Brinkmann 810-9520-M

by Mark
(Minneapolis MN)

I purchased my Brinkmann 5 burner gas grill in March of this year. I did a lot of research on what to buy and this one seemed an obvious choice for what I spent. It has been a very good grill to date. I have read the reviews that some owners have written about cheap parts and rust eventually occurring to their grills. I have made modifications to mine in order to minimize this problem. They are as follows:

1. I replaced all internal painted fasteners to 304 stainless steel.

2. I replaced the painted steel flavor bars with 304 stainless steel.

3. I had a friend in the steel fabrication business make a few burner parts out of 304 stainless steel and replaced the cheaper 400 stainless steel parts it came with.

4. I use aluminum foil to cover the bottom plate below my burners in order to minimize drippings which causes much of the rust problems in this type of grill design.

The cost for these mods were roughly $75.00 and a case of beer to my friends business. With the purchase price of $299.00 that's pretty tough to beat. I guess we will see how it holds up over the years.

Smoker Smoke N Grill, Model Number: 810-5301-C

by Katherine
(NYC)

My boyfriend and I were so tired of fighting for a grill every summer in the New York parks. Not to mention being big meat eaters the quality of product, if we could secure a grill, was not up to par.

As amateur grillers it took us some time to figure out how to make a successful grilled meal on the Brinkmann. Regardless, I can't wait to pull it out again next summer because once you get the hang of it the grill is fantastic.

Brinkmann 5 Burner Question

by Ken

I'm interested in purchasing a Brinkmann 5 Burner with side burner and Sear Burner. Is there any "advantage" to having the sear burner. Realize I'm not buying the grill because of that single feature.

=====================================

You hear people talking about "searing in the juices" a lot. Personally, that's never a problem for me. I cook primarily on a convection grill these days (natural lump charcoal) and whether low and slow, or at 800F, I'm not having any problems.

While I'm sure sear burners have their application, I think most of it is marketing hype to be honest. Having said that, I'm a more traditional "griller" so I don't typically buy things that solve a problem I don't have. Not everyone is me, though. All I know is what they say in the brochures and I'm guessing that they make nice grill markings.

Mike

Brinkman 4400 Not Bad For The Money

I bought this grill at Wallmart at the end of the season in 2006 for $175.00 on sale. It was a great grill for the price. Sturdy, hot, pretty even cooking area. It was great for the 1 1/2 years. Then the grill started to chip and crack - other parts are failing too. But for the money it was great for 2 yrs. Should have replaced it last summer just too busy. Replacement parts cost more than the grill-so I a shopping again....

Brinkmann 810-9415-W 4 Burner Gas Grill

by Jennifer
(Claremore, OK)

We love our Brinkmann gas grill. We paid less than $200 for it at Wal-Mart and it has stainless steel lid and cast iron grates. Great value and great grilling.

Brinkmann 810-1750-S

by Charlie Reagan
(Dallas, TX)

Overall opinion:
For the price, ($420 for a floor model with a ding)it does get the job done pretty well and is fairly sturdy. The big drip pan, removable burner covers and grills should make it easy to clean. Before testing/ using, I cleaned ALL surfaces with mild soap and fresh water rinse, then stainless steel cleaner and fresh water rinse. When preheating the first time, I started on low then went to medium and then high, all at 10 minute intervals. Compared to other comparably priced grills I’ve used, or watch others use, this one is a good performer. Some fairly obvious (and easily remedied) design flaws would make this a real winner.

Stainless Steel
Facts: Good quality stainless steel is non-magnetic. “Stainless steel” that is magnetic will corrode. The only NON-magnetic stainless steel on this unit is the grill cover handle, smoker door handle, storage cabinet handle and thankfully, the burners themselves. All other stainless steel is moderately magnetic.
Opinion: Buy and use a good quality cover, especially if you have a salt water pool or live near a coastal area.
Thermometers
Facts: Both the grill and smoker thermometers read consistently 50 degrees cooler than the multiple oven thermometers I used to test them in temperature ranges from 200 to 500. The main grill peaks at about 500 degrees with all burners on high. See note below on rear vent.
Opinion: Buy and use a good quality oven thermometer, especially in the smoker. Also, a good pocket sized meat thermometer will help eliminate a lot of guesswork.
Main Grill
Facts: Using the highly scientific method of cooking a bunch of same-sized chicken thighs covering the entire grill, some temperature unevenness was noted; hotter in the back, cooler in the front.
Opinion: The temperature variation is not huge and is really a plus, since rarely are pieces of meat the same size, so one can move them about as they cook. There is a big vent opening at the back of the cover, allowing a lot of heat to escape. After being covered loosely with foil, temperatures evened out and less propane was burned. (Certainly I don’t recommend this, as surely there are litigious reasons for the opening-I can think of no others). Additionally, even after oiling the grills, food still stuck to them initially. I might have done something wrong however. Watch the grease cup, as it is loose fitting and can fall out if the grill is bumped.
Smoker
Facts: When testing temperatures while empty, the smoker produced heat up to 325 degrees. The smoker also has a vent hole in the upper rear wall; about a 5 inch square. With a 10 pound room temperature brisket and pre-heated smoking juices, the smoker took 2.5 hours to get to 225 degrees. After covering the vent hole loosely with foil, it heated up to 240 easily while on medium heat. See above hole covering disclaimer…
Opinion: The brisket came out nearly perfect. The water tray is too shallow, requiring filling every half hour; 45 minutes if burner flame can be reduced by the aforementioned hole covering. The wood chip tray is a bit small also. I put a small piece of lit charcoal in it with soaked chips so as to not have to wait for the burner to get the wet wood smoking.
Side Burner
Facts: Fried 8 pieces of bacon crispy in about 6 minutes. On my unit, the pietzl refuses to light the burner and the burner knob label was installed upside down.
Opinion: The burner should be mounted lower in the housing, as the slightest breeze blows the flame around; a decent wind blew it out twice while heating sauce.
Rotisserie
Facts: The rotisserie burner is only 10” wide, compared to the overall grill width of 26”.
Opinion: Proving a wider burner only makes sense. It did cook to perfection (almost) two whole chickens weighing 5 pounds each, skewered butt to butt. However, the outermost half of the breasts, which were on either end, did not roast to the nice golden brown as the rest of the bird. I may mount a second burner on it, but don’t try this at home…

============================

Awesome review Charlie. Thanks!

Brinkmann 810-8500

by JAY
(MAINE)

I BOUGHT THIS 2 SUMMERS AGO AND SPENT $350.00 ON IT THE MOST I HAVE EVER SPENT ON A GRIL. AFTER 2 SUMMERS THIS POS ROITED OUT ON THE INSIDE. I SPENT $50.00 ON A COVER AND THE BURNERS STILL ROITED IN HALF MY GOD THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. SO IF YOU IN THE MARKET FOR A GRILL THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU BUY FROM BRINKMANN. UNLESS YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR MONEY ROIT IN FRONT OF YOU

THANKS:(