Maybe I'm thinking too much of the Trager as for the "fancy" stuff. I'll admit I don't have a ton of experience with it and my impression is that it just takes longer. Not sure it gets as hot either for the burgers/brats/chicken? Perhaps I need to experiment with it more with those things.
You can bake pies, cook mac and cheese, etc. Just treat it just like a convection oven. For burgers & chik I set it to 375, flip at 7-8 mins, do another 7-8. Brats are lil less time.
I see Webers in good shape on FB marketplace for cheap. If you don't mind spending an hour cleaning one up, you can save yourself a bunch of money. I saw a newer version of mine for $100 with a full gas bottle included a few weeks ago. When people move, they rarely take them along.
I have to echo many of the replies already. Purchased a Weber Stainless Genesis in 2008, has spent almost it's whole life under a covered porch being used 3-5x per week in NY. Main components still clean up like new. To date I have replaced the flavorizer bars 2x, burners, igniter, thermometer, and gas line all once. I need to do the thermometer again, I think they die when it gets -10 degF and below. I see no reason why the grill won't last another 15+ years assuming parts and propane remain available. As mentioned by Spang I also see these on FB marketplace for $100 - $200 asking fairly often, worth watching if saving some money has some appeal vs. new. I'm in a different boat, my electric smoker recently died and I'm debating what I want to replace it with. Not sure I want another disposable electric one and while I have an endless supply of wood I'm not sure I want to commit to a stick burner. Pellet grill seems to strike a happy medium between the 2 but I don't need a grill. Nice to have first world problems.
I have a Weber Genesis II with four burners. Works great! It's about 9 years old and looks brand new. I keep a cover on it and brush the grates after each use. This past weekend I did a deep cleaning of it; pressure washed the grates, flavor bars and interior of the grill. I cleaned the burner "tubes" as well. It's like a brand new grill. This is what I have:
Mine looks a lot like the one above. The biggest issue is it being open underneath my crazy dog attacks the drip tray underneath. Had to put chicken wire around the bottom to keep him out. It must be nice to have a normal mellow dog.
Mine has a little cabinet underneath. Looks tidy with the gas bottle concealed and it's a good place to store a grill brush and such. Never considered it keeps critters at bay as well. Added bonus.
my Weber Spirit has a cabinet door as well. I didn't want the bottom exposed anyway, i'd rather it concealed
It's amazing how little they've changed over the years. Other than my burner controls being on the right instead of the front (which I like better than mine) they're basically identical.
My small KitchenAid doesw a decent job for the price I paid, but igniter just crapped out and replacing the battery changed nothing.
The gym i workout at had a raffle and I won this griddle. I guess they want to get me fat to continue going to the gym.
Honestly, another vote for just using the Traeger. I have the superior option of RecTeq but I use it exclusively now. Chicken at 375 for 8-10 minutes per side, cooked and juicy as hell. I just did burgers on it this weekend at 420 for my daughters birthday. I think I had 18 patties on the grill at once. Brats are awesome cause I'll put it on extreme smoke for 5-6 minutes to add some flavor and then turn up the heat for cooking. This weekend, I"ll be doing ribs or a pork butt....it's honestly perfect. I haven't used my BGE in years......if I were going to add anything to the grill game, it'd be a Blackstone griddle.
Yeah, I did about 3 lbs of chicken breast on the Traeger yesterday. Nothing fancy just a balsamic vinaigrette marinade on some, BBQ on some. 425 deg long enough to see 160 meat temp (about 30 min) and they were great, tender and juicy. I'm going to give the charcoal Weber a rest for a while and try doing everything on the Traeger for a while and see how it goes. So far so good.
I cooked some wings on my Traeger last night. Fiance said she thought they were the best she'd ever had. I wish there was a direct heat option for searing and true grilling, but it seems to work well for everything else. It's my second Traeger btw. Bought one probably 10 years ago and had two motors burn out. The new ones seem to have corrected the issue but if you do have one make sure to empty all pellets and clear out the screw drive before you put it away for a few months. Those pellets eventually turn to saw dust and then a pretty firm mass of crap that the screw can't power through which leads to the burned up motor.
