After having shared the secrets of buying a gas grill with you last week and thinking our current grill would last us another season, I have come to find out that grills have something in common with a more technology oriented item; the inkjet printer. You see our grill still works, sure the push button ignition failed last year, the grill grate needs replaced and it showed signs of weathering but it still got the job done. I spent some time last weekend cleaning it up, tightening bolts and I pitched the grate which you rest your food on with the plan of replacing it for $15 to $20 at a local hardware store. Boy was I wrong!

A new grill grate for our Charbroil brand grill costs just over a third of what I paid for the grill 2 years ago! It isn't a part that is no longer made, as the low end charbroil at most hardware stores has the same grate down to the centimeter. I find it difficult to believe that the high price tag is anything other than an incentive to simply purchase a new grill. The stores carried several other replacement grates in much larger sizes that fit higher end Charbroil grills for $15 to $25, but wanted $35 to $40 depending on the store to replace ours.

This reminds me of inkjet printers which typically go for next to nothing and come with starter ink packages. When these run out you can pickup a brand new printer for less than the cost of ONE new color cartridge! True the new printer will have the smaller starter cartridges again and you'll be clogging up a landfill but the urge to spend less is so tempting. The grill industry doesn't run on the same consumption principle that the inkjet companies do but that doesn't make me feel any better about their pricing strategies.

Keep in mind the cheapest grill may not be the best one for longevity sake. Anybody know of a hot deal on a grill in the coming weeks?

Summer is upon us and if you are anything like me you are ready to fire up your grill for some delicious summer steaks and burgers! If your grill didn't make it through the winter and you need to find a replacement for a season of outdoor cooking, then Consumer Reports has the information you need to make an educated purchase.
Aside from the standard grill purchase guide, it also released a video of quick tips for gas grill shopping.

One of the best pieces of advice for finding a quality grill this summer is to take a magnet to the store with you, (or if you are really frugal, borrow one from the hardware section.) This will let you determine the quality of steel the grill is made out of, the magnet will stick to the cheaper steel mixtures which typically rust quicker, so look for one which doesn't hold your magnet. The video offers additional advice including the importance of stability, external temperature and the grilling area when you make your next grill purchase.

Since our grill is relatively new, all I need to do is get a new grill to place inside and clean up the rest of the body and I'll be flipping steaks and brats quicker than you can say 4th of July! Looking back, I wish I had known these tips when I picked out the grill. While it has held up well so far, I doubt the model we purchased would pass the magnet test, and without an indoor storage place for the winter I'd be surprised if ours made it through another season without significant weathering.

Do you have any grill buying secrets? What is your favorite brand?