All Valley Backyard - BBQ Equipment!

BBQ TIPS

1) Except for when you're pre-heating your grill for 10 minutes (which you ignite and burn all the burners - do not just burn a few - always burn them all), do NOT turn the valves position to the HIGH setting and keep the hood closed.  This will trap heat and will most-likely ruin any electronics or ignition modules that you may have.  So besides the 10 minutes when you're pre-heating your grill, do NOT close the hood on the HIGH setting.

2) Unless you're using the LOW setting on your grill, do not keep the hood closed when grilling.  Not only will you cause your grill to overheat (see above), but you'll also dry out any food that you're cooking - because you're creating an oven!

3) For stainless grills, always wipe off with the grain.  We suggest using a grill-cleaner designed especially for stainless, and always wipe with the scratches - 304 stainless (brushed) is essentially metal that has a 'brushed' look, so it's been scratched decoratively.  Thus, when wiping it off to clean it, wipe in the direction that it's been brushed!

4) We HIGHLY recommend using Reynold's Wrap BBQ Foil - it's a great product, you can still put 'marks' on your food, and if you poke just a few holes in it before grilling, it will work better than had you not put any holes in it.  This allows you to grill and still keep your bbq cleaner than had you not used the foil.  Do NOT use Aluminum Foil....  only use BBQ Foil that's been designed for using on the grill.  Alternatively, you can buy the high-heat GRILL MAT's (Sold in our store) and they do the same thing but you can re-use them over and over!!  Again, using these two options will allow you to keep your cooking grids in better shape and avoid having to clean your grill often.  Plus, the clean-up is SO SIMPLE!!

5) If you turn off your grill after grilling, but then realize you need to turn it on again (for whatever reason), please wait 5 minutes before re-igniting your grill.  The reason?  The electrodes, when you were grilling, were red-hot, and if you try to push through a spark when the electrodes are that hot, they could snap/break.  Thus, waiting 5 minutes allows the electrodes in your grill to 'cool', allowing you to re-spark them after 5 minutes of cooling without having to worry about electrodes breaking!

6) Every six (6) months, try to open up your grill and clean it out - take large chunks of food out of the firebox, possibly vacumme it out, and this will allow your grill to function better.  Also, a quick way to clean the cooking grids is.... a) take the cooking grids and put them in a vat of water, b) add some dish soap and stir a little, c) after 24 hours, take the cooking grids out and d) brush them off with a brass-bristled brush (or putty knife or bbq scraper) and your cooking grids should clean up rather well!! :)

BBQ Grill Brands

Click on a Brand's logo to take you to its page! We're currently building this page, so.. bare with us! :)

Most of the Brands below are RESIDENTIAL-quality products, meaning that the bbq's (barbecue's or grills) are designed and built primarily for personal home use.  Most brands come in built-in style or as a cart-model (freestanding).  All residential-quality brands have a stainless steel burner, which is more than fine for 99% of the use that people will give the product.  The benefit of stainless is that you can increase (or decrease) the heat very quickly - something that is difficult to do when you have cast brass or iron burners.  We HIGHLY recommend you stay away from any brand that has cast brass burners...

Some brands (such as AOG, FireMagic and PGS) have commercial features on their grills, so they may have timers built-in so that residents or guests don't leave the grill on.  These grills are specifically made for either rental properties or hotels/resorts, and usually do not feature rotisserie systems.  They come set-up for either Liquid Propane or Natural Gas, and they come either as a pedestal model (post) or a cart-model (without access).

Lastly, some brands that we sell are considered "Commercial-Quality" products, such as Lynx, FireMagic and the Blaze Pro series of bbq grills.  These grills feature the commercial grilling features that restaurants use, such as cast burners and heavy-duty grates and grids - not to mention high-flo gas valves.  They are NOT meant to be a substitute at a restaurant or commercial kitchen, but rather, they're built to that same benchmark - just for high-end residential use.  There aren't many companies on the market that still uses a brass burner (warping issues).   FireMagic and Blaze have made the leap to a stainless steel cast burner for better heat control, and these systems work flawlessly.  It's also important to note that some manufacturers use ceramic white briquettes, while others use a flavor tray.  Both work great,  so we do not believe one is better than the other.  They each have benefits, so focus on the quality and history of the marque and we'll help guide you to a great brand that will give you many years of performance and quality grilling!

FireMagic grills have been the industry standard for many, many years.  They don't do 'cheap', and all of their equipment is made right here in the USA - Southern California, actually.  We could go on and on, but let's just say that if you're in the market for the best grill, this would be a good start.  There are other equally-made grills out there that have this type of fire-power (Blaze Pro, DCS Series 9), but whatever choice you make, if it's a FireMagic, you've picked a solid performer for life!

AOG is a 'benchmark' product - they have been USA-made since the beginning, they're made by FireMagic, and it's FireMagic's 'residential' version of grill products.  What can we say?  Absolutely brilliant products!!  Currently, the AOG and Blaze are what we sell a lot of at the residential level of grills.  The next step up (PGS, Luxor, Solaire) costs quite a bit more, so if you really only grill a few times per week, check out the American Outdoor Grill line up.  Just a fantastic product at a reasonable price!

Luxor products are made right here in the USA in the Los Angeles area.  The owners used to work for Lynx (BecaLynx) but got tired of the issues and problems with the brand.  Thus, they decided to venture out into the world with their own grill and the Luxor brand was born! We've been with Luxor since approx. 2010 and haven't looked back.  A great product, very nicely built, with a genuine attention to detail.  We keep some of their models in stock and they are a DIRECT replacement for most Vintage, Alfresco and Dynasty products, as well as the Lynx products.  If you want something without the headaches of the 'other' brand, go Luxor.  We consider this a high-end residential product. :)

Note: We are NOT authorized resellers for Alfresco and Lynx products. We buy them from distributors, NOT from the manufacturer. Thus, we can usually do better in terms of overall pricing - give us a call to find out a price on these products!