Not Exactly A Max Good Grill Test

[Jim White]

If you want a good laugh, this article over at CNN is a howler:



Granted, they probably wound up in the right place with Weber kettles being the best mass-market option, but, oh, how they got there.

After describing how to start a batch of briquettes (they mentioned lighter fluid but thankfully didn't use it, opting for a chimney), they walked through the point of lit briquettes getting distributed in the cooker.

But check out how they ran the "test", especially for burgers:

For our tests, we cooked hamburgers on direct heat for four minutes on each side and then compared their level of doneness. We also grilled chicken leg quarters by searing them for two minutes on each side over direct heat and then finishing them off with indirect heat until they came up to a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The two Weber grills both cooked our hamburgers to medium rare, while the Oklahoma Joe’s, Cuisinart and Char-Griller all ran slightly hotter and cooked our test hamburgers to medium. We cooked burgers on the Napoleon grill with the cooking grate at its highest level, which was pretty far away from the briquettes. Our test hamburgers only cooked to rare on the Napoleon. Each grill did a great job searing the chicken leg quarters while still leaving them juicy on the inside. The Oklahoma Joe’s Kettle Grill and Weber Original Kettle Grills gave the chicken skin the deepest sear.

In no case did they say a thing about cooker temperature or vent settings. They did have thermometers because they did discuss the accuracy of the built-in thermometers, but it really looks like they "compared" cookers based on cooking burgers four minutes on each side, temperature and other cooking conditions be damned, and then reporting the doneness. At least for the chicken they did cook until a safe temperature.

I wonder if someone ate those rare burgers...

[Dan Deter]

[rickgregory]

Actually I kind of see what they're doing. Most people still grill when they 'BBQ', so those cases are probably not bad fits for the mass market they're talking to. For the burgers, I don't think they're saying "you should only cook to rare" but it's a test of heat output. I don't know that it has much meaning, given the variability fo charcoal, etc but I see the logic there.

As for vent settings and temp probes... again, most people just don't get into it that much. They fire up their Weber to cook burgers, hot dogs, some chicken. We're very much outliers.

[Attjack]

I agree and most any chef is typically cooking their burger to medium-rare.

[Oak Smoke]

Outliers, that’s a nice way to put it. There’s a tee shirt idea somewhere in there.

[Huskee]

When in a kindergarten class, you talk to them like kindergartners and give them kindergarten skills. No one who knows anything goes to CNN to learn to "BBQ" burgers. So I guess if you do go there, this is all you care to know.

I do find it embarrassing that they think the grill itself is what makes burgers done or overdone with zero mention of cooking heat or level thereof. That's like saying I got to Florida in 18hrs in a Dodge, but 25hrs in a Chevy. Is there, perhaps, any key pieces of info left out of this equation... I have to applaud their efforts for kinda sorta trying to do a helpful test, glaring flaws notwithstanding.

[Old Glory]

It goes against everything this Tribe stands for...cooking the food to the correct temp. The charcoal is the variable. Learn your grill know how much charcoal to light to get to a specific temp. Then cook the food to your desired doneness. The temp of the grill can be adjusted, the time the food is cooked can be adjusted. Those two variables are what you change not what you should judge the grill on.

[bbqLuv]

It is the cooker and not the cook. That is what I have been missing.
After all these years I was thinking it was me. Gald to know it is the grill.
Thank you, CNN.
Unless this is fake news.

[Clark]

Huskee Fortunately, it was on CNN so very few people could possibly have seen it.

[DavidNorcross]

I think we could all teach them a thing or two....

[FireMan]

DavidNorcross , NO! They haven’t a clue as to what they were doin. You would first have to teach them the basics on cookin, then start tackling outdoor grillin aspects of things. The big tip off was the Napoleon being "way far away" like in never, never land & the burger came out rare. They cook in another galaxy.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

In the words of all our Southern brothers and sisters: Bless their hearts!

[Huskee]

I grew up thinking that was a legitimate compliment. It wasn't until we went south and my southern aunt explained it's a sarcastic "compliment" to a dummy that we learned the truth!

[Huskee]

For comparison, here's a Max Good test: https://www.seriouseats.com/best-cha...grills-5190740

[Jim White]

See, even though it's at Serious Eats where folks are as nerdy as here, to me, this is written in a way that would be accessible to most of CNN's audience of folks with little to no grill knowledge. So I stick with the CNN article being just silly overall.

[Andrrr]

FireMan Master of the road Weber’s…. even the pic of the 18” doesn’t have an ash pan. We need a ruling here

[Huskee]

I wonder if the lack of an ash pan affected how their dumping of a chimney of coals cooked their burger to the proper doneness....

[Polarbear777]

It’s best that the masses don’t know how to cook low and slow anyway. That will temper the price increase on brisket, ribs, etc.

I blame this site for people learning how to cook stuff and raising demand

[Oak Smoke]

He’s right. I used to be able to go to Nocona, Tx and get a nice pair of boots for 60 dollars. Then Urban Cowboy came out and they went to 200 dollars. The masses could really strike again.

[FireMan]

Ok, the ash pan & Road Weber Pic just fortifies that They……do……not…..have….. a clue…. of …..what…..they…..are…..doing!

[Jared49]

😂😂 what he said!!👆🏻👆🏻