smaller grill, what am I missing?

Jayne

Jayne

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As others have mentioned, it's getting into grill replacement season. This time I'm thinking that instead of a 4 burner, I'll just drop back to a 2 burner.

I only grill small amounts of food on high direct heat, no indirect and no 'low and slow'.

With only 2 burners and a smaller metal box, it should heat up faster and use half the fuel of the 4 burner version. Plus the initial cost is lower.

Am I really missing something with a 2 burner based on my use case? Something I'm not thinking of?
 
What types of food do you cook?
Just meat or some vegs also?
 
I had a 2 burner for awhile. It was fine. The only mistake I made was buying a cheap big box store product that rusted out and fell apart in a few years. A well made 2 burner grill is good to go for most things IMO. A good tool if you have a smoker for larger and longer cooks. Go for it.
 
ronn47 said:
What types of food do you cook?
Just meat or some vegs also?
Click to expand...

bugers, brautwurst, kabobs, chicken, flatbreads, veggies for 2 people. no pork (always done in the crockpot) and no fish (wife isn't a fan so I don't even bother).

I do use the upper rack for veggies and corn quite often in the summer.
 
Grill Replacement Season?
I've been charring burgers on the same 2-burner Weber since 2005. No issue when cooking meat and veg for 2. Not so great when you cook for more, but that doesn't happen often enough to throw money at the problem.
 
Catfish said:
Grill Replacement Season?
I've been charring burgers on the same 2-burner Weber since 2005. No issue when cooking meat and veg for 2. Not so great when you cook for more, but that doesn't happen often enough to throw money at the problem.
Click to expand...

the main box on mine is rusted out, the burners are OK since I replaced them a few years back.
 
fieldgrade said:
If it’s not big enough to grill at least one of the neighbors, it’s not enough grill
.
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Two posts about grilling people in less than 5 minutes. Are you hungry? Might want to take care of that in a less caniablistic way, the grid isn't down yet.
 
Jayne said:
Two posts about grilling people in less than 5 minutes. Are you hungry? Might want to take care of that in a less caniablistic way, the grid isn't down yet.
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I’ve had a stomach bug for three days. Lost seven pounds. I’m so hungry I’d grill a skinny guy from California about now.
 
For me the only issue with a smaller grill is having the extra space to keep something warm while something else is cooking. Ex....maybe keep the bread on the off burner while the other 2 are cooking the meat. Get a decent grill and they last. Weber makes a very good grill that isn't terribly expensive.
 
If it's sufficient for your needs, then it's sufficient for your needs. Why gainsay it?

If you DO want to do indirect cooking, you can still do it by either using only one burner and/or using a barrier between the burners on one side and the food.

Big grills are awesome in their own right...but smaller grills have their own benefits as well.
 
Jayne said:
As others have mentioned, it's getting into grill replacement season. This time I'm thinking that instead of a 4 burner, I'll just drop back to a 2 burner.

I only grill small amounts of food on high direct heat, no indirect and no 'low and slow'.

With only 2 burners and a smaller metal box, it should heat up faster and use half the fuel of the 4 burner version. Plus the initial cost is lower.

Am I really missing something with a 2 burner based on my use case? Something I'm not thinking of?
Click to expand...

I went to a 3 burner because I rarely am "grilling" that much food. If I am backyard cooking for larger groups it is almost always in the smoker not the grill. I do almost no low and slow on my propane gas grill.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
If it's sufficient for your needs, then it's sufficient for your needs. Why gainsay it?
Click to expand...

only questioning it because I don't know what I don't know. someone pops up and says "a 2 burner can only get to 500F" or something then that's a problem and not obvious.

To the uneducated such as myself, it looks like the burners are all somewhat standard so 4x bunners uses twice the fuel as 2x but generate the same volume of 'heat' but have 2x the volume inside the appliance to make hot. If I'm not using that larger area then I'm just converting propane to heat to try to keep an empty metal box hot enough for the portion I do want hot.

My understanding of thermodynamics is as limited as fieldgrade's culinary discretion.
 
Jayne said:
only questioning it because I don't know what I don't know. someone pops up and says "a 2 burner can only get to 500F" or something then that's a problem and not obvious.

To the uneducated such as myself, it looks like the burners are all somewhat standard so 4x bunners uses twice the fuel as 2x but generate the same volume of 'heat' but have 2x the volume inside the appliance to make hot. If I'm not using that larger area then I'm just converting propane to heat to try to keep an empty metal box hot enough for the portion I do want hot.

My understanding of thermodynamics is as limited as fieldgrade's culinary discretion.
Click to expand...

Oh, no... a two burner grill can still easily exceed 600 F. It's a combination of physical size as well as burner capacity. Since you're also going to a smaller box, you should have absolutely no problems with getting heat as high as you want it to be.
 
Catfish said:
Grill Replacement Season?
I've been charring burgers on the same 2-burner Weber since 2005. No issue when cooking meat and veg for 2. Not so great when you cook for more, but that doesn't happen often enough to throw money at the problem.
Click to expand...
We got our 3 burner Weber back in 1999 and it's still running fine. All original except the "flavorizer" bars were replaced once.
 
Jayne said:
only questioning it because I don't know what I don't know. someone pops up and says "a 2 burner can only get to 500F" or something then that's a problem and not obvious.

To the uneducated such as myself, it looks like the burners are all somewhat standard so 4x bunners uses twice the fuel as 2x but generate the same volume of 'heat' but have 2x the volume inside the appliance to make hot. If I'm not using that larger area then I'm just converting propane to heat to try to keep an empty metal box hot enough for the portion I do want hot.

My understanding of thermodynamics is as limited as fieldgrade's culinary discretion.
Click to expand...
My Weber has 4 burners but I generally only use two. With just 2 burners on, it will easily exceed 400 degrees. I don't know how hot it will get, open the cover and turn the gas down once it starts getting past 400. The in laws have the smallest Weber and truthfully it's plenty for a family of 4. You could easily cook 12 burgers on the small one if you crowd things up.
 
I have a 4 burner Weber, a gravity fed charcoal smoker/grill and a pellet grill with a sear box. I use this 95% of the time:

1678230073233.jpeg

Coupled with a starter chimney, honestly easier and less hassle than gas. Get a vortex, and it will be a game changer.
 
Check your PM. Just sent you a video on how to prepare corn for grilling.
 
beamernc said:
We got our 3 burner Weber back in 1999 and it's still running fine. All original except the "flavorizer" bars were replaced once.
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Have our Spirit 500 for 24 years, replaced with stainless flavor bars and grates. Burners still 100%. On fifth regulator.
 
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