Tale of Two Grills

On Saturday, I bought a new grill in preparation for my annual party on Wednesday. I was tired of the using the old charcoal grill that I inherited with my apartment. It was pain clean out the old ashes, a pain to light the charcoal even with a chimney starter, a pain to grill just at the right time. So I got the cheapest gas grill I could find. Yesterday, I tried it out because I had never cooked with a gas grill. I couldn’t get the gas cylinder screwed in. I think I had it cross-threaded. It wouldn’t light. Then, it wouldn’t unscrew. I think I may have been turning it the wrong direction since the directions said turn counter-clockwise to undo which is wrong. Finally, part of the burner broke off with the regulator. With a better grip, I was able to get it unscrewed. But now the cheapo grill was broken. I sent an email to the company and would like to get a refund but I don’t expect much from $20 grill.

Today, I bought a new grill. I got a [Weber Baby Q](http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2007/q/Q100.aspx) which is a well-reviewed portable. It was expensive enough that there were cheap standup grills for the same price. I wanted the portable since I can see taking it camping. It was much easier to setup unlike the cheap one which had to be assembled; three screws vs eleven. The cylinder screwed in perfectly. I did have to remove the cylinder holder since I had a 16.4 oz bottle and it takes longer, thinner 14.1 oz bottles. The flame lit easily; I could fine the starter button unlike the cheap one. The construction is solid. I didn’t worry about it falling off the little table. And the food was yummy.