Does anyone know of a comparable grill to this one? It seems like it has everything I want in a grill. Hopefully someone can give me some first hand experience. A website touts..."You can bake - steam - sear - roast - bake - boil - fry - smoke and use charcoal on this grilling wonder." If it does all that then I'd seriously consider this one. http://www.finesgasappliance.com/vidalia.html http://www.vidaliagrill.com/model983.shtml#

I am considering Monogram 36" rangetop with 4 burners and infrared grill. Will anyone share their experiences with me? Been burned by GE Profile appliances before. Have already ruled out Wolf, Viking and Bluestar rangetop. Thanks!

2Many, I was thinking about how to use the 12" tube for shorter smokes. First thought was to loosely crumple some aluminum foil and stuff in as a space filler and then add pellets to fill. (Except getting foil out would be a bit of a pain.). Thinking that a partial loose fill might cause the pellets to burn too fast? After I ended up with that huge 40# bag of pellets decided not to worry about it; I'll just fill it up and let 'er burn out past the time I remove the food. With pricier pellets, yeh, I'd try conserving the fuel. Course this then strengthens the argument for adding a 6" tube...for shorter smokes and adding part way thru longer smokes. Then again, I was pondering last night why something like a tomato paste can or two with a bunch of holes punched in it wouldn't work... (from a brand with a removable paper label.) Pulled a couple of chicken halves out of the freezer last night. Going to brine overnight and smoke 'em tomorrow. Thinking I'll try to confine the smoke a bit better with the chicken going on what you learned with your bird. I bought the chicken already halved (was in the reduced 'Use today or freeze' bin--perfect, I thought for experiments!) so the halves may be a little more receptive to smoke than a whole bird? Also, more prone to drying out but brining ought to help offset that... This is actually kinda' fun to do. Needed that cause I get burned out on cooking!

Panasonic and Breville are both "good names", but given a choice based on MY preferences and usage is the Panasonic. Why? I ditched my MW 4 years ago when we renovated. Replaced it with a steam oven and could not be happier. I realize that the Panasonic is not a CSO, but we love cooking with steam! It's just my DH and me though, so ymmv. ps. We also have induction because we don't love cooking with gas. :)