It's also quite to my liking because grilling season is not just year-round, but comfortable. Today had a bit of a cold snap, but all last week I was grilling in shorts and flip-flops. At night. In November, fer cryin' out loud. I'll hunch next to the grille in 20 degree weather with the best of 'em, but this is pretty cool.
Oh, and I bought a new grill to reward myself for the new job.
It's pretty.
It's a Weber One-Touch Platinum. The One-Touch is Weber's name for the standard, much imitated but never surpassed, 22.5in kettle charcoal grill. At the heart of each model in the range is the enameled steel kettle. The One-Touch Silver is the ~$100 base model, Gold gets you a detachable ash catcher and a thermometer for ~$150, and Platinum ditches the sometimes flimsy tripod legs of the other two and gives you this steel tube frame and a pair of side tables. It's $250 and, if you're serious about grilling at all, worth every cent.
I didn't realize this until I had it assembled in front of me, but it's taller than the tripod-legged Weber grill. It's at least six inches taller than my old Silver grill. For a tallish guy, that means you're not bending over the grill but standing next to it, with the work surface is a bit higher than waist height. It sounds like a small thing, but relaxing and standing up straight while grilling is just great. I also end up smelling less like smoke, because I'm not hunched over the fire. The added height might not be ideal for a shorter person, but I like it a lot. If you grill a couple nights a week, the comfort factor is not negligible.
It's absolutely necessary to have some kind of side table for grilling. I've been using a plastic folding outdoor table for some time, and it's great for prep. And as you can see from the picture, the One-Touch Platinum has two tables, one on each side. They're not huge, but they'll hold a large platter each, and they're very stable. They're nice mostly because they're close to the grill surface, and to have your beer, basting sauce, and tongs close at hand is pretty great.
The Gold and Silver grilles just have a hook on the interior of the lid to hang it off the edge when the grille's not closed, and while it works, it's not very secure. Because of the side tables, the One-Touch lets you slide the lid back and off with the big handle on the front of the lid. The lid never comes off, it just opens like that of a gas grille. There's no hinge; it just slides back into a metal cradle around back. In addition to being a nice solution to taking the lid off with the side tables intact, I think this setup makes it easier to check for doneness and then close the lid back up quickly while keeping the heat under the lid.
The frame is metal, and bolted together sturdily. The whole unit feels very solid and took about half an hour or so to assemble. It rolls easily on the oversized plastic wheels, and the wire tray at the bottom is a useful place to stash your charcoal tongs or indirect grilling baskets or what have you.
Most of the other upgrade features are also on the One-Touch Gold grill. There's a thermometer, which will be nice for monitoring temps while making pizza, and the removable ash catcher is cleaner than my old galvanized steel bucket. I upgraded the actual grille grate - review to follow! - but the grate that comes with the Platinum has hinged sides to make indirect grilling easier.
The One-Touch Platinum's higher work surface, side tables, and innovative lid make it more comfortable and pleasant to use, and I can't think think of a more useful grill setup than this. My dad's Weber Performer has a side table, but it's still at the standard lower height, and its side table is smaller than the Platinum's two together. Unless you plan to grill only infrequently, the extra expense of the Platinum is money well spent - I'm looking forward to using it for years.
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