gav from the UK here. I’m looking to purchase a new grill and got my eye on the Weber kettle premium.
however, i saw a char broil 3500 in my local centre today and like the look of the size and features. What I’m after is if anybody has come across this grill and have any comments on it. I want to know if its any good at smoking like the Weber and what its heat retention is like.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
One thing I'd like to offer for advice is to think about how you'll use it. Will you be doing low & slow smoking where you need to control the airflow (and therefore the temps) to a reasonable degree of accuracy? Or will you just use it mostly for quicker cooks like burgers or steaks? The Char-Broil & similar types of square charcoal grills are great for capacity and ease of use, but they are NOT airtight and the vents are more for show than any real control. The Weber kettle will be you best option of you want accurate temp control.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
The Char Broil 3500 appears to be a European only grill. The German reviews on Amazon, once translated to English, appear to indicate it is a very poorly made grill with poor temperature control. I'll post a few of the more notable remarks here from the Amazon Germany reviews (pardon the translation). Based on those comments, I would go with the Weber:
"The entire sheet metal material is sprayed only black, so not scratch resistant. Now comes the coronation: after I lit the fire in the grill and closed the lid, the lid began to smoke ..... yes, the lid! The sprayed black paint dissolved in a radius of about 10 cm around the thermostat and hit bubbles, in places burst the color away. The glue with which the label was affixed also started to smoke. I may be accused of idiocy that I closed the lid when firing the coal, but a grill made of non-heat-resistant material does not seem to have spared me the idiocy of the manufacturer."
"The side panels / shelves also do not want to hang horizontally and give the tragedy still the rest."
"For grilling the device is definitely not to use, because the massive coal bowl prevents the necessary air circulation and the grill is thus only with difficulty at all to bring to temperature and this is unfortunately not able to hold - no matter which setting is selected at the air intakes."
I was able to cook some great food on a charbroil very similar to that one. My First Shoulder, Brisket, Ribs, etc... I now have a Weber 26†and it is a lot better, easier to control a lot less fire tending for low and slow indirect. I would go for the Kettle, it is a better Product.
Cheers for all of the replies and comments. Having done similar research I found a few articles stating that heat retention is a big problem, so that was the CB3500 out of the running.
I went with what I should have just done in the first place, the Weber Kettle Premium, £152, comes tomorrow. Raining in the UK but just bought some SLC rib's ready for the dust then smoking. Will post progress !
Equipment
Primo Oval xl
Slow n Sear (two)
Drip n Griddle
22" Weber Kettle
26" Weber Kettle one touch
Blackstone 36†Pro Series
Sous vide machine
Kitchen Aid
Meat grinder
sausage stuffer
5 Crock Pots Akootrimonts
Two chimneys (was 3 but rivets finally popped, down to 1)
cast iron pans,
Dutch ovens
Signals 4 probe, thermapens, chef alarms, Dots, thermapop and maverick T-732, RTC-600, pro needle and various pocket instareads. The help and preferences
1 extra fridge and a deep chest freezer in the garage
KBB
FOGO
A 9 year old princess foster child
Patience and old patio furniture
"Baby Girl" The cat
I am so impressed with the kettle - I did my first Rib Smoke on Saturday. The ribs themselves were supermarket bought and not the greatest quality with not a huge amount of meat on them sadly, however what meat there was was tender juicy and tasty.
Now, the Weber ! the heat retention is awesome, I lit one side in a basket using the same method you would in a slow and sear and the thing stayed at 225f barely moving for around 5-6 hours, incredible. Whats more, there was still loads of unlit coal meaning many more hours of burn time. I only used 1/4 of a bag of coal too.
Now to get some better meat from my butcher !
I will take some photos next time I get some better meat.
Comment