3001 Grillin' Pro

Our old grill was getting long in the tooth! It never heated hot enough and the side burner was weak at the best. The smaller grill heats up fast and is able to hold the temperature. The side burner also heats up fast and actually varies the heat by adjusting the control knob. I have used it a dozen times and everything comes out perfect. My old grill (with a similar name) was junk compared to this one. Because the burners are so efficient, I am still cooking on the partially filled bottle of gas I started with. I if had to say something negative, I suppose the fact that the price went from $200 to $300 in one year. But overall I am sold on this grill UPDATE: I have had this grill 6 months now and I am still satisfied, BUT, a couple of things I have noticed. The side burner started sooting up and not putting out the heat. This usually means a blocked intake tube. Sure enough, an insect had crawled into the tube and spent the rest of his life there! Disassembly was quick. I removed the burner, cleaned out the tube and had it back working in 20 minutes. I think the burner tube air intake needs a small screen to prevent this from happening. The screws I had to remove might not be so easy to take out after a couple of years of use. The second item of interest is the fit of the cast grills on the housing. I had the middle grill fall out several times when I was cleaning it. I don't know if the cast grills were made short or the housing was made a bit too big. I "fixed" this by using a long clamp and squeezing the two housing sides together. Now, the cast grills have a 1/4 inch ledge to rest on instead of 1/16!! Unless the metal housing goes back to its original shape. I cook on this grill at least twice a week and am very happy with the burner heat output and the small amount of propane they use. Because they are so hot I always cook on a low setting or a higher setting for a shorter amount of time.

I snagged this grill for about $225 in 2022. I was looking for a solid gas grill but didn't want to spend ludicrous money on a weber, nor did I like how the Nexgrill and Charbroils felt in the stores. Some online research yielded that this CharGriller was a great bang for your buck. After assembling it (it took about 3 hours solo, a partner would be helpful), it fired right up. Assembly instructions aren't the best, but read them carefully and measure twice, cut once, if you will. After cooking on it a few times with basic homeowner backyard fare, I can say it does a fine job. It definitely gets hot, and keeps heat. You won't need to keep the burners on high, it puts out plenty of heat. Flareups do occur, but again, like others people have said, this is not a cadillac grill. I used it to smoke/grill some babyback ribs for the 4th of July. I added a $10 smoke box you can get anywhere, and between that and managing temperature with a remote thermometer, this thing cooked AMAZING ribs. Beat my father's Traeger ribs by far. You don't always need high priced fancy stuff to get good results. Operator knowledge and technique is more than half the battle. Time will tell with longevity, but I do clean it regularly and I purchased the cover specific for this model, so it is protected. Would recommend if you're seeking a quality, versatile grill for the money.

These are substantially built grills for the money, steel built with a look and feel somewhat like a barrel made grill. We own three of them. The first was purchased five or more years ago when we got tired of replacing other sheet-metal type grills every couple of years. A couple years ago, I did replace the gas jets and and the metal deflectors that go over them, but that's one advantage to the Char-Griller line, replacement parts tend to be available on Amazon or from the company itself. This older grill sits in the open on an uncovered deck, and we're bad about forgetting to put the cover back on. Considering its age and the elements, there's very little rust on it, certainly none that would present an issue or threatens to cause structural failure. We had such good luck with this grill, we purchased two more when we bought a couple of vacation rental cabins earlier this year. We're not afraid of nicks or dings because this grill is made of thicker metal than comparably priced competitors. One thing that could be improved is access to turning the gas tank on and off. The grill's upper support bracket on the wheel side is in a place that makes it awkward to reach the tank valve to turn it on and off. It can be done but, as I said, it's awkward. Guests at our cabins have complimented the grill provided. Char-Griller grills are made in China. Last weekend, we found a similar sized grill by Char-Broil on seasonal close-out at a big box discounter. Seeing the Char-Grillers have crept up a bit in price this year, we opted for the Char-Broil. I say this only to do some side by side comparisons. The Char-Broil seems to be a much lighter grade of steel, it heats up slower than our Char-Grillers, and it doesn't reach as high of temperatures, and doesn't seem to retain heat as well. If you preference is to grill in lower temperature ranges, the Char-Broil may give you more control in the 250 to 400 degree range. Because of the lighter grade of steel, we were cautioned by the purchase store's department manager not to carry the Char-Broil by its side wings. The Char-Broil came with caster type wheels, those on a Char-Griller are bigger plastic wheels on one side and make it easier to move the grill across a lawn. We're not so concerned about the Char-Broil grill being exposed to the weather, unlike the Char-Grillers, it will be kept in a sheltered area. When not in use, we do (mostly) use the custom covers to protect our Char-Grillers outdoors. The newer covers seem lighter and more like vinyl. Our original cover, at least five years old, is faded, but has more of a canvas feel, and shows no signs of rips or tears, though it has faded from black to gray. The Char-Griller 3001 is somewhat easy to put together (it gets easier each time I assemble one), but it can seem a slow and tedious task. If I recall, I only needed a screw driver, but a socket wrench might be helpful. Working at a leisurely pace, I may have spent two to three hours putting my last one together. Overall, we've had very pleasing experiences with Char-Grillers (all ours have been the 3001 model), and expect those we have to give us years of service. Even our older one may have several more years of life left.

