How is this for doing a few burgers, or steaks? It seems great for large amounts of food.
1293046
I have used this as a "grill" only once. As stated earlier, the grate is well below the lip of the barrel, so getting to burgers and other items that require you to use a spatula to flip them is difficult. Hog dogs and brats are easier to turn with tongs, but it is a long cook on them based on the distance away from the coals, in my experience. Based on the sear I like on steaks and chops, I have not even tried to grill them on this.Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this smoker and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for one, but this is not the best grill I have ever cooked on. I have used this as a "grill" only once. As stated earlier, the grate is well below the lip of the barrel, so getting to burgers and other items that require you to use a spatula to flip them is difficult. Hog dogs and brats are easier to turn with tongs, but it is a long cook on them based on the distance away from the coals, in my experience. Based on the sear I like on steaks and chops, I have not even tried to grill them on this.Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this smoker and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for one, but this is not the best grill I have ever... » Read More I have used this as a "grill" only once. As stated earlier, the grate is well below the lip of the barrel, so getting to burgers and other items that require you to use a spatula to flip them is difficult. Hog dogs and brats are easier to turn with tongs, but it is a long cook on them based on the distance away from the coals, in my experience. Based on the sear I like on steaks and chops, I have not even tried to grill them on this.Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this smoker and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for one, but this is not the best grill I have ever cooked on. « Show Less
1293047
The grill grate is about 8 inches inside the barrel. The charcoal is about 20 inches below the below the grate. This makes it harder to turn your burgers and steaks than a standard grill. I don't expect you can get a good sear either due to the distance from the coals. I don't use it for things I want to cook fast.
1293048
I haven't cooked on the grill yet but the most cooking space is the vertical space in the barrel not the grill. So, the grill is smaller than a typical weberbut you could still cook app 6burgers at a time
1293049
It's good for pretty much any amount of food. I would just use less charcoal and it would still cook great.
1293050
I haven't cooked burgers or steaks yet. It makes fantastic chicken and ribs.
1293051
This is a "cooker", not just a smoker. It came with a grill attachment that cooks just like a charcoal grill. Makes the best smoked foods I have ever had and we owned a big green egg in the past.
1293052
I haven't grilled any burgers or steaks, but have grilled vegetables after smoking meat. Because the flames are farther from the grill, it takes a bit longer, but if you starter when the fire is first going, it should grill very well. My fire was 3 hours old when I grilled the veggies. I love the cooker.
935828
Yes, its an ok grill. I think one of the problems is that it loses alot of heat through the top. Wish Char-Broil would put a reflector insert under the hood. I'm not impatient to get my food done, but the longer I leave burgers on the grill below 350 the drier they are. I'm thinking of putting heat reflecting tape on the inside and maybe outside. That may help. of course I may end up poisoning my family
1059814
Its great for bread too!!! It adjusts to the size of the item you put in the slots. I have even toasted hamburger buns with success!!!!
1659309
It's good for sauteing and for slow cooking Chinese casseroles. I have cooked rice in it once; it came out moist and good. Let me know if you have any more questions. :]
1166151
You could use it to "broil" hot dogs and hamburgers since it does not have a "grill."
1484160
Awesome. This thing works great for everything steak, burgers pork loin, chicken. You name it, it works
1297217
It is really not a very powerful grill. The temperature at the lid thermometer gets up quickly. But with only 22000 BTU, the grate does not have as much heat as a 40000+ BTU grill.It will sear a steak with some time but it is not as powerful I had hoped.
1775941
Hello, I primarily use it to grind chicken breasts, which grind into a nice, clean, burger consistency (has 2 sizes of dies for meat). The product works surprisingly well, is well made and solid, easy to clean, doesn't feel like "cheap" plastic. I just feed the chicken breasts into the hopper (big enough to accept full size breasts), and turn the handle, and it does its thing, hard to believe how much ground meat a single breast makes, you can have pounds of fresh ground chicken in no time. Great buy. Hope this helps.
171534
It's large and will hold a lot of ketchup. I think it would work for many food items.
643742
It expands pretty wide. I have not tried a steak, we like ours on the outside grill. Makes great burgers though. I think the thickness shown in the picture attached is pretty accurate for the distance between the plates. I think you could get a 2-3 inch steak.
607972
Yes, that seems a very likely use of the grater. I have not used it for that specific purpose but I cannot see it not doing just that. It does everything very well
282928
Haven't used it since last football season and I usually cook steaks, but I would guess about 6-8 burgers would be about right (If you make your own, more if they are store bought). Depending on how you laid them out on the burners, only half the burner has the "grates" so the grease wouldn't drip off as easily, but it's never really been a problem for me. The "solid" part of the grate has come in helpful though when cooking other things as it works like a mini griddle. But you can try to find close up pictures of the grates to see what I'm talking about. Hope that long winded answer helped. Haven't used it since last football season and I usually cook steaks, but I would guess about 6-8 burgers would be about right (If you make your own, more if they are store bought). Depending on how you laid them out on the burners, only half the burner has the "grates" so the grease wouldn't drip off as easily, but it's never really been a problem for me. The "solid" part of the grate has come in helpful though when cooking other things as it works like a mini griddle. But you can try to find close up pictures of the grates to see what I'm talking about. Hope that long... » Read More Haven't used it since last football season and I usually cook steaks, but I would guess about 6-8 burgers would be about right (If you make your own, more if they are store bought). Depending on how you laid them out on the burners, only half the burner has the "grates" so the grease wouldn't drip off as easily, but it's never really been a problem for me. The "solid" part of the grate has come in helpful though when cooking other things as it works like a mini griddle. But you can try to find close up pictures of the grates to see what I'm talking about. Hope that long winded answer helped. « Show Less
2111076
I have 3 of these, including the XL. I have a family of six and it has been perfect for 6 small steaks, burgers, a whole tube of sausage patties, etc. all at once. I've had them for 8 months, and I use at least one of them daily... the XL the most. So far I've had no problems with scratches or with the surface just plain becoming less non-stick. I try not to use metal utensils, and I do wash them by hand. They are very easy to clean and take up too much room in dishwasher anyway. I know where you're coming from. I had about decided to purchase a cheap pan and plan on replacing it yearly, but so far, so good with these. Ask in 5 years, right? That's the test.
2079083
I've used the meat grinder - and i'd say it works well. it's a small attachment - small capacity - and you just keep adding the meat. The power /motor seems adequate.
1631630
It depends on what you define as large. I have used it to do batches of ground meat that were upwards of 25-30 lbs and the grinder did a wonderful job for me and I can barely keep up with it. I also admit that I am an amateur and only do batches like this a few times a year.
2169052
Yeah, I would say that's about the size of the grill top. I could definitely imagine it handling 5 rows of 5 burgers.
1189469
I also bought it for grinding steak it made great hamburger hope you enjoy it as much as I do, hope this helped you out