List Price: $299.99
Sale Price: $276.31
Today's Bonus: 8% Off
This is Char Broil's entry level model of gas grills. I've seen reviews for this grill that went from Garbage to Great. I've used it for about a month and I think it's very good for the price.
It has four burners so you can adjust your heat (using one, two, three or four burners) easily. I found that using just the two center burners on low works best for me. I also like that fact what the grills are close together so meat can't fall down into the fire box. I read one review that said they had that problem with it, but I tried to put a frozen patty between the grills and it's just not happenin'. They must have had really thin meat! The electronic igniter is also a good feature. But I'm sure like all gas grills, this will go out first.
The burners as well as the fire box are stainless steel so they will last longer that other metals. You should still cover it up during the winter months.
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The only disappointment with this grill is that the grease tray area is not removable like my previous Charbroil grill. My previous grill had an entire tray with a grease collector that also slid out of that assembly. It made for really easy cleaning. I'm wondering how I'm going to clean this one without removing all of the burners. Except for that this grill is a great bargain. The stainless steel burners are so efficient I have to cook with them turned down to almost off. Really can't go wrong with this deal from Amazon. I saved over $30 on this deal as compared to where I almost ordered it at Sportsman's Guide.Best Deals for Char-Broil 4-Burner 48,000 BTU Gas Grill, with Side burner
For the last 13 or so years, I've lived in an apartment complex where I wasn't allowed to have a grill. I moved into a house just a couple of months ago and one of my top priorities was finally buying a gas grill. I started looking for one in October, thinking I'd find a good clearance sale during the winter I was wrong.I originally planned to get a smaller grill that but after looking at grills online and locally for four months, I realized that for only $50 extra, I could get a larger grill that would be great for cookouts.
That was why I chose the Char Broil T480 4-Burner 48,000 BTU Gas Grill, with Sideburner, model 463440109. I also liked that I could order it from Amazon using my Amazon Prime shipping and have it delivered directly to my home. Buying the grill locally would have been a challenge as I wasn't sure I could fit one in my car and although I have a friend with a truck, he lives an hour away from me.
I have to admit, when the grill arrived and I unboxed it, I was a little daunted at how many pieces there were to assemble, but I've put together my entertainment center, bookcases, desk and more and have found that as long as the instructions are good, I have been able to do all of it by myself. Often, I find assembly instructions list the tools you will need to have handy at the beginning, which I find very helpful so I can make sure I have everything I need before I begin work. Char Broil did not provide this handy information, which disappointed me. However, I can say now that the only tool I needed was a screwdriver, although I found my FLASHLIGHT handy when working with the screws underneath the grill.
One of the first steps is setting up the legs with the bottom shelf and the middle wire shelf. This is when I realized the left leg was broken. One of the posts on the leg was bent inwards all the way down, just enough so the bottom shelf wouldn't fit between the two posts on the left leg. Although I know Amazon has an excellent return policy, returning the grill wouldn't be easy as I would either have to get the grill in my car to drop off at a UPS location or stay home from work to wait for the UPS to pick up, and neither solution was a great one. So I called Char-Broil, only to find the help line closes at 6:00 PM on weeknights. Luckily the next day was Saturday and they were open from 10-3. I was very pleased when I spoke with the Char-Broil customer service agent. He readily agreed to send a replacement part to me under the warranty and waived the standard shipping fee since it was a brand new grill. I spoke with him Saturday and the part was delivered the following Tuesday. Score 1 for customer service!
Tuesday evening I began assembling the grill. The new leg worked very well and most of the installation went well also. There were some hiccups where the parts referenced in the instruction were called something different there than they were in the parts list or were just not listed at all in the parts list, making it difficult to determine what part I should look for. For instance, steps 7 & 9 reference a `fascia', but I had no idea what that was and couldn't find it in the parts list. I finally realized it is the front panel on the side shelves. The real problem came when I reached step 10, where I was instructed to hook a `burner clip' to a sideburner tube and around the `manifold'. Lacking a clear photo of the burner clip, which was not listed in the parts list, I tried to fit another unidentified part to the sideburner tube while also trying to figure out what exactly the `manifold' was. I finally gave up and called customer service again the next day. The woman I spoke with was just as nice and helpful as the man I spoke with the previous weekend. It took a few minutes of conversation but she finally realized that I was describing a part that was not the burner clip. She described the burner clip to me, and I looked for it when I got home that evening. As it turns out, the `burner clip' in step 10 is called `Venturi clip' in the parts list. Without knowing what it was supposed to look like, I would never have connected those two names.
Once I had the correct part, it wasn't difficult to insert the Venturi/burner clip where it belonged.
The manual estimates it will take approximately 45 minutes to assemble this grill. It took me approximately 2 hours, probably a little more if you count the time I spent trying to figure out the burner clip issue. Of course, I have never assembled a grill before and expected it to take me about twice as long as estimated, so that doesn't bother me.
I have to say, Char-Broil could do their customers a better service by being consistent with the part names in the assembly instructions the name used in the parts list should be the name used in the step. Also, all parts should be pictured in the diagram there were several that were not pictured. Lastly, it would be a nice touch to add a tip to the beginning listing what tools you will need for assembly.
That said, I've now had to call their customer service line three times and will say without reservation that they provide absolutely top-notch customer service at their toll-free line. My only complaint there would be that I wish they were open a bit later on weeknights and on Saturdays.
After completing the assembly, I was excited to use the grill. My first attempt at lighting the grill proved unsuccessful at least using the ignitor. I was able to light the grill using a long match, however. When I finally had a weekend day that was nice enough to pull the grill outside and take a good look at the ignition problem, I finally saw the issue. Somehow I got it in my head that the first burner is the ignition burner. When using it in the dark at night, it was harder to see the words "ignition burner" under the SECOND burner. In the daylight, sitting eye-level with the burner knobs, it was easy to see. Once I used the correct ignition burner, it lit using the ignition button without issue.
But how does the Char Broil T480 actually cook? VERY well! The four burners give you plenty of control over the temperature in all four quadrants of the grilling area. The racks are different than what I am used to instead of wire-type grilling racks, it has racks that are like inverted v's. Supposedly they cook better, and while I can't compare them to the older wire type models, I can say they cook very well.
There is a nice sized warming rack above the grilling area, so you can remove items from the cooking area but still keep them warm. The left side of the grill has a burner where you can cook with a pot or a pan. This burner has a lid that turns it into a standard shelf when you aren't using the burner. The right side has just a standard shelf.
I keep the grill in my garage and wheel it out to the walkway when I cook with it. It rolls very easily across my gravel driveway and the concrete walkway.
Despite the issues I had with the assembly, I am very pleased with this grill and even more pleased with Char Broil's customer service. If I ever need another grill, I will definitely consider Char Broil again, and I do recommend the Char Broil T480 to anyone needing a grill now.
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