Gas Grill Struggle

[jimbrown]

Boy Pat I am with you on these plants. I plant em and if they grow good and if they can't make it thru the winter too bad I plant something else. I ain't carrying them in and out.

I tried the jasmine here and they won't make the winter. we get into the low 20s. Plus they need more water than I won't to give em.

[Pat]

Thanks for the info, Egon, I was not familiar with that plant. Unfortunately it does not meet my criteria: 1. perennial, 2. likes wet feet.

(I'd compromise on the wet feet.)

fragments from the web site you referenced:

When to plant: Spring, this plant will not winter over

Soil: Well drained

I would prefer to find a plant that likes wet feet or at least tolerates them as the flower bed I inset in our patio stays wet all the time from ground water and had volunteer cat tails and horse tail ferns during our recent record setting drought.

If I could find a suitably scented perennial appropriate to our climate I would gladly make arrangements to give it well drained or whatever soil it needed elsewhere like for instance off to one side of the patio.

Pat

[Pat]

So... Lowe's called yesterday afternoon wanting to deliver gas grill #3. They picked up #2 and we tested #3. Everything worked. One of the delivery guys broke a flimsy AC outlet cover on the back by raising it too far. The other delivery guy was going to cannibalize #2 for the part but... I told him to skip it as one of the covers for the outlets was broken on that grill too.

About an hour and a half later I fired it up and put on six large T bone steaks and an then cut up a pineapple and put the chunks on between the steaks. I used a temp probe in one of the steaks to automatically monitor the internal temp to get it rare but not really raw.

The steaks turned out perfect and the dinner party was a success but... I need to read the manual and practice some. There are dual thermostats, timers and cooking suggestions for lamb, pork, turkey, fish, beef, chicken, hamburger, and so forth which display on a small computer screen.

What a statement on our society that yo have to try 3 gas grills to get one that works.

Pat

[Bird]

The biggest problem (for me) with having to get 3 before I got one that works would be that I'd never trust the one that worked. Instead I'd always be waiting and wondering when it was going to fail, too. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Bird, It wasn't a wear issue or a time to failure issue. Both of the units that were defective had handling problems. One unit had potential MFG problems but handling problems too. In one case someone had apparently used an aluminum gas line for a hand hold and bent the orifice assy that supplies gas to the rotisserie burner causing the fire to come out the back of the grill and burn some wires, including the spark ignition wire.

You can simulate computer failure by not plugging the grill into power. It still works manually. If it only worked under computer control I would not have bought it as I am not quite that trusting.

Pat

[egon]

I'm more shocked that you need a computer to burn meat.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Yeah, and I'm shocked we need computers to run the engine of our car, apply the brakes, or brush our teeth but that is the way of the world.

I don't actually NEED a computer to "cook" (burn???) meat but if you let it help you it makes it easier to get it right.

I find that left alone I can cook a bunch of things at the same time but when guests and wife all have to talk to me at the same time I can get distracted. The annunciator chimes sound this grill emits when trying to get your attention is helpful. It beeps when it reaches the temp you requested for the grill or the temp probe inserted into a piece of meat reaches the desired temp or ...

I know a youngster like you may find it hard to believe that we older citizens could possibly forget to monitor a "priced like gold" steak and let it be overcooked but that is the sad reality.

Pat

[Pat]

So far so good. I haven't cooked anything on the rotisserie yet but am looking forward to it. Although the unit has a cast iron smoke box into which you put your mesquite or whatever I find that so far everything I cooked went so fast that it didn't have enough time to get much smoke enhancement.

Looks like I am probably still in the market for a smoker and am still thinking cold smoke.

Recommendations accepted.

Pat

[Bird]

A rotisserie is one thing I miss. From 1972 to 1989 (2 different houses) we had big natural gas grills mounted at the edge of the concrete patios. We bought each of them from the gas company (Lone Star Gas) and they installed them, and I kept the rotisserie from the first one when we moved into the new house in 1977, so we used it for 16 years and it was still working when we sold that last house in 1989. Of course chickens was the most common use, but we also did beef and pork roasts and I even did a black bear roast once.

[jml755]

Was smiling and thinking about this thread when I threw a couple of salmon on the grill last nite. It's a pedestal unit on our deck, hooked to natural gas line from the house, installed about 1990. Igniter lasted a year or two (use a match or handheld butane lighter now), cover handle broke somewhere in there also (couple of bolts, piece of wood keeps me from burning myself opening the cover), thermometer is permanently stuck at bottom of scale, finally replaced one valve after getting tired of turning it with a pair of channel locks, other valve tends to shoot flames out the side every now and then, one of the burner knobs broke, got a non-matching replacement off a discarded stove on side of road, replaced the burner once (maybe twice?) in the last 18 years. Bottom grate rusted out and replaced few years ago. Black paint turned white due to exposure to elements some time ago (nah, I don't have a vinyl cover for it). Wife complained about how bad it looked and wanted to buy a new one while back. We went shopping........I told her there was no way I was going to take out a loan or mortgage the house for a barbecue grill. Bought a can of hi-temp black paint. Problem solved (or at least deferred for a while).

Brother and BIL both have huge Stainless Steel units with 49 burners, etc. Can't say that the food grilled on their multi-thousand dollar units tastes any better than those salmon filets did last nite. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]