Customer Reviews

Char-Broil 463271309 M580 Quantum 4-Burner Infrared Gas Grill

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Well, I have owned the four burner Quantum for one year now. I purchased it at Lowes for $450.00 It's held up well, however, some shock adjustment was necessary, especially after the first few rains that it survived. It's kept covered, so I was in shock to see that the grates completely rusted after about a month on non-use and a few rain storms. However, the rust was only superficial, and cleaned off easily. All of the other exterior stainless steel does indeed stain if not kept relatively clean. Also, keep in mind that the tops of the side work tables and the cabinet base are not stainless steel, just painted with silver paint. While those surfaces have not rusted, any grease splatter left on the paint will permanently stain it. The thermometer on the hood was immediately rendered mostly useless by overnight dew after one nice summer night that the grill was not covered up. It still registers the last 1/3rd of the scale, but it's stuck 2/3rds of the way. Much of the silkscreened black printing, especially the safety instructions, on the bullnose of the grill have started to wipe off. There is some slight pitting of the chrome handle mounts on the lid, but no actual rust.

Regarding the performance. I almost NEVER clean the grates. It performs well even with stuff on the perforated infrared panel. I normally just preheat the grill for about 15 to 20 minutes, and most of what ever was previously there turns to ash. It still sears steaks beautifully after one year.

I made sure to contact Char-Broil within the warranty period to get replacement parts for ALL of the grates, the thermometer, and the lid handle. I should have also asked for a bullnose with readable silkscreening. So far the gill has performed very well. With regular cleaning and maintenance, the original grates will probably not rust through if they are regularly used. If the grill is not regularly used, the grates, and firebox will quickly rust away, probably within three to four years. However, with replacement parts, this grill should be serviceable for at least five to seven years. And, it will probably look reasonably good after that time.

It's not a "high-end" multi thousand dollar Stainless Steel grill that will become a family heirloom. For the $450 that I paid, including the in-warranty replacement parts received, it should last a reasonable amount of time, while still having the clean appearance of a Stainless Steel grill! But most importantly, it really does perform just as well as the multi thousand dollar grills. I have used Viking, DCS, Dynasty, and Ducane grills and this Char-Broil can do anything they can, (but it reaches searing temperature much faster and with better results)!

While this review is correct in stating the evenness of cooking achieved by using this grill, I caution you NOT to buy it due to the cheap materials. I have had mine 1 Year and have already had to replace the cooking grates three times. They just continue to rust. I clean it after each use, leave it uncovered during periods of good weather (as the Charbroil folks have suggested to help mitigate the issue of humidity), use the cleaning brush that is supposedly designed specifically for this grill, but nothing works. This is an extremely high maintenance grill - and I'm someone who takes care of his things. I do not expect to neglect the grill. I recognize there is some basic maintenance work required to keep equipment in tip-top shape. However, the maintenance needs of this grill far exceed that. If you're like me and want to be able to enjoy your grill while performing basic routine maintenance, this grill is not for you. Its needs far exceed routine. Also, the grates are only guaranteed for one year - shame on me, I missed that fact when I bought it. But what does that tell you? Charbroil's expectation of the life span of the most important part of the grill is only one year? I had a Weber with a grate guarantee of 10 years. It's back to Weber for me after making this one very bad mistake. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT BUY THIS GRILL!.

We purchased this grill, and within a month the 'electric ignitor' was shot. OK, we said, it's under warranty, we'll just call and get a new one.

Even though only 30 days old, they wanted to charge me $10 shipping to send me the new part!

I asked them how much it would cost them to ship then entire grill back to them after I took it back to Lowes where I bought it, and bought another brand.

After a minute on hold, they decided it would be cheaper to ship me the new part free of charge, but any other parts would cost me shipping. Told them that if it was w/in the 90 day Lowes return policy, I wouldnt bother calling them.

This is the first time I have ever reviewed a product. I am guilty of having gotten excellent products from Amazon and so didn't bother to give the good reviews that they deserved. This item was such a disappointment I felt compelled to write this review.

I purchased the four burner version of this and I was very pleased with the way it grilled food and its ease of use. That is on the plus side.

The down side is that even though I followed all the instructions on care an cleaning within 6 months the grill plates and housings were rusting out and the welds were breaking after a couple of times when I removed them for cleaning. Very poor welding and substandard stainless steel makes what would otherwise be an excellent product a very poor one. (note: I grill a lot!)

I priced replacements for my three grates with housings and with shipping they would be $140.00 which is almost half the price I paid for the entire grill at Lowes. And these would be the same crappy stainless that came with the unit.

I would gladly pay double that for high quality stainless ones that were welded properly and would last for many years.

