Hot Stuff
Written: Sep 11 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Awesome burners
Cons: Ignitor is finicky
|
|
|
| en7489's Full Review: Sunbeam Grill Series 350 |
I recently fell into a deal I couldn't refuse - a friend worked at a store that was cleaning out some of the older items in the warehouse, and they stumbled across a couple grills in a corner. These grills were evidently ones that had been used for parts to fix up or repair the display models. The manager gave her the two grills for 5 dollars a piece, as they were both missing parts and were just going to be tossed out anyway.
Her husband used the two boxes to put together one complete grill for themselves, then offered to give me the remaining parts. I gave him the $10 investment his wife had initially made to buy the two of them, then proceeded to find out what was missing. To my surprise, the only thing missing was the tank and the lid, so I got on the phone to Sunbeam and ordered a lid, then drove down to the local store and bought a tank for it.
My investment was now up to $55, $45 for the tank (full) and $10 for the grill - Sunbeam had told me that the grill was still under warranty and that they would replace the lid free of charge. I kinda felt guilty about this because I was getting a grill that normally went for around $180 for about a quarter of that price, so I told her how I had made the deal. The customer service rep was very sympathetic, and told me that it didn't really matter, the grill was still under warranty, so they would replace the lid free of charge. Finally the light came on and I thanked her and hung up. This should serve to speak highly of Sunbeam's Customer Service Department!!
I assembled the grill with relative ease, it really only required a couple tools - the recommended list was a couple Phillips head screwdrivers, a 7/16 box wrench, a couple of sockets, pair of pliers, and a hammer. I was able to accomplish the task with just a couple screwdrivers and a small pair of vice-grips.
I have since been impressed with the performance of this grill, I've had it a little less than a year, and use it almost every weekend. So far, I have had very little trouble with it.
The cooking surface is large enough for about 18 normal sized hamburgers and the porcelain grate is simple and easy to clean. The warming rack is big enough for about 10 normal sized hamburgers. (I use hamburgers as a reference for size - most people should be familiar with it)
The burners are awesome! I was very impressed with the high and low ranges of the burners, the lowest is just enough to keep the grill warm, and the highest is like the afterburner on a military jet! In the past I have had problems with flame-ups, but the shielded burners on this one keep that down to a minimum. No more spray bottles of water to keep the flames down.
The side burner also works great, It heats up everything quickly and evenly - just like a regular gas stove burner. The only inconvenience to this is the lid, I wish it would lock in an "up" position to help block wind. As it is, it flips up and lays flat backwards, out of the way.
There's only a couple minor complaints that I can think of. One involves the space under the grill, which is wasted, useless space for me. I wish someone would design some kind of drawer system that can fit in this space so the BBQ tools can be stored out of the way rather than hanging from hooks on the side.
My only other complaint is the ignitor. I keep my grill under a covered carport, and move it out from under there when I'm ready to use it. After rolling it the 50 or so feet to the back patio, the ignitor never seems to work until I reach underneath and wiggle the wires a little. I suppose this is because of my moving it in and out of the carport, but it's annoying none-the-less.
All told, this is a great grill and I'm looking forward to many, many more years and meals out of it.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
en7489
|
|
Location: Massachusetts
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 6 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.