off of nextdoor.com :flipoff2:
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Yes they are tough but really?
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I researched the hell out of this last spring.

A couple points.
Wilmington builds a tank, for sure. However they are single burner, indirect heat drip tray only. You cant zone, or "cold grate" smoke on one effectively.
They also changed ownership in 2011. The new owners (JCC) do not honor the lifetime warranty of the original company. Their new grills have a 7 year warranty, not lifetime. The burner only does still have a lifetime warranty.


They are also no longer fabricated or welded in the US if that sort of thing matters to you. They are assembled in the US.

The only thing I found close to the bulk of a Wilmington that was truly US made was Lazyman but their warranty left much to be desired.
Firemagic build a nice product as well but for whatever reason they seem committed to adding led lights, blue tooth stereo control and all sorts of other ish that will break without much benefit except driving the price up.

Ultimately I bought a BGE and a cheap gas grill.
I paid $400 for a Kenmore gas grill that is a 4 burner plus ceramic sear. It wont last near as long as the $2000 wilmington. But I can multizone and I can replace it 4 times.
 
Ron said:
I researched the hell out of this last spring.

A couple points.
Wilmington builds a tank, for sure. However they are single burner, indirect heat drip tray only. You cant zone, or "cold grate" smoke on one effectively.
They also changed ownership in 2011. The new owners (JCC) do not honor the lifetime warranty of the original company. Their new grills have a 7 year warranty, not lifetime. The burner only does still have a lifetime warranty.


They are also no longer fabricated or welded in the US if that sort of thing matters to you. They are assembled in the US.

The only thing I found close to the bulk of a Wilmington that was truly US made was Lazyman but their warranty left much to be desired.
Firemagic build a nice product as well but for whatever reason they seem committed to adding led lights, blue tooth stereo control and all sorts of other ish that will break without much benefit except driving the price up.

Ultimately I bought a BGE and a cheap gas grill.
I paid $400 for a Kenmore gas grill that is a 4 burner plus ceramic sear. It wont last near as long as the $2000 wilmington. But I can multizone and I can replace it 4 times.
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My Wilmington has 3 burners and each can be individually controlled. It's 3 years old and made in Wilmington. Laser cut and formed at the shop down there. Since then, maybe things changed? Not sure.

I had a $350 grill from sears. It looked nice but lasted about 1.5 years before it was done. I grill a lot, so I don't get the life expectancy as others do. For others that don't grill as much, a Wilmington may not be the best choice. But for me, I know I can grill everyday and never worry about it falling apart. And, when I build a house next year, I can simply unbolt the legs and convert it into a built in grill island if I want. :)
 
Hrmmm...

when I was looking the onyl 3 burner they had was the "master" - I think - And it was like $11,000. But even it used a full pan drip tray indirect heat system.

BTW you had a Wilmington back in like....2012. That's what made me look at them because it was a tank.
 
Ron said:
Hrmmm...

when I was looking the onyl 3 burner they had was the "master" - I think - And it was like $11,000. But even it used a full pan drip tray indirect heat system.

BTW you had a Wilmington back in like....2012. That's what made me look at them because it was a tank.
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Maybe it's been 4 or 5 years. I can't remember.

I do have the Master and yes, 3 burners. Not sure about the others but I thought they had at least 2. And yes they do have indirect heat with drip tray. They do have a lava rock flame kit that I'm considering.
 
I had a charbroil for 11yrs I rebuilt a few times. It cooked. Broke down and got a decent Weber and it's still going strong after 5yrs and getting used 2/3x a week. Cooks 100% better than the old one.
 
Have a Ducane stainless that I've had for 10 years and have had to do nothing but clean it and cook on it. It is a 5 burner with the infared rotisserie burner. Probably not the same quality anymore if they are still in biz.
 
I'll second an opinion above.
We have an end-of-year closeout buy CharGriller from HD, paid maybe $200. I'd guess regular price was 400. Not stainless of anything. But it has 3 burners and a rack up high for veggies, dogs, etc. It has 2 smoke stacks on top to relieve some heat.
After 4-5(?) years, it still works great, the only issue is the coatings have worn off the middle of the grates. I could buy replacements cheap but never bother. Just scrape. It gets plenty hot and I can control the temp good enough. Honestly I'm perfectly happy w/ it. Never have I thought, Man I wish I'd spent 10x the price on a fancier grill.

IMO the real art and joy is in a smoker. Spend the $$ there instead. Get a BGE, or an electric cabinet or something. I have a basic electric one wifey gave me for Christmas last year and am learning the art on it, and assume eventually I'll move up to something nicer someday.
 
Dang will be hard to respond to all this.
I will go to Killian's and look at the Wilmington tomorrow.
Also considering a pellet grill from Ace hdw maybe.
I like the gas grill/smoker combo at Lowe's.
But I really do like the Weber 3 or4 burner.
There is just too many options!!!!
I'd really like to build an outdoor kitchen with a built in grill, smoker, and commercial deep fryer.
I knew I was eventually going to have to buy a new grill and thought I'd have time to really research and plan on the kitchen. My grill layed down Sunday pretty much then Monday the wife springs it on me that we're having my oldest Birthday party at home Saturday and cooking hamburgers and hotdogs for probably 40 people. Oh well. Guess I could borrow a grill to get through the weekend and buy some time.
Thanks for all the input.
 
Another thing I like about the Wilmington is that it's all laser cut 304 stainless and formed using a press brake where all the other grills are stamped from some really really thin sheet metal and really flimsy.

I guess it's a fabricated grill versus a mass produced stamped grill that I appreciate.
 
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