I was looking at some stainless BBQ's today and brought along a small magnet. The expensive Ducane Stainless was not magnetic at all. The cheaper Charm-glow was mainly non-magnetic but some parts of the carriage and side tables were magnetic but also stainless. Why would charmglow use the different types of stainless and will the magnetic stain or rust over time? Both of these are supposed to be 100% stainless and have no paint at all on them.
If you DO buy a stainless BBQ, expect to spend a LOT of time keeping it clean and new looking.
They are a royal PITA.
Steve
A lot of the Chinese "stainless" will rust if simply left outdoors where you get a condensing atmosphere almost every night. Parts subject to heating from cooking or even flame temperatures will fare even worse.
I know we want to believe that it will last, but it seems likely that you wind up with something mostly unrusted, with a few badly corroded parts, after a few years.
and don't forget that it's called stain-LESS, not stain-FREE. Even the best stainless may show some surface discoloration after time. Add heat and other potential nasties from the BBQ gasses and one would expect quite a bit of discoloration or corrosion. It'll still be generally far less than carbon steel or aluminum AND it'll most likely be able to be shined back new looking.
If you like the factory new shiny stainless because it's shiny and stainless, you need to skip the idea of bbqing outdoors and stick to indoor cooking. If you like it because it *may* last longer than the old cast grill that you used 4 times a week and aren't assuming that it'll impress the neighbors with it's shine in a year, stainless may be the way to go.
Not at all the case for me and my stainless BBQ. I just clean it a little bit and that's all.
Magnetisim is not a test of whether something is made from stainless or not.
There are probably 20 or so common alloys of stainless, with another
20-50 uncommon ones. Of these, a couple are pretty much nonmagnetic- 316 is pretty reliably non magnetic. Many others, while still considered "stainless steel" are magnetic to varying degrees. Most common stainless is 304. This is relatively nonmagnetic as rolled, but if cold worked much, gets more magnetic. Also, if forged, it can get more magnetic. So if it is rolled to a thinner gage, then bent or punched or rolled, chances are it will be magnetic, although less so than mild steel is.I cook a lot of oysters on my grill, so I have replaced the burners, heat diffuser, lava rock tray, and grates with all stainless material. I also have a scratch built charcoal barbecue that is all stainless, for those big oyster cookouts when you need two barbecues at once.
I dont bother to keep em shiny, though- they are stainless so they dont rust out, not for looks.
Personally, I think Ducanes are overpriced for what they are- the Aussies make really kick butt barbies- I have had the same barbie from Barbecues Galore for close to 15 years now, and had another one for 8 or 10 before that that I had to leave when I sold a house- very well designed, sturdy stuff.
Ok I slightly off topic but I must witness the greatness of my charcoal Weber grill. Wow...what a paint jobs those thing have ! Very little rust on that thing....just a coloring around the lid handle joints. It stays outdoors year round getting on 10 years.
I will go head to head in a cook off challenge against anyone with my Weber. Actually I have two....picked one out of the garbage. Couldn't believe someone just throwing it out.
Oh I suppose I'll break down and get a gas grill also one of these days.
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