We don't do a lot of product pimping here, but given how smitten I am (and how short the sale is), I thought I'd share.
Our old, crappy grill gave out and I stopped by BBQs Galore today on a whim to see what they had. I'd been thinking about a larger grill anyway (and glad I didn't buy one from the folks that made our old grill), so perhaps it was kismet — I found the T-grill.
The old grill was infrared and we liked that — it heated up fast and was nice to cook on. Who knew that they made an infrared grill so cool… and one that was under $500 (actually less than our old one). However, the sale (on the older "blue" model) is only on the the next few days… I think it ends the 31st.
I'm not sure who designed the T-grill, but they did a good job. In fact, most of the GrandHall line (a BBQs Galore house brand) is really well designed — much better than your typical Weber. It's made in China, which isn't ideal, but our old grill was made in SoCal and it busted in five years, so I'm not putting much stock in the country of origin here.
We were looking at the Fuego which was designed here in San Francisco by the crew at Ammunition (one of the partners lives in an Eichler in Marin). The Fuego 02 and Element are indeed super cool, but one was too small and the other was a bit too large (and doesn't have a hood).
The T-grill uses "crossray" infrared which seems like more of a marketing thing, but actually has some meaning. The infrared unit on the old grill had tons of flare-ups whereas this one has none, which is quite nice. Clean-up should also be easier. The cast-iron grates are super-heavy duty and once seasoned in the oven with a bit of canola oil, they were entirely, completely stick-free. The grates aren't huge, but good for 2-4 people… for 6-8, you might need to cook in shifts. A pork loin would fit, too, if you're into that sort of thing.
The lid on this model T-grill is a steely, blue-gray… not a bright blue by any means and is powdercoated. The newer, full-price ones are stainless steel, which would have been a preference, but not for $400 more. I'm a bit worried about long-term durability of the powdercoating, but I'm going to give it a coat of magic car wax and hope for the best. The lid is also fairly heavy, giving a nice feel to it all. The LP-tank fits nicely under the grill in the oblong base. It's a tight package. I also figure the logos will wipe off with some laquer thinner (ours didn't have the "Neil Perry" name).