After visiting a few home shows and BBQ stores, I found that you could spend a lot of money on a wonderboard built island.  Wonderboard is that stuff that is sort-of like concrete in a board (like plywood, only harder and much more durable).  But, when complete, they are hollow sounding and they just don’t feel that sturdy.  For some reason, I have this crazy idea that it needs to be sturdy enough for me to jump up and down on.  A grill made from block was for me, but these islands are more expensive than Wonderboard.  The answer?  DIY

Keep in mind, I am not experienced with masonry other than laying a brick border around my grass in my last house.  After reading through a couple good Sunset books on BBQs, I decided that I would make it out of cinderblocks with a concrete poured top.   Check out Sunset Building Barbecues & Outdoor Kitchens and Beehives, Barbecues, Fireplaces, and More: How to Build an Inviting Outdoor Entertainment Area. I bought 2 doors and a side burner from Barbeques Galore so I would have exact measurements on everything.  With graph paper in hand, I spent a week or so trying to get a design on paper, and even drew out brick-by-brick how it would be built.  I was ready for action!

In Mid-October I rented a concrete saw and jack hammer from the orange store and began cutting away the portion of my patio where my island would go.  Since the concrete was only about 4 inches thick, I needed a deeper footer for the grill.   It took me 4-5 weeks in tiny spurts of time to get the piece of the old patio cut out and and hauled to the dump.

Impatience prevails (Mom/Dad, which of you did this come from?).  In the beginning of December, I called Martin to get the job done quickly.  He did most of my landscaping at my new house, so I knew I would get a good deal.  So much for DIY!

Martin’s crew poured a footer about 12 inches deep directly beneath where the cinder blocks would go and about 8 inches deep in the remaining area.  The footer is reinforced with rebar.  The bricks were pretty quick to lay after the footer set.

Even though the curved bench was in my original plans, they seemed to have made it an afterthought since the footer was not poured at the same time as the grill’s footer.  I hope it doesn’t crack because the footer isn’t very deep…(sigh)

A piece of plywood was kept in place with 2×4 legs to act as the bottom of the countertop pour.  A form was built on top with holes for the grill and side burner.  The counter top is about 4 inches thick.

One thing to notice is that the door opening is too tall.  I am wondering how the solution is going to hold up to cracking, but a second pour was done to create a concrete “shelf” above the door hole.

After the counter top cured, the cinderblock backsplash was added.  The brick got a layer of stucco and it was ready for tile.  The finishing on the tile is a bit sloppy, but otherwise, I am pretty happy with the job….especially for the price. 

Electric is a must have, so I had them wire a permanent light (Designers Edge L-856 Fixed Mounting Bar-B-Que Grill Or Workbench Utility Light) on the counter, an outlet on the side of the grill, and an outlet underneath the grill.  The one underneath is where I plug in my transformer for my landscape lights.

One thing to note is that I am still using propane due to the cost to install natural gas from the front of my house to the grill island.

Below is the second grill that I added recently (about a two years after the original island was built).  I replaced the side burner since I only used it once.

GrillDude Related Posts

Adding a 2nd Grill to My Island

My Turbo Elite Grill

-GrillDude

Happy New Year!   I hope you, your friends and your families had a great Christmas and are bringing in the new year by grilling! Oh, and maybe a few resolutions like “grill more veggies and fish”, “spend more time with family…grilling”, “grill instead of frying”.  

I missed a couple weeks of blogging, but it certainly wasn’t without grilling.  We had a lot going on so I thought I would share in a 3 part post.  I feel stupid since I actually got a cool new Sony Cybershot camera, and only have a couple pictures to share this time around, but had a ton of grill activity.

For More about my New Grill Addition, click “Read More” below:

New Grill Addition

Everyone keeps asking me if I really need 2 grills.  Well, I have made it this far without 2 grills, so I guess it isn’t an absolute need, but I am sure I will find enough family and friends to come over to create the need.  When my wife and I started planning for the New Year’s Day brunch, I was going to need 2 grills since our menu was mostly grilled stuff.  Eventually, we backed off and ended up grilling fewer items.  But the idea of 2 grills was now stuck in my head. 

