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OT- love the egg, but... Additional cooking apparatus

Wooderson
Wooderson Posts: 382
in EggHead Forum
So here's the story, I've got a LBGE, cook on it all the time, love it.  The wife and I are in a debate on another cooking apparatus to do quick meals.  E.g. burgers, hot dogs, brats. We have kids that just want food.  I want to hear from the community on whether a small Weber charcoal or small gas grill would be best, the most comments is the winner of the debate and the cooker will be purchased.  Go!
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Comments

  • Killit_and_Grillit
    Killit_and_Grillit Posts: 4,326
    I’ve got a Weber and they are great. It only gets used for camping, park, etc. 

    If you’re on the fence between gas and a cheap Weber I would get a Weber and a Blackstone for the price of a gasser. 

    "Brought to you by bourbon, bacon, and a series of questionable life decisions."

    South of Nashville, TN

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  • jabam
    jabam Posts: 1,829
    Killit_and_Grillit said:
    I’ve got a Weber and they are great. It only gets used for camping, park, etc. 

    If you’re on the fence between gas and a cheap Weber I would get a Weber and a Blackstone for the price of a gasser. 


    This...
    Central Valley CA     One large egg One chocolate lab "Halle" two chiuahuas "Skittles and PeeWee"
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    If cooking for the fam is the goal, I would get both the BS griddle and Weber 22" kettle. how many kids? The 26" BS can crank out some high volume.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    The BS is a weekend breakfast machine. Among many other things. 

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • Wooderson
    Wooderson Posts: 382
    All I'm wanting to do is a quick meal to stifle the kids and to satisfy the bellies. No big meals, 4 brats, half a dozen hot dogs
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  • HendersonTRKing
    HendersonTRKing Posts: 1,803


    Just add matchlight!

    Seriously, I’d get a Weber summit, hook it up to a gas line if possible (no tanks to fart around with) and every night’s an easy grilling experience. 
    It's a 302 thing . . .
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  • tgs2401
    tgs2401 Posts: 424
    edited July 2018
    I have a BGE and use it 85% of the time. I also have a generic four burner propane grill that I use when I’m in a hurry. It’s great for fast brats, burgers or chicken breasts when we are running late and kids bed times are approaching. It’s also nice to use as a warmer for items pulled off the egg.
    One large BGE in Louisville, KY.
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,754
    A small Weber for the win-as noted above.  You can't beat the product for consistency and longevity.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262

    Imo, an egg, a weber kettle, and a blackstone are the basics of a grill collection.  

    Phoenix 
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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    DMW said:
    blasting said:

    Imo, an egg, a weber kettle, and a blackstone are the basics of a grill collection.  

    That is a start.

    Agreed.  The next three would be a more dedicated smoker - maybe a vertical.  A deep fryer, and pizza oven.  I'll keep going if anyone needs help spending fat stacks.


    Phoenix 
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  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,196
    Gasser for quick meals, whether that is Blackstone or a Weber genesis.  the kettle would be no quicker than an egg in my opinion.  I light both of mine the same, with a weed burner.
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  • PoppasGrill
    PoppasGrill Posts: 371
    I do 90% of my weekend cooking on my mbge, if , through my poor planning, I don’t have time to use the Egg, I use the stovetop inside.
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  • unoriginalusername
    unoriginalusername Posts: 1,146
    edited July 2018
    Got a minimax just for that reason 

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  • saluki2007
    saluki2007 Posts: 6,354
    Never owned or used a Weber kettle so I don't know.  Honest question, would it be ready to cook any faster than an egg that isn't an XL?  MAAP torch and I'm ready to grill in 10-20 min depending how much "crap" is leftover from the last cook.  That's on both the large and small.
    Large and Small BGE
    Central, IL

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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    edited July 2018
    Weber is the answer if you want to stay with charcoal, gasser is ideal for quick grills where smoke time is not an issue. Lots of size choices depending on the volume you need. 14” Smokey Joe, 18” Jumbo Joe, 18” kettle, 22” kettle. Grids are cheap and as noted in another recent post, briquettes are $10 for just under 40 pounds. Using side burner or Camp Chef stove, the chimney is ready to go in <10 minutes - or weed burner in the bowl if you need to be cooking in five minutes.  
    The gasser is an ideal warming, holdin oven when using the egg. i would not be without a gasser. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • unoriginalusername
    unoriginalusername Posts: 1,146
    That new campchef woodwinds looks handy as a spare grill given it can pellet and gas 
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  • TN_Egger
    TN_Egger Posts: 1,120
    George Foreman
    Signal Mountain, TN
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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 19,165
    Carolina Q swears by his oven. 
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  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490
    I would and did by the way go with a minimax
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  • TEXASBGE2018
    TEXASBGE2018 Posts: 3,831
    edited July 2018
    I'm always curious about this type of situation. I came from a Weber Kettle and it seemed to take the same amount of time to get to temp as the egg. Maybe even a little longer. The options I would explore would be either a Weber Genesis 2 Burner Gas or a Minimax/small egg. I can get my large egg to 400 degrees in around 15min or so. Any gas grill I have cooked on took minimum 5min or so to get there but the flavor was always lacking. My kids can be little monsters when they are hungry and the 10min time difference doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.  Is there any reason why you are worried about the 10 extra minutes or is your egg taking 30min or more to get to 400 degrees?


    Rockwall, Tx    LBGE, Minimax, 22" Blackstone, Pizza Party Bollore. Cast Iron Hoarder.

