Customer Reviews

Char Broil Magnum 500 4-Burner Gas Grill, with Sideburner

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I see so many people that submit reviews here that don't even own the product. Well, I own a very similar Charbroil, so I can actually tell you how great it is.

Is a Weber better? Certainly. It also costs two to three times as much.

I can say that the Charbroil I have gets up to 500-600 degrees, perfect for searing meats. And everything we have grilled on it has been fantastic.

It is not made of high grade materials. Why? Because they cost much more. But they don't make the grill cook better, they make it last longer. So, you have to decide if paying $900 for a grill that lasts 10 years (you will still have to replace the innards two times) or a grill that lasts 3-4 years that costs 1/3 the price is best for you.

Personally, I like the latter. And there are ways to make sure your grill lasts as long as possible no matter what you buy. First thing I do out of the box is coat every stainless steel piece with WD-40. Every screw as well. And always the side burner. This rejects some of the moisture that builds up in these units.

Get a good cover. It makes a huge difference. A cover you can easily put on and take off is key, because you will use it, which, of course, is the only way it is effective.

I also take vasoline to every exposed screw and moving joint in the unit. I skip the ones that heat up, but there are so many places where rust can begin and it cannot begin under vasoline.

Repeating this process before winter and in the spring does wonders.

The burners will rust. Part of the deal. They rust in all grills because the heat impacts them dramatically. Be prepared to replace them at least once in the four years this grill performs for you.

Finally, look for Charbroil's and the like on sale. When you buy an expensive grill, they are rarely discounted that much. But Charbroil's and the like have regular clearances. We bought a last season model almost identical to this one, but that came with a rotisserie, for $199 (It sold for $369 the year before). And we got two free tanks of propane for our trouble.

Comparing a Charbroil to a Weber is like comparing a Camry to a high end Lexus. The Lexus, certainly, is a better car. But in reality, they both do exactly the same thing and the Camry costs a small fraction of the price. Compare apples to apples and never rank a product you don't own. It is unfair to those considering the product.

This grill is great for the price but I would shop local for a few reasons:

1. Lowe's put this one on sale a week after I got it on-line.

2. Set up is not too difficult but its not too fun either (Lowe's had free setup).

3. My grill was slightly damaged during shipping, can't happen locally.

Plenty of heat from the 4 burners, runs at 500 on low. Side burner is beter than most.

The thermometer in the lid is a great feature and one that you will not find on most

grills in this category.

I own this very unit, which I bought at Lowe's and not on sale. Yes it does rust but I have so many other complaints rust is the least. When you cook on this thing the oils and greases build up in the so-called infrared grids and really cake on, a lot of times clogging the holes. When grease drips through it will flare up and sometimes just catches fire. You cook for 30 minutes and you have 2 hours cleanup time if you want to prevent a fire next time. Many normal BBQ's you can turn up the fire and cook most of the residue off, can't do that here. If I had money to buy another BBQ unit I would give this one away!

This grill may be good for the price you are paying, but it last only two seasons!

I bought it in Home Depot 2 years ago and I have now the 2 side burners totally gone, I need to replace all of the(4) main burners, heat tent, plus the bottom of the grill has a hole!

Every time you cook you have to clean up at least 1/2 hour, of course it cook the meat /chicken quick.

I had mine with properly cover, good care, still...cheap parts, it is gone. I need another grill for this season.

In 20 years of grilling I've owned several grills and this one is the best! It heats evenly across the entire grill surface. I've cooked fish, chicken, hamburgers and steaks and not a single piece of meat has burned due to the design of the grates. The burners are protected from spills and should last a long time. Cleaning is a breeze! I heat the grill for 10 minutes after cooking and I use a wire brush while the grill is still hot. Any wire brush with long stiff bristles will do the job. I also like the fact that I can place wood chips directly on top of the grates.

As with all grills in this price range the metal is a bit thin, but this doesn't affect performance. That's really the only complaint I have.

Wow, a 4 burner dual fuel gas grill for around $300. It sounded nice. I bought this with a conversion kit, I wanted to use it with natural gas, on my deck. It came in a very large/heavy box, that the delivery man was nice enough to use his dolly, to take it to the back of the house, and he actually helped my husband carry it up the stairs and placed it on the deck. Inside this large box were multiple unlabled little boxes. My husband and I spent the next two weeks trying to figure out how to put this thing together. The instructions were helpful (pictures were great). We finally finished putting it together today and I noticed rust on the inside already. All parts have been stored in the house or under a grill cover (we bought with the grill) and we have not had the pleasure of cooking on it. AND YES, it has started to rust. Too late to send it back (too much of a to hassel break it down and repackage it) it is together now. Well for how ever long it last I hope it will cook well. If you are a serious griller, don't let the low price draw you in, go ahead and invest in a better quality product.

I purchased this grill 2 years ago and was happy with it initially. The first year was great but then the coating on the cast iron cooking surface started to bubble and peal off. The grill was cleaned and covered after every use, so I feel it was maintained properly. Once I replaced the cooking grates the gas rails themselves began showing serious wear and tear. It is now to the point in the beginning of the third summer of owning this grill it no longer gets up to heat even with a new propane tank. Overall good for the short term but BAD for the long haul. I would spend a little more money for a superior product, rather than go through this sort of headache again.

After heming and hawing over what kind of BBQ to get, we figured ANY BBQ would have about a 5 to maybe 10 year life with us because we are not going to clean it EVERY TIME we use it, and rarely if EVER will we clean the internal parts of the BBQ. We just want to be able to throw it open and slap some burgers, steaks and or veggies on it. We live in Southern California and can BBQ year round and we do. We are not fancy chefs and this gets the job done. We figured the infrared would be a pain in the butt to clean, and would probably not live as long as an old standard.

This is a quality BBQ for the price. We really like the side searer. My only complaint is that for some reason the back part of this BBQ doesn't seem to get as hot as the front. When we grill sliced zucchini, the ones in the front of the BBQ always cook faster. I like the side table for holding beers and plates. When we were shopping we went to Lowes, Home Depot and the BBQ Store. I opened and closed the lid of EVERY SINGLE one of them. I didn't want a super flimsy feeling BBQ, I found that this BBQ felt the best out of all the others in it's price range.

I'm really happy with it.

This grill is easy to put together if you follow the directions. It fired right up after we got it together. Food was wonderful!

My son just moved into a new home and I sent this as a house warming gift. The price could not be beat and the quality is super. He looks forward to cooking many meals on it. The shipping price more then fair. It arrived very quickly and assembled very easily. Thank you for a super product.