Worst bbq purchase you ever made

[Richard Chrz]

My thermonpen (the original one), my billows, the beer can chicken holder (to be fair, I did not buy that), the Weber grate with removable center as a primary grate,

[jfmorris]

Richard Chrz your Thermopen is defective if it does not turn back on when you close it and open it. Call them - they will service it or replace it under warranty. I had one that went swimming in the sink (thanks to my daughter in law who "washed" it) and eventually got hard to turn on, and they fixed it for free even past warranty.

The timeout is 10 minutes, and can be disabled by flipping dip switch #3 inside the battery compartment.

[jfmorris]

Here is the link to the manual with info on the 4 dip switches that change operation of the Thermopen Classic:

https://www.thermoworks.com/content/pdf/classic_thermapen_operating_instructions.pdf

If you flip #3 away from the battery, it will stay on the entire time it is flipped open, and not turn off.

I require 0.1 degree measurements for brewing, so long ago toggled switch Channels

[Razor]

I like my Billows. I’ll agree on the beer can chicken holder and removable center grate, although my Performer came with it.

[Michael_in_TX]

I just remembered another one. While it isn't the fault of the product.....I bought one of those jalapeno racks, you know the ones in which you put the jalapeno poppers in vertically.

Well, I forgot I live in Texas and our jalapenos are huge. They never fit! (Ironically, the rack was made in the shape of Texas.)

[Mangobob]

I second that. I also bought a jalapeno rack in the shape of the state of Texas. To use it, I think you’d have to order jalapenos by mail from the Yukon or British Columbia or wherever they’re tiny. Plus, many of the jalapenos now are TAMU (Texas A&M) variety and have about the same Scoville rating as lettuce or celery. Why bother?

[jfmorris]

I got one of those as a gift from one of my kids too. Used it once or twice while they were here, but it just didn't work very well.

[Razor]

Bought one, never used it. 🤦

[Skip]

Kitchen Aid Sausage Stuffer. Some individual Meat Thermometers for each steak...they were a gift and I never used them. KA Grinder works great.

[Skip]

KA Sausage Stuffer won't feed the ground meat into the casings very fast or evenly. Sorry.

[Andrrr]

Ha, no need to be sorry! Again I don’t have much experience making sausage so it’s very possible I just don’t know any better.

[TripleB]

Another useless kitchen tool I forgot about. I bought one years ago for my KA and found the same issues. Used once and now collecting dust (somewhere....).

[SheilaAnn]

While I have not purchased them, meat claws. Yeah, yeah, yeah, waiting for the backlash.

when BF and I merged households, i ceremoniously tossed the extra large bbq utensils with the rotting wood handles.

[jfmorris]

I actually find myself using those claws a good bit for the initial tearing into a hot butt on the cutting board, but have to finish by hand. What they work really well for though is picking up hot briskets and butts off the grill securely, versus trying to grab something that big with tongs.

[SheilaAnn]

TripleB best back scratcher? That funky "pasta" spoon thingy with the prongs. Maximum scratch coverage. See below as I cannot attach an 8mage to a reply.

TMI. Sorry. Not sorry.

[Razor]

jfmorris That’s exactly how I use mine. 😂

[scottranda]

Meat injector!!!!!!! I’ll hang on to it in case I change my mind. But haven’t used it in 7 years.

[JCBBQ]

Yup. Used once

[fzxdoc]

Use mine all the time. Melted butter for poultry breasts, phosphates mixed with homemade beef broth for injecting brisket flats and chuck roasts. Haven't injected a PB yet, but keep saying that I will.

I think it's the kind of thing that if you use it, you'll keep using it, especially if you see good results.

Kathryn

[Finster]

@fzxdoc
Do you always inject flats and chucks?
I've only done a flat once, and it was pretty dry. Injecting helps I presume?
Never had an issue with dry chucks, but not against trying an injection just to see what happens

[cgrover60]

Pellet Grill. Great tech and pellet fuel is easy to use until you have to vacuum the ash out after every cook and forget about trying to sear anything. A pretty good one trick pony I suppose until the controller fails and it's half the cost of the unit to replace it. I have been lucky though, have a Weber clamp on the handle grill light that works perfectly and burger press that's makes perfect fatties.

[Jfrosty27]

Really? I love my Recteq. Six year warranty that I have yet to use after three years in service. I don’t need to vacuum after every cook at all. Maybe every fourth or fifth at most.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

The brand you had may fit this, but my brand has a lifetime warranty, smokes amazing and grills pretty dang good... no vacuum needed.

[glitchy]

Memphis pellet grill - beautifully made, but grease fires galore. Bag stands for filling vacuum bags - always fall over or the bag slips out. Hunsaker Griddle for WSCG - absolutely nothing wrong with it, but why hassle with charcoal for a griddle? A couple grill lights that sucked. A cheap infrared broiler type grill. GrillGrates for gassers.

Probably even my Genesis. It’s the nicest gasser I’ve owned, but I don’t need it and try my best to use it as little as possible and haven’t cooked anything I couldn’t have done on my Traveler in the almost year I’ve had it.

[Andrrr]

I was at a cookout a few years back where everyone brought their own burger recipes to compare/compete. It was a pretty cool idea and was great to see other peoples approaches. Point being there were a lot of fatty burgers being grilled on his recently purchased Memphis and I think every guy lost a lot of arm hair that day. I couldn’t believe how bad the flareups were

[Whiskeyman53]

A Lodge cast iron grill pan. I've used it once, Grill marks are a good visual but it's a pain to clean and season. Love using a griddle but that pan is useless.

[TripleB]

Recently given one by my neighbor who was going to throw it out. I hate seeing CI thrown in the trash. But it is in my tool shed collecting dust.

