anybody use a chargriller?

jerseysmoke123 · Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 2 Location: South Jersey

Hey Rick...
I was thinking of trying a bead of Silicone around the seams.
I am not sure of the melting point of Silicone,but I know it is pretty high.
I am going to try it out on a " test grill" i have and I will update you then !

PointSmoker · Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

Hi Gang!

I'd like to thank you all for the tips about using the Chargriller. I've used Webers for years with good results at grilling temps, and was never satisfied with the Brinkman smoker, so I bought myself a Chargriller last week to try out over the Independence day holiday.

I had some trouble keeping my temps anywhere near constant, and as other posters noted, my stock thermometer was reading 100 degrees low. The right hand side of the smoker was definately hotter than the left, as well. I'll be trying out the suggested modifications.

The thermometer can be calibrated by rotating the hex nut on the back - I calibrated it against an oven thermometer on a gas grill while grilling hot dogs.

I would NOT try RTV. I believe it's good up to 400 F or so, but I imagine it outgasses.

I have two questions:

My firebox drawer doesn't seat in the center of the firebox opening. I'm thinking of bending the welded rails to try to reposition the drawer. Has anyone seen this problem, and is there a tried-and-true fix?

I was disappointed that this heavy grill has the same wheel assembly as a lightweight gas grill. I rolled it about 20 feet over grass and immediately broke a wheel! Does anyone have any experience with upgrading the wheels?

Thanks for a great forum! Keep smokin!
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jerseysmoke123 · Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 2 Location: South Jersey

Hey Point Smoker !
I was re-thinking the Silicone smoke seal would NOT WORK so good..
Perhaps a wood stove door gasket (that rope looking stuff)...that is raited for high heat..but how to attach...??....have to wait 'till Depot pulls down the winter stock !
I have read on this fan-tabulous site,that guys have fit pnematic or heavy dutty lown mover wheels to there smokers..may want to pursue that route ! I wouldnt think it would be that hards to get them to fit.....seems like this site has a lot of engineers that used to work for N A S A !! LOL
These wheels would be a seasonal thing so again,If Depot puts 'em up,it may be harder to get...
What side did you mount your wheels on..the fire box side or the other ??
seems like a topic i've seen here before !

I have to get goin'
Talk at 'ya soon
-Jersey

Frank19 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 76

Well thanks to the advise of a lot of people on this forum I decided on buying the Char-griller. I bought the grill last night and I have three minor complaints. First, the warming rack was broken when I took it out of the box. Not a big enough deal to wrap it all back up and take the grill back. Besides, when I do the mod that lengthens the chimney I don't think you can use the warming rack anymore anyway.
My second complaint is the darn stickers that are put on the outside of the grill and the smoke box are way too hard to peel off and it looks terrible. I am going to try and scrape them off with a razor blade tonight.
My last complaint is that knocking out the piece of metal on the grill where the smoke box attaches is way to hard to do with just a hammer and a punch. I was able to get three of the holes and the center piece popped out after about 15 min of pounding on it. However, I still have three holes I can't get out. I am going to have to drill them out. It's not a big deal but it was frustrating that I couldn't finish the job in one night and now I need to borrow a drill from work to get it done.
Obviously things can go a lot worse than this and overall I think the grill is good quailty expecially for the price. After work today I plan on finishing the install and then getting a fire going to season the iron grill. I am also going to attempt some cooking on it tomorrow and I will do the mods like the thermometer, chimney and damper later on when I have the materials.
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roxy · Posted: Jul 07 2006 Post subject:

You guys who buy the chrgriller need to ensure that the firebox is in the same box as the grill. If you do this simple thing you will find that the fire hole cut out is already removed... No sweat, frustration. no problem. I had my grill together in just over a hour.

I strongly recommend this again. Make sure the fire box is packages with the grill or you are not buying the smoker version of the grill. You are getting a grill with a firebox and all that work is left to you with no discount.
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Frank19 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 76

I wish I could have bought it as one package. I looked around but no one had it locally. Home Depot had no Char-grillers at all and Lowes only had it where you had to buy the fire box separatly. I'll get it installed but I'll just need to drill out the holes.
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RICK_IN_LB · Posted: Jul 07 2006 Post subject:

Frank it is a piece of cake. Just don't forget to raise the charcoal/wood basket or the ash will smother the coals.

Frank19 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 76

I saw on here somewhere that someone bent the warming rack to make a charcoal basket and raise the coals up and also away from the vent. I think I may give that a try until I can get a real basket.
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SPOKANE SMOKER · Posted: Jul 08 2006 Post subject: Charcoal Basket

Char Griller has charcoal baskets for $10 on their website www.chargriller.com. Someone on this thread had bought a couple of them and hung them from rods going thru existing bolt holes that hold grill grate in fire box. I was going to order a couple till I happened upon a heavy duty chrome wire basket that works great. Just thought I'd let you know.
Kevin
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Frank19 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 76

Thanks for the tip. I will look around at the local store and try and find one soon.
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Frank19 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 76

Just wanted to thank everyone again for their advise on this grill. I cooked on it for the first time this past weekend and the chicken and ribs came out great. The only thing I still have to do is get a thermometer for the grill. I was sticking a meat thermometer in occationally to check the temperature where the meat was and it was roughly 220-250 degrees. The thermometer that is higher up on the grill stayed at about 175 degrees the whole time so there definatly is a difference in the readings from that high up.
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roxy · Posted: Jul 11 2006 Post subject:

wnkt · Posted: Sep 03 2006 Post subject:

I just found that my post on what my chargriller mods looked like got lost in the crash...I am going to post it again.

Here is the internal smokestack mod. All I got was a 3inch in diameter stiff flexible metal dryer vent hose and cut it off to length, just so it will rest under the lip on the lid.

And then I took the rest of the hose and put it on the OUTSIDE of the smokestack to improve the draw.

And I just turned the charcoal tray over and hung it inside the main chamber

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tonedef131 · Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 15

Does anyone have the rotisserie seen here:
http://www.chargriller.com/shop/bbq-grilling-accessories/bbq-grill-rotisserie.html
I really want one for my grill but it looks like you won't be able to close the lid with it mounted, this doesn't sound like a very good design.

Molson · Posted: Sep 09 2006 Post subject:

you should be able to close the lid, it has cutouts for the rotisserie mount.
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Simcoe County Smokers

wnkt · Posted: Sep 09 2006 Post subject:

It does look like the "Warming Rack" might be in the way. I had to remove that when I wanted to do a beer can chicken and never put it back on, I dont use it anyway.
_________________
Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded. - Tim Allen

tonedef131 · Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 15

Doc1680 · Posted: Sep 11 2006 Post subject:

Here's one answer to the therm. problem. I use 2 digital therms mounted with alligator clips like this. Sorry it's dirty. I've been cooking all weekend.

I don't lift my lid except to spritz.
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Doc

sledgehammer03 · Posted: Sep 16 2006 Post subject:

Chris35 · Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 12

Here's the charcoal basket I added to my Char-Griller.

Materials:
2 1/4 - 20 x 24 inch threaded rods, course threads
Char-boil shaker basket

Got all from Lowes for about 16.00 dollars

Hope someone find this useful.

Chris