This is a design that has not been improved upon in 60 years. Any model they make is built to the same standards and employs the features Hastings designed into the first models: The ventless hood, adjustable firebox, v shaped cooking grate and grease run off bar to control grease buildup and flareups.
Not to mention the spent ash holder which is conviently the exact size of a sheet of Heavy duty Reynolds wrap, which makes cleanup a breeze.
But engineers appreciate good engineering...the rest of us...what the h? What does it taste like and why should I lay out this kind of dough for one? I'll tell you why. With these ovens, yes, they are ovens, you will taste what Grant Hastings calls "campfire flavor" and I can tell you honestly having cooked on a Gourmet for 17 years, there is nothing like it.
I think any "Bake" will serve you well but I will say I would get the biggest cooking surface you can and compromise on the stainless and the glass.The glass has to be cleaned every time you use it. The stainless you'll want to,"while you're at it." The upper level on my Gourmet is very under utilized.
Couple more things:
1/ Take my rotisserrie, please
2/ If you're getting powder coated steel..read the directions as to it's care and don't ruin it, like I did.
Bon Appetite!
3/ Take my briquettes, also
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I just got this grill as a "present" for myself. I have to say that I was somewhat worried since it is fairly expensive. I had done a bunch of research and decided that this was the grill I wanted next. For years I had cooked on Weber Kettles, then a variety of different gas grills, and then a Char-Grill Smoking Pro and I had decided it was time to move up into the high end of non-professional grills.When the grill arrived, assembly was easy. I did follow the instructions, but didn't really need to since it was all obvious. The assembly was done quickly, about 20 minutes and voila, I had my new grill set up. It's a very good looking piece of patio furniture, and I did order it with their cover since I live in the Pacific Northwest. The first evening I seasoned the grill by wiping down the cooking hood and grill with vegetable oil and then burning one load of charcoal in it.
I have now down three cooks on the grill and each one has been better than the first. First night, I did hamburgers, nothing fancy. They came out just fine, not hard to start getting the temps, etc under control. The second night, I cooked NY strips, sausage and chicken breasts. Although slightly overcooked, everyone thought the steaks were very good. Last night, my wife cooked a Santa Maria style Tri-Tip following my general advice and we both think it is the best Tri-Tip we've ever grilled. It came out to a perfect medium, great sear on the outside, great flavor.
The grill is easy to clean and maintain. One word of caution, line your ash collector with aluminum foil so that you don't end up with a pain of clean up. That's so minor it's not worth much griping at all.
The thermometer is basically useless, as noted by others. But so what, I've yet to find a grill with a good thermometer in it. Instead, I have a Thermoworks probe for low and slow and a Thermoworks instant read meat thermometer and a grill thermometer for high heat when needed. Any serious backyard grill cook should have that in their toolset anyway.
Going to be trying ribs in the very near future, but I can already tell that holding temp at 225 is not difficult and 3 hours before a refill of charcoal is just fine for my needs.
this is a fabulous grill, worth 5 stars all day long.
****Update on 5/16/2011****
So, I've now cooked Tri-Tip again, done red snapper on it, and cooked baby back ribs. In every case the cook went great. The ribs turned out great, perfect smoke ring, tender, pulling off the bone easily. The bark was formed fabulously well, and the sauce sizzled on nicely at the end of the cook. I was easily able to hold the grill at 225 for 3 1/2 hours.
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First I must say this is an excellent grill for direct over flame cooking, but for slow cooking you should just look elsewhere. Vere disappointed since I was sold on their "grill, smoke and bake" motto. Smoke for me is 10 hours plus smoking. Sure you can smoke for fewer hours but you just cant get the full experience with this grill.Maximum time I was able to get was 3 and half hours. Used lump(premium brand available locally from hickory and oak), briquette(commercial type available to restaurants only, also available at the place where I buy) twice the size of the kingsford brand. I could not get more than four out of any charcoal, no matter the method(minion). This grill needs constant care to be able to keep temperatures below 250 degrees, not to mention that it takes at least thirty minutes to get from initial 450 to 250 smoking temp. The temp dial is not accurate. Had maverick probes in the grill surfaces both top and bottom, and temperature was 50 degrees hotter that built in probe. The vents are not responsive and the draft is disappointing. The exhaust is badly designed to be below the grill, you can easily over smoke if proper care is not taken with the amount of smoking wood. The material used for the fire box and stainless hood is very thin, very dangerous for kids that can easily get their hands scorched, specially since the fire box runs all the way down to inches from the floor. The tempered glass is a nightmare to clean and I have deemed it useless. Just from two smokes it is almost not visible. And I don't like spending an hour scraping the glass with a safety razor to clean because cleaning solutions from the store dont work, unless you want to get more heavy acid based solutions for cleaning commercial refrigeration coils. But not sure if it safe having that stuff close to where you will cook for your family. So I have given up and just dont clean it at all. So I cant even see nothing through that glass.
Overall the grill is a good idea and concept, just not very well designed although the excellent craftsmanship is noted from the minute you get it out the box. Excellent for grilling burgers, steaks, chicken, and even baking bread. But just not for smoking which is what I thought I would get with this do it all grill. Not the case and feel I would have been better served spending 3/4 less than what I payed for here. Thank GOD I did not buy the all stainless model. Be warned that this grill can get REALLY HOT 1000 plus degrees! so be mindful of children around and also look out for the powdered steel care. Since at that high of a temperature, the coat will burn and you will have exposed steel soon to rust.
I would not recommend this to my friends, only if they were filthy rich and did not know what smoking is.
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