[Razor]

I have the reversible griddle. Rarely does the "grill side" get used. Now the flat side is a different story.

[jfmorris]

Yeah... I got a grill pan lid for my Misen 7 qt Dutch oven a year or so back. I only ever use the conventional lid, and while I thought I would use the grill pan lid to "grill" stuff on the stove in the dead of winter, it has never happened. I seem to always reach for my Lodge 12" CI skillet or my 14" carbon steel wok if cooking on the stove!

[ILMsmoke]

Not that its a bad cooker, but my Gateway drum hasn't impressed me for $1200

[TripleB]

Very interesting. I just judged at a KCBS event in Norco, CA and I would have to say that probably 60% of the smokers used (37 teams) were Gateways or equivalents. Teams getting away from the low and slow and going with hot and fast.

[ILMsmoke]

I'll admit that I struggle to cook hot and fast brisket. Maybe I'm stubborn...

[Greygoose]

WSM,,,,,thing was not my thing,,,,,
SUCKED,,,,, gave it away,,,,,
couldn’t hold a temp and I spent a lot of time ,,,,and beer trying to figure the SOB out ,,,
that was 15 years ago
I have moved on,,,,,another bad memory,,,,😂🤣😂

[mnavarre]

One of those Brinkman charcoal bullet smokers, absolutely the most useless POS ever. Completely unusable. I'd have been better off spending the extra $70 and buying another kettle, which is what I ended up doing anyway.

[Finster]

Received one as a gift 15 or so years ago.
It was pretty labor intensive, but I got some pretty good Q out of it before it rusted out.. Especially considering I had no idea what the hell I was doing...lol.

[MsTwiggy]

Worst purchase was last weekend I drove 90 minutes to buy a used weber for $20. I had thought it through and decided I would
set it up with the Arteflame on it so I could leave my newer one with the SNS and stainless grate where I can deploy the Santa Maria. So I get there and the first thing I do is horribly kerb my rim on some patio stones that line the driveway 😑😑😑. Then i park and the lady comes to the door and we walk back to the grill. I tried to ask to look at it before we haul it out front but she starts dragging it out and then we get out front and shes like that'll be $20 so I give her the money and she darts inside. So I'm looking at the grill and it looks like a tree has fallen on it. Enamel is chipped everywhere the parts are all mixed up - wheels are not weber. Legs are newer chrome ones and rusted real bad. I should have left it in her driveway but I brought it home thinking maybe I could turn it i to a firepit or something. Then i stopped at the hardware store to get some emery cloth, metal polish and 000 steel wool thinking I could do something with it. By the time I was done deluding myself i was in $65 on something that is going to cost me another $30 to take to the dump. #%&@ ME!!! 🤨🫣😒
Oh and then to put it all behind me I spent $120 on a outdoor storage bin that my 22" weber grates and grill tools will fit in. 🤪🤯🤗
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🐿🔥🐿🔥🐿

include pic of redemptive purchase which may be my best BBQ purchase ever! And the cosmic balance has been restored 😎

[jfmorris]

Terrible story! That lady stole your money for sure!

[MsTwiggy]

fracmeister it's a rubbermaid deck box in size medium. I got it at amazon for $120. I found a brown one at Lowes but it was $50 more. fits the 22" grates and is very roomy.

[fracmeister]

I have several, but much larger. I need something to keep my shop vac in

[surfdog]

Probably my BBQ Dragon. It works, more or less, but it rarely gets used…and it’s pretty much just a glorified hairdryer, but without heat.

[RlsRls]

I just got one! I couldn't fine a battery operated hair dryer. Plus it clamps on to the PK 360 shelf. It's great for perking up some dying coals at the end of a cook to get just a little more char!!

[surfdog]

RlsRls Yeah, the clamp could be a neat feature…but it doesn’t really clamp to the WSCG in any meaningful way. So one gets to stand there and hold it instead. On the plus side, it is fairly quick, so it’s not like I’m holding it long. It still doesn’t get used much.

Batteries were irrelevant for me as the patios where my cookers live all have multiple outlets and are covered.

[radiodome21]

I don’t have cookers I regret buying because I spend a lot of time researching any big buys I’m considering. But I’ve definitely been gifted things that were completely useless. Cast iron mini burger press, a Weber grill light, various grilling utensil’s that were clearly on the clearance rack at Marshals (that’s saying something) generic grilling baskets that actually doubled the time for anything to cook in because they were that bad.

FWIW I love my grill grates.

So my worst purchase would be the stock Weber grill cover I bought for my first Spirit gas grill. Didn’t even last a year before it started to flake off and and become useless. It was expensive too but I thought that it would be worth the money since it was Weber’s cover. Pissed that it sucked I decided to not buy another cover which was a mistake. Eventually I had to replace the flavorizer bars and grates because they started to rust out.

[jfmorris]

I've been a fan of several brands of cover I found on Amazon - Texas Grill Covers, and King Kong - which don't get brittle, peel and flake like the Weber covers do. The vinyl coating is more pliable and hasn't gotten brittle despite years out in the Alabama sun.

[Mosca]

Lotta Grill Grates hate. And you know, I don’t hate mine, but I don’t use them all that often, either. When I’m making, say, burgers, my thinking usually goes: "I should get out the Grill Grates… Nah, they’re a pain in the ass, and then I have to clean them. I’ll just put the burgers over the fire." Even if I’m using the gasser, I don’t use the Grill Grates with it. They’re too much of a pain in the ass, and I don’t want to have to clean them.

[MsTwiggy]

I have grill grates for my PBC and they do really well there. I use them upside down most of the time. What I like is how they get hotter than the regular cooking grate but protect from flare ups. I have so many accessories for my weber they would be wasted there. But I love them on the drum smoker. 🔥🔥🔥🐿