Portable grill question...
 

I am looking to buy a portable grill for my parents for christmas. My Dad loves to grill and has a really high end one at home, but is out on his boat all summer and tailgates in the fall. I am thinking about getting the Webber Q but didnt know if it was worth the money. Any opinions...

Living in South Florida and having friends with boats, I know plenty had stainless steel Webbers for their boats. they mounted on the edge and hung over the side. Stainless is important in the ocean due to rust. However, they are quite pricey....

Grills are one of those things where I think you get what you pay for.

I've never seen the Weber-Q in action but I have used the Weber Portable. The portable has been decent but the grill grates wore out pretty quickly and needed to be replaced. It was all good though and easy enough to find the parts. You have to love the sound of searing meat on a hot grill :D:D:D

Now there's happiness!

http://www.weberbbq.com/photo/396001alarge.jpg

One of the best investments I've ever made ws my portable grill. Easy to carry, easy to store. You can take and use it pretty much anywhere. It would be perfect on the boat, and any beach you land on.

You can't beat Weber in terms of burner-life. Unless things have changed, their tubular/seamless stainless steel burners were the bees knees -- never wore out, never cracked, and put out heat efficiently and evenly (OK, OK, I used to work in a barbecue store!). I gotta tellya, that Weber-Q looks wicked.

The Go-Anywhere Gas grill (Weber) sold like friggin' hotcakes. I had one myself for a time, and never regretted it. Don't be fooled by the low BTU output. Efficient heat beats high BTUs anyday. And at a fraction of the price of the Weber-Q, it's appealing.

In Canada, the next best things were Broil Kings and Sterlings. Made by the same company (OMC in Kitchener), they both had detachable legs (about 3' tall) and could run off 5lb cylinders, or you could opt for a connector to hook you up to one-pounders. Not sure if there's anything like that in the 'States.

Companies to beware of: Sunbeam, Thermos, Kenmore (whoever it happens to be made by), Arkla/matic --- basically anybody that uses a low quality stainless or aluminum burner.

Happy grilling!