Customer Reviews

Char-Broil Quickset 463531504 Evenflame 24,000 BTU Grill

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

 

 

I had a Sunbeam grill that I hated. I replaced the burners so many times, I could do it with my eyes closed. Then I needed new grates and couldn't find any that were a direct fit. I bought some adjustable grates and wired them together to make do. Finally, I had enough. I saw this Char-Broil (actually it was the previous incarnation of this model) at a Home Depot and bought it without a second thought. Knowing the experience I'd had with the Sunbeam, I also bought a spare burner.

It was not a relationship that started out beautifully. It was 102 degrees by the thermometer in my backyard when I opened the box. There were no instructions for assembly. I took out all the parts and thought, "How hard can it be. It doesn't require tools." But I couldn't figure it out. So I called the 800 number for Char-Broil customer assistance. If the temperature wasn't hot enough already, talking to three morons at this number made the mercury rise even more. Absolutely no customer assistance whatsoever. While I held on for an eternity as one of the service representatives tried to find some type of reference material, I finally realized there were parts missing from the box. So I called Home Depot and they told me to bring it back. They exchanged the grill for one already assembled.

That was the only bad experience I've had with this grill. It has continued to work well for the last three years. The igniter died in short order (to be expected, after all) but I'm about to begin my fourth summer cooking on this grill and it still has the original burner installed and the spare has never been out of the box. I use it year-round. It's left outside in a sheltered area. It doesn't get a whole lot of attention. It continues to cook right on along. In the past week, I've done a brisquet, a pot roast and a few burgers.

I prefer to cook on charcoal or to use an offset firebox smoker with charcoal and wood coals. But having a gas grill is convenient, requires less set-up and less clean-up. There's not a lot of refinement to this model Char-Broil. It's relatively cheap and kind of ugly. But it has proven to be reliable and easy to use for a number of years. If it self-destructs tomorrow, I will have gotten my money's worth. Highly recommended.

I was fortunate to purchase this grill pre-assembled, so cannot comment on the ease (or lack thereof) of assembly. Once assembled this grill is solidly constructed, compact enough to fit in a corner of a patio, yet large enough in cooking area to use for entertaining and feeding groups of up to 15 people.

I like the dual flame controls that allow you to set flame and heat intensity on one side of the grill differently from the other. This feature comes in handy when you want to cook steaks both well done and medium (or rare) and have them all cooked to order and ready to serve at the same time. The top warming rack is another feature I like - it is not only handy for keeping cooked food warm, but also for cooking vegetables while grilling meat or fish.

The unit starts reliably on the first try after many uses by turning on the gas tank, positioning the burner controls to start and pressing an ignitor button.

There is a small grease cup that is suspended under the unit, but sometimes the grease still manages to miss when dripping and mar your patio. I recommend a grill mat or placing a larger container on the floor underneath the grill to rectify this problem.

Flame control is fairly precise for each burner, and the range of heat produced on each side is sufficient for any style of cooking. I like the fact that adjacent burners do not interfere with each other - food being cooked on the right at one setting is not affected by the heat and flame setting on the left at a different setting.

Another feature I like is the side shelves, which are large enough to hold plates of prepared and unprepared food, as well as cooking tools and condiments. Since I upgraded to this grill from an older, round one without shelves I now wonder how I did without the convenience of the shelves before.

If you have constrained space and/or are on a budget this grill is one I highly recommend. It takes up little space, has a lot of advanced features (dual burners, shelves, etc.), and even comes with an empty tank, which adds to the overall value.