Let's chat BBQ

[ZR]

Has anyone converted a newer BBQ with splash shield to Lava rocks? The newer these BBQ's get the less n less I find a steak or burgers taste special opposed to old skool charcoal. At least the lava rock was closer, find splash shield version not all that much better vs frying a steak in an iron pan.
Ya ya ya read all about they dropped lava rock because of bacteria concerns, honestly think it's gotta be cheaper to build splash shield vs iron grate or bars plus lave rocks.

[83 5.0]

Yes agree, the lava rocks retained some of the greasy/carbon flavour they had absorbed.
I almost never burn mine off with the deflector plates just for the smokiness.
Never heard of the bacteria issue, given these heat up to 400+ degrees.
I love the convenience of natural gas, but just not patient enough for charcoal.

[hammerhead]

26077

Just started mine

[CON VERT]

I just bought a Napoleon / with the smoker box, works good, but gotta soak the chips etc , + its messy at the end to clean up , good flavor but not sure how often I'll use it , sear plates do give off allot of smoke if the lid is kept closed ~

[5.4MarkVIII]

Try to find some ceramic bricks.
They work and tend to be cleaner than the lava rocks
But the biggest issue will be to make a wire rack to hold the rocks or bricks in place between the burner and the grate

Also a lot of flavour comes from the initial sear.
Which wire rack BBQs don’t really do well.
Look for a larger cast, stainless or plate grate system.

Some of the better bbqs entry level units will sell with the wire racks but have better ones you can upgrade too.

[RedSN]

Agreed with the sear. I want to try a set of these for mine

https://georgianbayleisure.com/grillgrate

[5.4MarkVIII]

Agreed with the sear. I want to try a set of these for mine

https://georgianbayleisure.com/grillgrate

That might be an all in one “fix” for the problem described

[Stephen06GT]

An add for this popped up on Facebook:

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