I hit Craigslist, AZ republic, and other web sites hoping that I could find a good used grill just like my existing one.  I ended up calling Barbeques Galore Outlet store on Camelback Road and found that they had an Elite Turbo STS used (one step up from my existing Turbo).  Even though they don’t match, it was a great price and you can’t even tell it had been returned and it certainly didn’t look used.

Since my island is built from cinder block and has a 4 inch concrete top, this took me a few days to get the side burner whole cut bigger.  I rented a concrete saw from Home Depot for the big cuts, bought a concrete blade for my skil saw for medium cuts and a small angle grinder for the finer cuts.  I also had to pour a new concrete shelf above the door, repair tile, patch the stucco and paint.  But, I love doing this stuff even though I am a novice.

So, now I am prepared to feed a busload!

- GrillDude

I love my Barbeques Galore Turbo Elite Grill. Read on to learn what I like and dislike about this grill. 

My Choices 

When we signed contract on our second house, my old grill on a cart was falling apart.  Since build time on the house was over 8 months away, I decided that I would buy a grill that could go in a cart or an island, and that could be converted from propane to gas.  I did a lot of research on which grill to buy.  The grill I wanted was a 30 inch Viking, but I was having a hard time parting with $3000 (plus the cart) before moving into a new house.  So, my new first choice was a 30 inch DCS. 

One Saturday night, grill cart on my old 2-burner Charbroil gave out on me and it wouldn’t even stand up.  Sunday, I went to buy the DCS, but the place I was going to buy it from was not open on Sunday and I could not find any place that had the DCS I was looking for.  And since I just HAD to have it that day, I turned a well thought out purchase into an impulse buy.  I went into Barbeques Galore and with their help, I found that the Turbo Elite met my needs at about $1000 with the cart and it had more surface cooking area than the Vikign and DCS.  It has been about 3 days of cooking each week for the last 4 years and I don’t regret my purchase at all. 

Stainless Steel 

Let me tell you a bit about my grill.  Even though the model has changed a bit, this info may help you if you are thinking about buying a grill.  It has a double-walled stainless steel hood and stainless steel control panel.  This gives it a nice look and it is pretty easy to clean (but, my wife will tell you that I don’t really clean it that often).  The grill grates are beefy stainless steel, which are great for retaining heat.

Burners 

It has 4 cast stainless steel burners.   I never thought I would need that much room with a family of four, but now I couldn’t imagine having fewer than 4 burners.  There are two main reasons (translates to available surface area).  First, if you are going to do indirect heat, you have to put your meat over a burner that isn’t on.  If you are cooking a turkey or something large, this may mean having 2 burners off.  Second, we have people over often enough where we do end up using all 4 burners.  6 steaks and veggies can eat up most of the space.   

The hood has a thermometer, which I rely upon quite a bit for mainaining temperature for long cook times.   When I start my grill, I always turn all four burners on high with the lid closed until it reaches about 450 degrees.  This chars the crud on the grates from the previous grill so that it easy to scrape off.  The 15,000 BTU (I think) burners aren’t quite hot enough to get a real hot seer, but that hasn’t been too big a deal to me.  The back portion of all burners are a bit higher heat which I think is an advantage since I can move things around the grill for different temperatures if needed.

Rotisserie 

My grill didn’t come with a rotisserie, but was an optional add-on.  I eventually added one and cooked a few prime rib roasts and a few chickens.  Maybe it is a better experience to have a rotisserie burner, but I really don’t use the rotisserie anymore.  It almost seemed to cook my rib roast from the center.

Ceramic Briquettes

These are contained in 4 separate trays.  The trays lift out so you can get to the burners.  I have not replaced them yet, and now that I am writing about it, I wonder if I need to.  Anyway, I think that they they help with the grilling flavor the more they are seasoned.

Smoker Box 

It didn’t come with a smoker box.  I have never used a smoker box before, but it seems to be a waste of space when you are not smoking something.  You can accomplish the same thing by just wrapping wood chips in foil and setting them on the grill or directly on the burner.

Upper Rack

The interior height is shorter than the Viking that I was looking at.   With the upper rack in place, I have less than 5 inches between the grill and the rack.  This makes it somewhat awkard to work with meat under the rack.  It is a good rack size and I use it often to slow cooking on some things to try to get stuff to come off the grill at the same time.  My biggest problem is that if I forget to take the rack off and I have already turned the grill on, it is difficult to pull it off with tongs.

