Having JUST shopped for grills recently, this is a killer deal, especially with the free shipping. Too bad they can’t come put it together for you too!
Neighbor has one. It’s good for direct grilling (e.g. burgers), but doesn’t have the heft for slow and low bbq (e.g. brisket). If you are looking for an inexpensive grill for fast and direct, this is a great deal.
A word of warning: My mother-in-law purchased a four burner as it was on sale at Home Depot. The lid doesn’t close all the way (the rubber bumpers keep it from slamming as well as closing all the way). It doesn’t seem to impede the cooking of things so much as extend the time it takes to cook them (read: ribs. I know, it’s a travesty to cook them on gas. Don’t hound me).
Just be aware of this potential issue. You have been warned.
I own the two burner + side burner version that looks just like this and since buying it in Fall of 2011 it has held up as I expected. With the exception of a few nights where I forgot, I keep it covered and the outside is still rust free to this day. The inside of the lid has some weird paint peeling action going on though I’ve never actually seen any flakes come off. The wire that keeps the lid from falling backwards has stretched so the lid opens a lot further than it used to. The grate (mine has a wire rack) is starting to get thin and the grease deflectors over the burners are in various stages of rust but still functional.
Heat control is a challenge, the angled deflectors over the burners are kind of cheaply designed so temperature varies considerably over the surface of the grill. After a few attempts you’ll learn where you should put your meat to get cooked like you want it. With both burners on, the center is an inferno while it’s cooler directly over the burners themselves. I successfully cooked (that means without burning the bejesus out of them or ending up with raw meat) 8 frozen 1/3lb burger patties at a time on the 4th of July. The trick was to swap the inside two columns of meat to the outside partway through grilling so all of them got sufficient exposure to heat. With the third burner, this grill may not have that problem. I can’t cook a steak to save my life but I’m not sure if that’s the grill’s fault or mine.
For $80 this is a great “disposable” grill, I’m pretty sure I paid near $100 or so for my two burner version. By that I mean you pay little for it now and it’ll give you at least 3 years of good burger grilling service before it falls apart. I’m on the fence between getting this one or waiting until next year and getting a fancy stainless grill for a lot more money that will hold up better over the years.
Edit to respond to other questions in the thread so far:
Assembly: This is a one or maybe two beer job. The body on mine was pre-assembled and you just had to bolt it to the legs and add the side shelves. The burners attach with a bolt at each end and the grease deflectors just sit on ledges inside the body over the burners.
Burners: Char-broil claims they are stainless. Here’s the replacement part from their site, it’s basically a crimped tube with holes in it. On my grill, the bolt that holds the end of the burner into the grill rusted away but the burners themselves are still intact.