Assembly On the often used ISO ease of assembly scale which goes from "Nothing but a breeze" to `Satan, take me now", the grill rates a "Hemorrhoid on toast". There are at least a half dozen pieces which can be oriented different ways and you can't tell they are assembled in a fanciful rather than useful manner until you are at least a step or two ahead of your mistake which gives you the bonus of disassembly as you slowly take one step forward and two backwards in your grill parts gathering journey. The good news is that the parts are sturdy enough that they aren't worn or damaged by being put together and then torn apart time after time. Still, the whole job took me 1.5 hours instead of the 45 minutes it should have taken had the parts been stickered showing which tab A to put into slot B. IKEA has nothing to fear here. Design You get what you see in the picture so if your idea of a spiffy grill is one that appears to be made out of a shrunken 55 gallon fuel drum, you are set. I think the look quite attractive. The cooker is made of very heavy steel which holds heat almost as well as the cookers styled after the famous Green Egg charcoal grill. If you live in a humid area, then you'll have to be careful to address any rust issues early on. If you do, or you live where it's dry, there is every reason to believe you will get many years of use from this unit. There are two design flaws however. The clearance between the bottom of the drip pan and the top of the fuel canister is tiny. Unless you keep your hand absolutely flat, you will touch the drip pan which can get quite hot - hot enough to burn you when you are finished grilling and wish to turn the unit off at the canister as the instructions say to do. This closeness also makes getting the canister in and out of its holder a real struggle. Were the legs only 1 inch / 3 cm higher, this wouldn't be an issue. The other issue is that the vents in the top which look so decorative have no flue or baffle meaning they are full open always. You can regulate the amount of heat / smoke loss by stuffing them with foil or covering with a family size can (emptied, of course) of Bush's Beans. Use Here is where this unit shines. It heats up quite fast achieving almost 700 degrees on even a cool day and it gets there in only a few minutes. The unit adjusts for either direct or indirect cooking easily due to the three straight burners. The heavy construction means it holds its temperature well. The only issue is getting it tamed down enough for low temperature direct cooking where it doesn't wish to fall below 300 degrees F. However it has no issue with low temperature indirect cooking and due to the high temperature it can achieve, it sears like nothing I've ever seen. The chief issue I had is believing it was time to check the meat's temperature even on a 1.5" steak (about 4 cm) in five minutes on high direct. I have had better control searing on high for maybe 3 minutes and then cooking on indirect for the proper internal temperatures for meats usually done exclusively on high direct. The side burner also produces great heat. Using it I'm able to finally make blackened dishes or use the sear and bake method for steaks where the bake can be either in the grill or in the house oven. The grill has excellent heat distribution all around. Generally speaking, as a cooking device, the grill is plain great and much more than I expected for this price. Conclusion A great grill in use if not in design. Five stars easily for performance and value. Remove a star due to assembly woes and two design flaws one of which can pose a danger to the user.

This is a great gasser, no doubt about it. At the time I'm writing this review, the price seems to have rocketed over $300. I bought it for less than $200, so your mileage may vary, but it is a fine grill that gets hotter than the center of the sun. If you're looking for an excellent, in depth review of this grill check out the Amazingribs.com review of the Char-Griller Grilling Pro, they get into the nitty gritty with it. My old gasser was a four burner and had the heat output of someone lighting a match several yards away from you, and the heat was distributed like paint on a Pollock masterpiece. I hear it actually made the food colder out toward the edges, but this is only legend. Anyway, I needed to drastically improve both of these deficiencies in my gasser, and for the price, the Grillin' Pro 3001 goes an excellent job. Heat distribution is very good, excellent for the $200 range. No major cold spots, the center is the hottest, natch, and the bottom edges tend to be the coolest. As far as temperature goes, this thing gets about as hot as a plutonium reactor. On high, this thing can get to 850° for sure and can even reach 900°! This thing cranks out some high heat, so if you want to do some serious searing, this is the right grill for you. Even the lowest burner settings still get pretty hot, it takes some getting used to, but you can and will make some great grilled grub once you get the hang of it. From steaks to salmon, it cooks some mean meat. I had one Lodge griddle, then purchased another to throw on top to make it into a jury-rigged griddle top, it works great! This is a good grill. I can't speak to it's longevity as I've only had it for a few months, but it's a solid grill that makes great food. This is not a boast every gas grill can make.

