charcoal grills, stainless steel and mesh

My charcoal grill is beginning to rust. It's rectangular, and it's got a tray which holds the charcoal that needs to be replaced. It's like 28"x18". I priced stainless steel from the local metal wholesale place, and a co-worker found me and woke me up a few minutes later because I had fainted when I saw the price. I could go carbon steel, of course, but does anyone recommend going with a (much cheaper) stainless mesh instead? Would that work OK? What is there now is a sheet with maybe 18 holes drilled in it. I am not really sure what the goal is. Is more air better for O2? Is it better to keep it solid to direct the heat towards the food?

I thought grills were only round.

I am faced with the same dilemma. It was beautiful here yesterday and so naturally I went to make meat with fire only to find that my grill had dissolved over the winter. I have tried the "Make your own internals" plan to find that unless you have the tools to work with stainless... it costs more than a new Charbroil at HD.

My choices are:
Weber: Tons of dough but my friend's is somewhere near 16yrs old and still cooking (he bought it the year I got married... jokes abound on which will outlast the other). He can still get parts from them. I'm easily 5 el cheapo grills deep on that same time line and I've repaired a few just to limp them along. It might be time to admit that like a decent welder... I get what I pay for in this area.

Walmart: They used to sell replacement guts in 2 sizes and its not hard to make them fit. They last a season or so.

Go ballistic: Skid of fire bricks, bags of mortar, pickup full of river rock and a rack from the stove... and make a yard chimney. I really like this idea - good for fires at parties and cooking, looks cool.

Is there anything I'm overlooking?

Yes. I need a sheet of metal to put my charcoal on that gets hung in the grill. Not a new grill.

Get a used weber off craigslist. get replacement grates from home depot or the like. Also if they dont have a certain part you can order it directly from weber.

We picked up an old weber performer grill off CL for about $80 2 years ago. All i needed to replace was the bottom vent. The new performers retail close to $300.

The standard webers you can pick up way cheaper on CL.

tuna55 wrote: Yes. I need a sheet of metal to put my charcoal on that gets hung in the grill. Not a new grill.

Sorry. I was projecting my problems on you.

In my defense... you could solve your problem with a giant yard chimney.

How about some stainless mesh used for a chimney spark arrester? http://www.amazon.com/Copperfield-Superpro-Arrestor-Stainless-Chimney/dp/B001D1J6G4

failboat wrote: Get a used weber off craigslist. get replacement grates from home depot or the like. Also if they dont have a certain part you can order it directly from weber. We picked up an old weber performer grill off CL for about $80 2 years ago. All i needed to replace was the bottom vent. The new performers retail close to $300. The standard webers you can pick up way cheaper on CL.

GAH! It's not the grate, it's a piece of sheet metal which holds the charcoal. I like my grill, don't want another, and don't want to spend $80.

First let me say that if you use a gas grill, the terrorists win.

Weber is the gold standard of charcoal grills, both in durability and cooking well. Spring for the one pictured above with the enclosed ash catcher, you'll thank me later.

Several years ago, Mrs. BDT purchased a giant, fancy-ass charcoal grill for my birthday, causing me to give up my Weber. I'm now facing the same problem as Tuna, but it will only be a temporary fix until I can find a good excuse to bag this piece of crap and get another Weber.

Broken, unwanted gas grills are everywhere and typically free (big surprise). They are two bricks and half an oven grate away from a very serviceable charcoal grill.

You would be surprised what you can do with a hibachi, but I haven't seen a cast one in years and the stamped steel versions are crap.

OK guys, I'll go get some more carbon steel and fix it for another five years. Thanks for the advice!

(at least nobody tried to tell me to put an LS1 in it)

maybe you should just replace it with a miata.

bludroptop wrote: First let me say that if you use a gas grill, the terrorists win.

That needs to go in the magazine.

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tuna55 wrote: OK guys, I'll go get some more carbon steel and fix it for another five years. Thanks for the advice!

The $23 SS mesh I linked won't work? I'd think you could just cut it up and lay it in for a lifetime fix. I'm sure if you went to a real supply place you could find tighter or thicker mesh too if you are trying to get less air.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

tuna55 wrote: OK guys, I'll go get some more carbon steel and fix it for another five years. Thanks for the advice!

The $23 SS mesh I linked won't work? I'd think you could just cut it up and lay it in for a lifetime fix. I'm sure if you went to a real supply place you could find tighter or thicker mesh too if you are trying to get less air.

The question was: Would a mesh serve the same purpose as the sheet metal or would it cause an issue? I don't really know the physics behind charcoal grills, is it better to allow more airflow from underneath or is it worse to allow heat to escape through the bottom?

depends on if the holes on the bottom of the tray, or the sides.

The grill I have used before that had a tray had the holes on the sides, the bottom was a solid piece, basically to hold all the ash as it accumulated. when it was getting full you had to pull the tray and dump it.

Personally, I like gold.

tuna55 wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

tuna55 wrote: OK guys, I'll go get some more carbon steel and fix it for another five years. Thanks for the advice!

The $23 SS mesh I linked won't work? I'd think you could just cut it up and lay it in for a lifetime fix. I'm sure if you went to a real supply place you could find tighter or thicker mesh too if you are trying to get less air.

The question was: Would a mesh serve the same purpose as the sheet metal or would it cause an issue? I don't really know the physics behind charcoal grills, is it better to allow more airflow from underneath or is it worse to allow heat to escape through the bottom?

I guess that depends - Mine has an adjustable opening so the mesh would work as I can slide the thing open for more or less air. The mesh is just a cradle for charcoal that allows the ash to fall into the cleanout tray.

bludroptop wrote: First let me say that if you use a gas grill, the terrorists win.

I use both. The gas one's primary job is (actually was, it's not an issue now) to allow me to cook somewhere other than in the house quickly and conveniently to keep the temps down inside.

The Webber's job is to do the actual grilling.

bludroptop wrote: Several years ago, Mrs. BDT purchased a giant, fancy-ass charcoal grill for my birthday, causing me to give up my Weber.

Was it a Big Green Egg?

spitfirebill wrote: Was it a Big Green Egg?

No - this:

I used piece of SS expanded metal in the bottom of my smoker, which also converts to a charcoal grill. It works fine

If you were close, I could give you a piece, because I have lots of it.

My brother in law filled up his gas grill with carcoal after something on it broke. The steaks tasted pretty good.

And I am a dork now.

Zomby woof wrote: I used piece of SS expanded metal in the bottom of my smoker, which also converts to a charcoal grill. It works fine If you were close, I could give you a piece, because I have lots of it.

Hey, an answer!

So you plop the charcoal on the mesh, and beneath it is air until the bottom of the grill? I always wondered which was best, because most circle type grills are set up like that, but this one had just a sheet of steel. Cool. Thanks, man.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I guess that depends - Mine has an adjustable opening so the mesh would work as I can slide the thing open for more or less air. The mesh is just a cradle for charcoal that allows the ash to fall into the cleanout tray.

Ash holes?

tuna55 wrote: Hey, an answer! So you plop the charcoal on the mesh, and beneath it is air until the bottom of the grill? I always wondered which was best, because most circle type grills are set up like that, but this one had just a sheet of steel. Cool. Thanks, man.

Correct.

Since the grill is round, I cut it square, and bent the corners down to make legs. You can adjust the height to alter the air space. Mine is about an inch off the bottom.

It's been in there almost 2 years, and hasn't degraded, except it's lost some shiny. The thicker the sheet, the better.