Drip Pan 

The grill came with a drip pan that funnels into a smaller conainer.  I removed the smaller container and just put foil on the drip pan with some sand in it to absorb the drippings.   The space between the grates and the burners is perfect to put a disposable aluminum pan when cooking things that will produce a lot of dripping juice (e.g., chicken, prime rib, etc).

Overall, this has been a great grill.  I have been contemplating getting a second one to put into my island.

- GrillDude

Tongs - I own about 5 pair of 12″ locking tongs.  I will usually use 2 in any given grilling day (I am not very good about cleaning as I go). The longer ones are just a bit too long, and difficult to manage large cuts of meat.  Since their are locking, I can lock them and they will stay in my pocket easily.  Never turn your meat with a fork as you will lose valuable juices.  Not sure where I got these, but they are dishwasher safe.

Grill Light – Most of my grilling is for dinner.  And during the winter, this means that I am cooking at night a lot.  Cooking by flashlight or squinting under the back patio light just doesn’t cut it for me.  I really want to be able to have great visibility of the stuff I am cooking.  My island has a nice outdoor light that keeps me cooking into the night.  Plus, if you have a workspace on your grill or grill island, you can cut up your veggies or prep other food under this light.

Wire Brush Grate Scraper – You have to have one of these.  My current brush is stainless steel, and although I have owned brass before, I am not sure I can really tell the difference.  This works well for scraping off the majority of the drippings burnt onto my stainless steel grates.

Disposable drip pan – For indirect grilling, I use these a lot for stuff like prime rib roast, chickens, turkeys, etc.  I remove my grill grate and place it between the grate and the burner.  This way, I can place the meat directly on the grill grate and let it drip into the pan.  I often will put beer, water or some mixture in it to help keep things moist inside the grill.  It also prevents a huge mess under my grill even though I have a drip pan built in.

Platters – It makes for fewer trips into the kitchen if you can fit all the steaks and veggies on one big platter.  Anyway, my kids made me 2 of them, so I really like them.

Kitchen Syringe (Injector)- This is a must have for chicken and turkey.  These really help keep the meat moist and allow you to get spices inside the meat.

Meat Thermometer – When it comes to big cuts of meat or full birds, you really need one to determine doneness.  I also have a fancy $50 remote thermometer, but I don’t really seem to use it except for on the turkey.  But, today, I just bought a new thermometer that you leave in while cooking.  I will update after I use it.  

Racks and Baskets

• Fish Basket – Great for helping your fish from sticking to the grill.
• Beer Butt Chicken rack – This is a must have.  I never thought I would cook so many whole chickens on the grill.  Make sure you get one that will keep the can from falling out of the bottom of the rack. 
• Rib Rack – I actually thought these were silly until I cooked corn and ribs for 15 people.  These racks help you get more ribs on your grill by standing them up on their edges. 

Grilling Pan – These are great for grilling smaller chunks of veggies or meat and even shrimp and still allow the flames to come thruough the pan.  I have a favorite shrimp recipe that I will share in the future where I always use this pan.  Make sure you get one where the handle is as close to the base and horizontal as possible.  This way, you can close the lid on the handle while you cook.

Beer – Half the fun is having a beer while grilling!

- GrillDude

Today marks my entry into the blogging world.  I created this blog to share my interest in grilling, to to see how blogging works and what kind of interaction I get.  I don’t claim to be a Bobby Flay or Stephen Raichlen, however, their books have really helped me along the way.  I am just a regular guy who loves to grill and I fire up my Barbeques Galore Turbo 3-4 times per week.  Weather in Arizona gives me plenty of opportunity to enjoy year round grilling (and yes, I will even grill in 115 degree weather).  Gas has been my choice fuel source for about 15 years.  If I have to, I can cook on charcoal, but that is just too much work for as often as I grill.  I know there is probably a religious debate on gas vs. charcoal/lump coal, but it is too much prepwork for me and the ROI isn’t there for me.   Oh, grilling really doesn’t have anything to do with my career (and I won’t bore you with tales from the big company IT department).  Anyway, stay tuned!