The only reason I gave it two stars is for the excellent way it grills. the technology is sound, the product is just too cheaply made where it counts.

My first impressions of this grill were great. The grill it replaced was a bit of a cheapo but it did a good job after I learned how to get around its shortcomings. 5 years with the cheapo and it finally rusted out so I replaced it with the Char-Broil. One of the highlights of this grill is that it looks very nice and high end, my neighbors and friends were very impressed. It also was a great BBQ and could really put the heat to the steaks.

The problems started after about 3 months when I couldnt get decent heat out of it anymore. I did my best to keep the grate system as clean as possible but it really catches a lot of stuff and got tougher and tougher to clean as it started to prematurely corrode.

Once it stopped being a decent high heat grill, I switched to using my indoor gas grill for high heat applications and mainly used the Char-Broil for doing thing like ribs where I needed to cook for a longer period of time at 225-250.

It worked pretty well doing this for another 6 months or so. I bought a stainless rack to sit above the grates so I wouldnt get rust on my food but other than that, it did fine.

The final nail in the coffin was when I tried to turn off the burners after cooking some ribs and none of them worked. My guess is that the low heat for longer cooking times finally killed somthing in the controls. I had to turn off the gas at the bottle and after that have never turned it back on as it is pretty much useless.

Final verdict is this grill is a total lemon. Not even one year old and im trying to find somone to haul it away for scrap. Still looks pretty though as long as you dont open the lid...

I've owned this grill for about 18 months, and I'll never buy another Char Broil product, nor will I buy anything of this caliber at Lowe's again. Within 6 months of purchase, one of the burners somehow caught fire and melted the far-right knob off the front of the grill--flames literally began shooting out of the front where the now-molten plastic knob had been. I was able to turn the propane feed off manually before anything serious happened, but this occurred within full view of a patio full of guests, including children. Obviously that burner no longer functions, but I was able to seal it off and use the remaining three until I can replace this piece of junk. A month or so later, the electric ignitor crapped out, and now the grill must be lit with a gas match. I contacted both Lowe's and Char Broil about the issues and didn't receive satisfactory service from either company--in fact it was one of the most ludicrous phone menu nightmares I've ever experienced. Ironically enough, the family two houses down the street had the same problem with a different burner on the same model grill.

Buy this at your own risk--definitely not worth the money and downright dangerous.

I will agree with every negative thing I read about this Grill . The one thing I will add if you change it over to natural gas you get about ˝ the BTU's this is very bad for such poorly designed grill that suffers from poor heat already.

RUST ! Within two months of use ( maybe 8 uses) the grates were totally rusted. I contacted Charbroil and they asked me to send them pictures of the grates, which I did. They sent me a replacement set. I use the Charbroil Quantum brush and a Charbroil cover. The new grates rusted through within a few months. I went back to Lowes to complain and they told me that this is a common complaint about the Quantum grills. I will now contact the manufacturer again to complain. While this may not be the most expensive grill on the market, it is not cheap. Never again.

I was apprehensive about purchasing this product because of the negative feedback about the grates rusting prematurely. I decided to read more about this product, and found that the grates must be seasoned just as you would an iron skillet. I decided to take a chance and make the purchase, and I couldn't have been more satisfied. I finally have the even heat that the cheaper grills cannot provide. The 4 burner system along with the IR(infared) grates makes cooking a delight. I can set my watch to the time I need to flip my steaks and can actually walk away knowing there is no flare up or uneven heating. The steaks are perfect, and cleanup is easy. The auto clean function shuts off the grill in 15 minutes. After dinner I just use the cleaning tool to scrape the ash, and re-apply the oil to the plates. If you are not willing to take care of this grill, then don't buy it. If you take the few minutes to re-season it, this grill will pay dividends. If you are not used to a 4 burner grill, I would suggest getting an extra tank of propane as a backup and a fuel guage (screws right with the tank) you can purchase locally (Lowes or Home Depot). 4 burner grills use more propane, and you don't want to be running out right in the middle of your cookout.

This grill didn't even last the entire grilling season before the grates were all completely rusted and the ignition switch was useless. The aluminum body cover is cheap, easily dented, and hard to clean. Never got around to using the extra burner because we got so frustrated just trying to use it for basic grilling. Now, in order to grill, one must pick up one of the filthy, rusty grates in order to light it manually. What's the use in a $500 grill that doesn't live up to its promise? Unfortunately, we didn't realize the problems were not because of us but because of a bad product. Now too much time has passed and we no longer have a receipt. If you buy this item, first of all, register your product so you can follow up with Char-Broil. Second, keep your receipt so that you can at least return the thing. Apparently, Char-Broil does not stand behind their product, warranty or not.