As you can see I got my new grill. It is the Weber Performer, although I had a heck of a time finding one. None of the local dealers had one except Home Depot, which had a floor model they were willing to sell for 25% off. Unfortunately it was missing several parts and I would have probably spent that discount replacing them. I ended up buying it online.
Thanks to everyone for the recommendation of the Green Egg grill. I chose not to get it for various reasons, including size, weight, and cost. There was one local dealer but they were a hike to get to.
So I put the grill together yesterday and had my first grilling session on it, some steak tips and various grilled veggies. It will take some time to master the process on this new grill. Cooking with charcoal is trickier than with propane. But I’ll have lots of practice. Mmm, I was loving the smell of the grill last night too.
Oh yeah, definitely. It burns hotter, but faster so you have to keep replenishing it. Plus you know that it’s not impregnated with chemicals et al. Just nice hardwood.
For an argument that charcoal is superior to propane for grilling, search at Google for:
grilling charcoal gas water vapor
The first result is:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30691-2004Jul6.html
Hey, Alton Brown says it, it’s good enough for me.