BBQs

We spent a fair amount of time in May and June hunting for a great BBQ, with the goal of getting it by Father's Day.  It was quite an adventure.

Everyone seems to have advice about BBQs.  We started using this as a test when interviewing potential kitchen designers -- one guy said we should definitely go with a Wolf BBQ, which made us think that this was one indication of why his bid for the kitchen was so dang high.

The general consensus seems to be that a gas BBQ is the way to go.  My original preference was for a regular old Weber charcoal grill.  But while I loved my old Weber and its smells, it would smoke my wife and son out.

So, gas BBQ it was.

We went to many stores in search of the particular gas BBQ.  Our nearby Sears (that link takes you straight to the BBQs) has a decent selection of Kenmore grills, but didn't have many Weber grills in stock.  If they did, they'd also have free delivery.  But, they don't, so you end up having to order online.

We checked out a BBQ place in Walnut Creek called Barbequeues Galore.  We figured this place had lots of potential.  They offer a lot of high-end grills, most with brand names that I just don't recognize.  They seem to try to sell BBQ systems that you might install in a large backyard -- the kind with an enormous 6-burner grill with a granite countertop that costs over $15k.  These guys didn't know anything about the Weber grills -- even the one that they had (which was a Weber 310 with the price seemingly marked up above the standard retail price quoted on the internet by other vendors selling Webers, rather than the 330 we wanted).  Lots of people seemed to come in when we were there to ask about that sort of grill, and the sales folks would be pretty short with all of them.  This is NOT the place to go to get a grill for normal use.  Stick with ACE, Sears, Home Depot, OSH, etc, etc.  The pretentious grill thing does NOT work for most folks (including me).  It sounds way better than it is.

Here's the one and only Weber on display -- it was the 3-burner E310.  Price was a bit higher than quotes you'd see for this grill on the Internet (as I recall, their price may have been closer to what you'd pay for the next-step-up Weber).

 Check out this grill.  For a bit over $3200, this can be yours...