Since the members of this forum gave great advice to help me choose a pellet smoker for my husband (Recteq 1070, which he loves and uses constantly), I'm going to ask for the combined wisdom of the group again: I want to get him a grill for direct heat searing. Goals: 1) Must be ultra-easy to use and to clean. The 1070 is, which is why he uses it so much. 2) Must be stainless steel. Everything rusts here, and maintaining non-stainless steel violates the "easy" rule. 3) Must produce direct heat searing results as good as his formerly beloved charcoal Weber kettle grill. He's not thrilled with searing results on the 1070 with grill grates or a cast iron griddle.
I'm considering a gas grill, the Recteq Bullseye 380X, and the Weber with gas start. I'm not worried about cost--he gets a ton of use out of the 1070 and will out of a direct heat grill, too, if it's easy enough. Gas seems easy and comes in stainless steel, but not sure if he'll find the results acceptable: he doesn't think the flavor will be as good as charcoal. The 380X seems easy, we already keep pellets on hand, and it's mostly SS, but I have no idea how the flavor compares to charcoal. The Weber with gas start may slightly easier to fire up but getting the charcoal ready will still take a while, and it's not SS so it'll eventually rust like the old kettle grills. But since it's charcoal, he'll get the same flavor. Oh, and I've looked at pellet smokers that have direct heat zones, but the advantage of a separate grill is he can use it at high heat while the pellet smoker is at low heat. Advice? Experience? Thoughts?
I'm considering a gas grill, the Recteq Bullseye 380X, and the Weber with gas start. I'm not worried about cost--he gets a ton of use out of the 1070 and will out of a direct heat grill, too, if it's easy enough. Gas seems easy and comes in stainless steel, but not sure if he'll find the results acceptable: he doesn't think the flavor will be as good as charcoal. The 380X seems easy, we already keep pellets on hand, and it's mostly SS, but I have no idea how the flavor compares to charcoal. The Weber with gas start may slightly easier to fire up but getting the charcoal ready will still take a while, and it's not SS so it'll eventually rust like the old kettle grills. But since it's charcoal, he'll get the same flavor. Oh, and I've looked at pellet smokers that have direct heat zones, but the advantage of a separate grill is he can use it at high heat while the pellet smoker is at low heat. Advice? Experience? Thoughts?