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  • Wooderson
    Wooderson Posts: 382
    TEXASBGE2018 said:
    I'm always curious about this type of situation. I came from a Weber Kettle and it seemed to take the same amount of time to get to temp as the egg. Maybe even a little longer. The options I would explore would be either a Weber Genesis 2 Burner Gas or a Minimax/small egg. I can get my large egg to 400 degrees in around 15min or so. Any gas grill I have cooked on took minimum 5min or so to get there but the flavor was always lacking. My kids can be little monsters when they are hungry and the 10min time difference doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.  Is there any reason why you are worried about the 10 extra minutes or is your egg taking 30min or more to get to 400 degrees?
    Perfect situation was last night. It was 8pm and the teenage daughter and her friend wanted brats and dogs.  I didn't have the motivation to fire up the egg
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  • SonVolt
    SonVolt Posts: 3,316
    edited July 2018
    IMO dealing with charcoal is no easier or faster than dealing with an egg. For convenience, there is nothing easier or faster than the push-button wizardry of a regular ol' gas grill. 

    Get a relatively nice one and there's a lot you can do on one... sometimes I like the cleaner flavor without the smoke. 




    South of Nashville  -  BGE XL  -  Alfresco 42" ALXE  -  Alfresco Versa Burner  - Sunbeam Microwave 
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  • TEXASBGE2018
    TEXASBGE2018 Posts: 3,831
    Wooderson said:
    TEXASBGE2018 said:
    I'm always curious about this type of situation. I came from a Weber Kettle and it seemed to take the same amount of time to get to temp as the egg. Maybe even a little longer. The options I would explore would be either a Weber Genesis 2 Burner Gas or a Minimax/small egg. I can get my large egg to 400 degrees in around 15min or so. Any gas grill I have cooked on took minimum 5min or so to get there but the flavor was always lacking. My kids can be little monsters when they are hungry and the 10min time difference doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.  Is there any reason why you are worried about the 10 extra minutes or is your egg taking 30min or more to get to 400 degrees?
    Perfect situation was last night. It was 8pm and the teenage daughter and her friend wanted brats and dogs.  I didn't have the motivation to fire up the egg
    Ya, I guess. I still contend a minimax would be pretty much the same amount of effort. Assuming you don't already have charcoal in it you gotta throw a few cups worth of lump in and 1 Diamond strike a fire. Light it and in 10min you are grilling at 400. The gasser will take 5min to get to 400. Sure you don't get your hands dirty and just gotta turn a knob and push a button. Maybe even a 17" Blackstone would work. Certainly a lot cheaper and portable. The only thing I don't see it being good for would be say whole boneless skinless chicken breasts. A 2 Burner Weber Gas would be ok. But do you really want to spend 600-800 bucks for the Genesis line to cook 4 hot dogs occasionally? This kinda reminds me of that David Cross Skit where he talks about all the time saving devices we created like electric powered scissors.


    Rockwall, Tx    LBGE, Minimax, 22" Blackstone, Pizza Party Bollore. Cast Iron Hoarder.

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  • SonVolt
    SonVolt Posts: 3,316
    edited July 2018
    TEXASBGE2018 said:
     The only thing I don't see it being good for would be say whole boneless skinless chicken breasts. 


    A good tip here is to slice your chicken breasts in half along the side edge. I do this for all skinless/boneless chicken breasts cooks. Since they're half as thick,  the interior cooks through by the time you get some serious browning. There's no sitting around with the lid closed waiting on the breast to hit 150F and hoping it doesn't dry out.

    Cooked these on my gasser. 


    South of Nashville  -  BGE XL  -  Alfresco 42" ALXE  -  Alfresco Versa Burner  - Sunbeam Microwave 
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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 19,165
    A Blackstone, Camp Chef, or other flat top griddle would fit your needs based on your post. In my opinion, a kettle grill or anything else with charcoal/lump is too similar to what you have. A griddle offers you a lot of options for quick easy meals. 
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  • TEXASBGE2018
    TEXASBGE2018 Posts: 3,831
    SonVolt said:
    TEXASBGE2018 said:
     The only thing I don't see it being good for would be say whole boneless skinless chicken breasts. 


    A good tip here is to slice your chicken breasts in half along the side edge. I do this for all skinless/boneless chicken breasts cooks. Since they're half as thick, the interior reaches temp much faster so you can get some serious browning and plate without waiting around on the inside to hit 150F. 

    Cooked these on my gasser. 



    Good point. My vote is still either a smaller Blackstone or Minimax. If you are like me make a pro's and con's list for each.

    Heres my Pro's and Con's

    Minimax:

    Pros: Versatile, you are used to the cooking style, "portable", gets to temp quickly, compact

    Cons: Expensive, Not a lot of real estate, have to have a place to sit it


    Blackstone:

    Pros: 17" or 22" is cheap, portable, versatile, ease of use, compact

    Cons: Can become a pain to upkeep, have to have a place to sit it, can sometimes have uneven heat depending on size.


    Gasser: (Everything below depends on how high a quality you get)

    Pros: Ease of use, somewhat versatile depending on model, user friendly, cooking space

    Cons: Expensive for what it does, More components to break, Bulky


    Im sure there are a lot that I didn't think of but you get the idea.


    Rockwall, Tx    LBGE, Minimax, 22" Blackstone, Pizza Party Bollore. Cast Iron Hoarder.

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  • NorthPilot06
    NorthPilot06 Posts: 1,179
    As you're quickly finding out, it's a matter of preference.  The weber is a time-tested machine; I've owned many in the past and never been disappointed.  However, it is a charcoal grill at the end of the day...and won't be any quicker than your BGE.

    There are a lot of fans of the BS on here, FWIW.  I'm certain it's a great unit, but I haven't had the privilege of using one yet.

    I've got a DCS gasser (not cheap, expect to spend some $$$).  But I will say that it gets to 700+ degrees in two minutes, so you're never waiting to grill.  I find that I use it frequently, but I'll always love the taste that you get from the BGE.
    DFW - 1 LGBE & Happy to Adopt More...
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