Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Edit: After 1 1/2 years (outside, always covered, cleaned regularly) the brackets supporting the heat tents rusted away. The heat tents also rusted through, but I was prepared to replace those, as they do burn out. But the brackets are an integral part of the firebox. I wrote to Dyna-Glo and they sent back an incredible answer -- "Unfortunately the Brackets do not come as separate parts, but are part of the firebox an have to be factory installed. We can't send you the brackets separately. The receipt you sent me shows that your warranty expired in March. If you would like to purchase the firebox it would cost $366.87, which includes shipping and handling." In other words, buy a new grill, sucker. I will jury-rig some sort of new bracket and screw it onto the firebox, sure. This is just plain, old crap design on a simple part that should have been engineered better to begin with. One star is one too many, in my revised opinion. I used coat hanger wire to jury-rig a fix. You can see the rusted out bracket at the top of the photo. Here'smy original glowing review for this dog: I ordered this on March 31, and was getting antsy when I saw no movement. On April 4, I got a note that it was shipped, and it was here on April 5, first thing in the morning. Nice going, Amazon. This is the perfect size grill for our one couple home. I wanted cast iron grates and a tank inside the door. Well. I assembled it today. In fairness, I haven't used it yet, but here's my review of the product quality. One very nice unexpected feature is the warming grate just sits over the heating area. Like all warmers, it limits the cooking space below, but, because it isn't attached to the lid it doesn't get in the way when it isn't being used, which is most of the time because you can just store it in the bottom. It also has a large grease catching tray with a slide-out drawer for emptying. Incredibly well-packed in a sturdy double carton. Every piece in the box is wrapped in plastic or bubble wrap, and some are in smaller cartons inside. The screws are in a blister pack, each sized and labeled and even marked on the back so you can remove each piece without ripping the pack open. The steel seems very heavy gauge, and all the welded joints appear solid. All the holes line up without twisting or forcing anything, and are threaded - no reaching behind flanges to try to hold nuts in inaccessible places. In fact there are NO nuts. All the screws and washers were there (exactly, so don't lose any) and are painted black (assemble on apiece of light paper (there are some big pieces of kraft paper in the box which can be used for this purpose.) The knobs seem chintzy. A nice heavy cover is included, which saves you 40 bucks or so, Perhaps I'll figure out what the Velcro tabs on the bottom of the cover are for. Inside the door is a piece of twisted wire held in place with a chain. It's a match holder for when the igniter doesn't work. The manual is very complete and easy to follow, but don't be in a rush. The only tool required is a Phillips head screwdriver, but I also used a variable speed drill with a long Phillips driver, set on low torque for the larger screws. I worked alone. It took me 20 minutes to unpack everything and lay the parts out. Add another 1 1/2 hours +/- a few minutes for a slow and careful assembly (I like to read each step twice and am very careful putting things together), plus another half hour to cut up and tie the cardboard for the recycling pickup. A bunch of styrofoam also needs to be disposed of. Some reviewers said they were up and running in an hour. I doubt it. This seems to actually be an amazing value for the price. It qualifies for free shipping (and it weighs 107 lbs) plus the cover, not to mention that it costs about $30 less than the big box stores, so, I'm a happy camper. Tomorrow I'll go out and buy a cylinder and gas. Cooking report to follow. OK. I cooked on it. Heats up really fast, and plenty hot. I noticed that my drippings stayed (and baked) in the slanted catcher assembly and never made it down into the removable drawer. So, I'll line the slanted thing with foil and make it easier to clean. I'm not used to a propane grill, having spend most of my outdoors cooking on charcoal, so I'm just getting used to proper heat and timing, but the few things I've made came out well. My wife prefers charcoal, so this grill will be used mostly for rainy days and cool weather. I'm pleased with the purchase. Edit: The burners are covered with steel plates, so fat does not drip in the flames. Some would call this infra-red cooking. Fine. Edit: If you let it heat up on high (dials at 9 o'clock) it will quickly go up to 600 degrees, enough to sear, but too much to cook on. So, after you fire it up, immediately turn the knobs back to minimum or a tad more, and it will go more slowly to 400 - 450. Better to cook on. So, start lower and increase (not the other way around).