This grill is a definite 5 star in it's category. It is built extremely well. For a better built grill you will have to spend $500 and up. After acquiring a graveyard of gas grills over the past few years I really paid attention on this one. My last was a stainless steel Brinkmann, it looked very nice and appeared to be great, but was total junk and did not make it through the second year. The Char-Griller has a heavy lid, which is a must, a sturdy enough frame, an adequate cooking area for most things. The openness around the cook top really helps you to utilize every square inch of cooking space. Electronic ignition for each of the 3 burners. The burners are the good stainless steel and not the junk like most of your Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc grills. If you look at those they will say stainless steel, but they are a very low grade, super thin version on most. One thing I like is that if you do need to change a burner there are no expensive "extra" parts like crossover bars and such. The assembly directions are a little confusing, but are enough to get you through it. Overall, I was looking for a durable grill that would last me more than a year and I am pretty sure this one is made to last several years. It is a simple model that has some design quirks, but the overall feel of the grill superior to my last 3 or 4. Update 4/24/2015 Still going strong. Electronic start still works perfect on all 3 burners. Grates, shields, burners all holding up great. Grill body is still perfect and durable. Best grill I have owned ever! Update: Lasted right at 4 years. The back and bottom rusted out and it is toast. Burners and grates lasted until the end. For the money this is the best grill I have had and it out lasted others by a long shot. This grill was kept under a covered porch it's entire life. I will most likely get another Char-Griller grill to replace it.

Everything was packaged very nicely and very neat, it was easy to un-package for assembly. It was a little bit difficult for one person to assemble at some stages, and it took a couple of hours. It would have been a lot easier for two people to assemble. The instructions were not the best in the world but were pretty good. We did go through the 2-hour curing process, using peanut oil. The manual said to keep the grill closed and on low heat at about 250 degrees. However, we had to prop the lid open with an old pot in order to keep the grill at such a low temperature. (Caveat: we were doing this in the Florida Summer Sun, so that may have been a factor.) Cooking on this grill is very nice. It has even heating, well-shielded burners, and it's nice and deep. So far we've cooked burgers, portabello caps, and shish-ka-bobs all on low setting. This allows for closing the lid and walking away - nothing has burned. Cheaper grills seem to burn stuff even on the lowest setting, if you leave the lid closed too long. This grill let us slow-cook the food, and everything came out really great. It was easy to pull the grates out with the included grate-handle/tool. We didn't clean the grates after the shish-ka-bobs, but cheese got everywhere when we made burgers, so we spent about a half hour cleaning the grates and burner covers with soap and water, and a dish scrubbing brush. It's also worthy to note that the side tables (/burner with cover) get very hot. Again this is the Florida Summer Sun, but they definitely got hotter than just "black metal in the sun". They were also hotter closer to the grill, so it's apparent that they absorb a lot of heat from the grill. Finally, the grill is pretty wide (including the knobs and handle) - so before you assemble it indoors, make sure it fits through your door! But overall a GREAT grill to cook on, and plenty of room to cook a lot of food if you need to. Also bought the recommended cover. It's very nice (not cheap at all), and fits perfectly. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U8A2T0)

Great grill. Gets very hot very quickly. I had been used to my old Weber that took a long time to heat up. This is ready to cook on almost immediately. I wish they offered something other than the porcelain coated grates. There are after market grates available, but I can't vouch for their quality. Also, the porcelain coating on the burner stand cracked away on the very first use. Not good. Straight cast iron would be much better in both cases. I also read a lot of reviews about rusting. During assembly I took some time to over paint potential trouble spots with some High heat spray paint as a added protection. I also heavily oiled many of the parts in the cooking space and did a thorough seasoning. Seems to have worked. No rust after quite a bit of use and rain. One last critique. The chimneys on the top let rain enter the grill and that can fill the grease trap with water. At least i suspect that to be the cause. Either way, when covered there is no problem, when uncovered the grease trap fills with water and over runs if the rain is heavy enough. Over all, I'm very pleased with the performance for the price. Update... after a year in use I'm much less impressed. A number of things happened. First, the fire box is rusting a lot. As i said in my original review i added extra paint to try to get ahead of potential rust. Second, the wheels are crap. on the first really hot day the plastic wheels sort of softened and flattened out making it difficult to move the grill. Third, I have 3 gas bottles. Only one of them actually fitsd in the hole in the base of the stand. Other bottles have to be left sitting beside the grill when in use. Fourth, the grates are crap. Mine are not only rusting, one of them broke while i was cleaning them with a wire grill brush. Downgraded to 3 stars.