I bought this grill at Home Depot about a month ago for $99. I had been thinking about buying the very popular Weber Gold grill for $149, because that's a proven choice amongst BBQ'ers. The selling points for the Weber was the grill grate had the sides that flipped up if you were indirect cooking. The two charcoal holders for the grill were $15. I was also going to buy the little "tool holder" caddy that mounts to the side, $4.99. Total cost for the whole setup= $170. The other thing I liked about it was the ash catcher. I had the box loaded up in my cart until I saw this grill, the Char Broil 435.
The MAIN selling point for this grill,the cast iron grill grates. Anyone who has a cast iron grill pan will attest that cast iron delivers even heating and easy clean-up, and will essentially last indefinitely. I am able to do the same indirect cooking method as the Weber because there are 3 removeable grill grates on this model. EASY to add more charcoal! (This unit comes with a cast iron handle thing to easily remove the grates.)
Another great feature I like as opposed to the Weber is the hinged lid. Trying to find a spot for a 22.5 grill lid on the porch with a bunch of kids running around is an issue. But NOT with this grill. It also has the front table that you can hinge down out of your way, and the handy non moveable side table. It also has a handy storage area underneath.
The charcoal height is also adjustable, which is a GREAT feature for doing the various types of grilling or BBQ'ing or smoking you're doing. It also has wheels on the one side to help roll it around.
It was fairly easy to assemble, unlike some other brands of barrel smokers I've read about on Amazon, CharGriller in particular. Took about an hour and three beers.
The directions reccommend a first 2 hour BBQ to burn off any residue inside. I used some lump charcoal for this because it burns hotter and longer. After that I immediately used it. Oh, and it has a temperature guage!! Triple bonus!! I was really happy with the results. You can cook a TON of food on this grill. Plenty of grill space, yet not very much floor space is taken up overall by the grill. Plus, it being a barrel style grill as opposed to a traditional circle grill, it just "fits" better on the porch.
All in all, if you're doing a price comparison/cost analysis of grills and want similar features as I did, I would highly reccommend this great grill!! Worth every cent!
UPDATE!: May 10, 2012. Have used the grill about 15 times already, and I still love this grill! Even cooked/smoked a 14 frozen turkey on it!!! It fit perfectly on one grate. I took the other two out and put a Weber foil pan underneath and charcoal on each side, turkey in the middle. It was easy to add more coals each hour, and I was able to keep a consistent 325 degrees for 3.5 hours on a 50 degree day. GREAT GRILL!!
DOUBLE UPDATE!: May 30,2012. Still using this great grill on almost a daily basis, and I still think it's great! I've found that it works really great as a smoker. I smoked some ribs in it for three hours. It does a really good job of maintaining a fairly consistent temperature. I also have been adding a light coat of vegetable oil on the outside of the grill to keep it from rusting and to keep it looking brand new. Great grill!
TRIPLE UPDATE: June 12,2012: The wire metal secondary warming rack area is only held on by 4 bolts and nuts, two upper and two lower on either side, which turns out to be a really great "bonus feature" in that you can EASILY remove it for cooking bigger items like a turkey!!
NOTES:
Krylon sells a Rustoleum matte black high temp paint that I plan on using if this grill shows any signs of rust or wear.
Bought a Brinkmann 55" grill cover for ten bucks at Home Depot too and that fits it well.
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I have had this grill for about a year now. I absolutley love it. Where you put the charcoal is about the same size as the cast iron cooking grates so with that combination you can always achieve a nice even cook. The price was great compared to other grills as well.
Quality-
This is a great product. Usually a grill for this price will start rusting and falling apart. I have had this grill for over a year and it is going strong. I use it severl time a week.
Smoking-
I love to use this as a smoker as well. I have used hickory, cherry, and misquite chips and it leaves the food with a great smoke taste better than just what the charcoal can do. You have to be sure not to put to many chips on though or you will end up drying your food out.
Grates-
the cast iron grates are awesome. They are easy to clean and cook the food very niceley. Just to show how big these grates are i will tell you i have cooked to full racks of ribs at the same time which is pretty nice. I also have cooked about 12 burgers at once while cooking shrimp and sausages on the top grates.
Tempature-
the tempature is pretty easy to keep stable. On the side it has an opening to let air in. It take a little work at first keeping the right temp but once you get a feel for this it is so easy.
Cleaning-
So easy to clean, grates come rigt out no problem and you can just wash them off. Make sure that you dry them off really nice though or they will rust.
putting it up-
it took about a half an hour to put it all up. the direction were very simple and it took no time.
Price-
Great price for what you get. I know home depot usually have deals that if you buy a charcoal grill you can get a free bag of charcoal, so just keep your eyes open for deals. I picked mine up for about 100 with a free bag of smoking chips and charcoal.
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We're planning on cooking out even in the winter, I'm a charcoal fan, and so far everything we've cooked has been great. The temperature gauge is handy. A lot of cooking surface. My husband had no trouble assembling this thing. My only suggestions, buy the optional gease catcher, a grill mat if cooking on a patio, a rapid fire starter (chimney), and a good grill cleaner! Have fun.
Honest reviews on Char-broil American Gourmet 600 Series Charcoal Barrel
For those who want to return to Charcoal this is a good first step. The product is MASS produced with the same problems as any MASS produced item. Things are stamped and spot welded. By that I mean the quality is not there. An example is the bracket for holding the fire pit is stamped and spot welded. On my grill it was bent so I tried to bend it back into shape and it broke. Then what can you expect from and entry level product. Do not expect to assemble this product by yourself, I did and it was not a pleasant experience. By myself it required two hours work for a 45 minute project. This grill performed well the first time I used it and I am improving on the use of the smoker. All in all, I am very pleased with this product and again it is a good first step.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Char-broil American Gourmet 600 Series Charcoal Barrel
I assembled in about 30 minutes, not bad, all parts are in the box, you need to read the instructons for assembling as it has so many similar parts and srews.
I used for dinner, amazing results, even our toddler ate all her steak.
Definitely a good product for the price.
