Char-Broil Kettleman TRU-Infrared Charcoal Grill in Blue - 21302145

I saw my UPS man struggling to get this big box out of his truck so I went out to give him a hand. Needless to say this thing was pretty darn heavy! When I opened the box I was seriously impressed with the packing, plenty of formed styrofoam protected everything! So far A+!!I read about some people having problems with the nuts and bolts and the whole Made in China syndrome. I can say that I was definitely impressed with the hardware. The nuts and bolts were stainless steel and I could pretty much torque it down a lot more than I thought I could! When I put it together I did use blue Loctite just to keep things from shaking loose over time. The instructions are simple illustrations that a 10 year old could figure out. One thing that I LOVED was the fact that the nuts, bolts, and washers were packed on a sheet of cardboard and covered in plastic. On the back was the letter of each piece of hardware identifying where it went. I should have taken a picture to show you but I was excited and forgot. I know we have ALL bought Chinese stuff where all of the hardware was tossed in a bag together and it took you an hour to separate all of the parts. Not so here!!!I was excited to get cooking on this today so I decided to do something "easy"... I did the Fire Roasted Grilla Meatloaf from Nibble Me This dot Com. LOL, I should have started with something different but I love meatloaf and never had one on a grill! I started about a half basket of charcoal using the Weber charcoal chimney, I also used the paraffin starters instead of paper. Those little things are AWESOME!! I spread the coals around the outside edge and put a piece of aluminum foil in the middle. I made the meatloaf and put it on a piece of Reynolds stick free foil, and put that on a cookie sheet. When the coals were up to temp I simply slid the foil with the meatloaf off of the cookie sheet onto the grill. I cooked that to about 125 degrees at which time I slid the meatloaf off of the foil directly onto the grill. I cooked it to 160 degrees and took it off to rest for a few minutes. I also grilled zucchini with butter, salt, and pepper.WOW, it came out awesome!! I used 2.5 lbs of hamburger btw instead of the 2 in the recipe. It took a total of 55 minutes on the grill, and it came out tasting smoky and delicious! I used regular Kingsford charcoal and also used 4 apple wood chunks. I had zero flareups, of course I was using indirect cooking.I have owned Weber Kettle Grills for years, along with a Weber Gas Grill, and the Smoky Mountain Smoker, and I have to say that this grill is much sturdier than a Weber Kettle, and the legs actually bolt to the kettle,they don't just push in and "click"!! It is sturdy and strong, and definitely a keeper!!

I picked this over the Weber Kettle as I valued the ability to sear at high heat more than the multiple uses of the Weber. Granted, Char-Broil advertises this grill to do many things from searing to low-and-slow however for my money the searing is the ticket as I have a dedicated smoker for low-and-slow.Back to the Kettleman.I can get the cooking surface to over 550 degrees with just two-thirds a chimney full of lit briquettes. That's something right there folks! You can easilily do zone cooking with half the surface at high heat and the other half at low for indirect action.But for my money the cooking grate sets this apart from other grills as flare-ups are so well controlled they are virtually eliminated. Yes, as some reviewers all over the web say it is not one of the easiest grates to clean but let's be real: it's not hard either and a thorough scraping of the top and bottom (which is very important) let this baby work perfectly to flavor your food with zero fear of flames and flare-ups scorching your meal.I like the wheels and the clever little locked lid design which allows me to easily pull the grill anywhere around on my deck depending on the sun, wind and company! The coal collector is easilky removed and replaced.Admittedly I have not tried to do anything low-and-slow on this unit but all the reviews I've read and videos I've watched lead me believe it will work fine with long, indirect cooks. My rating is based upon my wanting a meat-searing, charcoal grill with little flare-up issues and this one fits that bill perfectly.

Bought this grill as a result of reading all the good reviews by grill Masters, who have indicated if they charcoal grill they used their Weber kettle grills in the past, some of them have said they have gone completely to the Kettleman now that they have it and much prefer it . It is very well built, nothing like the old models of Char-Broil grills. I have only grilled hamburgers and a steak on it since I got it, but have to say it really does a fantastic job! I love the way it convection cooks, also allows you to sear meat if you desire. It also uses about 1/2 of the charcoal that I used to use on my old grill. The hinged hood is a real benefit and the hood latch is something I have always thought would be useful. I used to have a big Duracane stainless gas grill, and paid a fortune for it.......this grill does a way much better job of grilling and at a fraction of the price! Actually I can not find anything with this grill that I do not like. I would recommend this Kettleman to anyone who is interested in charcoal grilling their food. Just a mention, I put the grill together, however had a hard time installing the legs, would be much easier if you had a second person to assist with that part of assembly , the rest was a piece of cake! You can not beat the price, I paid $105 for it and today I see where they have reduced the price even more......I might buy another one at the price quoted today.