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March 28th, 2022, 7:20 pm
#1
* Abilene ** Abilene *
  • Joined: March 28th, 2022, 6:37 pm
  • Posts: 1

I've been mainly a charcoal grill guy for a long time. Never could do the gas... and my wife and I love the flavor or everything with charcoal. Never did like propane gas.

My most consistent judge (for me) of how a grill cooks is how does it handle our steaks. We get 60 day aged CAB ribeye loins from a buddy that owns a restaurant, and we like them charred really well on the outside and between medium-rare to medium on the inside. I generally take them up at about 130-135F. I use a large amount of charcoal, keep the cooking grid about 6 inches off the coals piled up, and cook 20-24oz ribeye steaks in 8-10 minutes. Tender, juicy, and favorable.

I had been using a large propane tank custom grill (HUGE) for several years but then when we built our outdoor patio I decided we needed something smaller that doesn't take up as much room. Most of the time we are only cooking the two steaks, or pork country-style ribs, pork chops, sausage, wings, small quantities, so a small grill is better.

We tried the Otto Grille (propane radiant 1800F) but it was a major pain to clean each time we used it, and it really didn't cook the steaks any beter than I can cook them on a charcoal grill. Plus it was really only good for steaks.

We tried the Large Big Green Egg... horrible overall. Hard to cook on it, hard to maintain the temp, almost burnt myself several times from unexpected flare-ups, and my wife hated the taste of the charcoal they recommended for it. She is not big on wood flavor, and neither am I... we like the charcoal flavor better. We could use regular charcoal in the Green Egg, but all the other things caused us to sell it. It was also aggravating to clean. I never have been able to figure out what all the fuss was about those grills, but hey, if it works for you, so be it. It was too much work for me.

Right now we have the PK grill... small all aluminum and it works okay. I'm not complaining about it.

A friend told me I had to try out the Yoder... never even heard of it. But I'm always looking to experiment and see if I can improve on what I have now. But I am concerned about it being outside and somewhat exposed to the elements... rusting out etc. We've had steel metal grilles over the years and even though under cover, they still rusted within a few years, and the insides never held up. The PK we have now is all aluminum and stainless cooking grid.... should last a while. I'm also worried about losing that charcoal taste with pellets, as well as the ability to char a steak like we like it.

So my questions for those with Yoder experience...

How complicated is it to operate and maintain high temps for steaks?
Can you char steaks with it?
Do the charcoal pellets create the charcoal taste?
How hard is it to clean?
How do you deal with rust within a few years?
Is it seriously worth that much more money? (I don't mind paying if it is.)

Thanks,
scoobie

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