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Cageguy

Santa Maria Grill - Brick lined (Sunterra) or not (Lone Star Grillz)

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I will be buying a Santa Maria grill and have narrowed down to two manufacturers and two grills that have one glaring difference.

The Sunterra 36 inch Santa Maria Grill with a fire bricked lined coal box looks awesome and has some great accessories that would offer little compromise.  I was hoping for split grill grates to cook at different levels/temps but I'm looking at the 36" and only the 48" has that feature.  No matter, it looks solid and incredible.

The other consideration is Lone Star Grillz and their 36" Santa Maria.  Also a great looking grill with a steel mesh floor firebox with a claim that while frie brick has good thermal qualities they like airflow under the fire to create very hot fires controlled by dampers.  They also have great accessories including the ability to add a brasserie at a later date if needed.  I was impressed by the way this grill handles ash disposal, that really caught my attention. I think the steel is a thinner grade than the Sunterra but it looks like it's made to last and the price point is lower.

I appreciate any advice from the group from those that may have used one or both of these grills, and especially the fire brick vs grates for the coal bed

 

 

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86383317_BreeoOutpost.thumb.jpeg.4d0d92f27e759456142d42a5ad5b21db.jpeg

Sunterra SANTA MARIA 36" CART 3601-36DSICRT CD1

Lone Star Grillz Santa Maria

My neighbor has this style of grill built in, in his back yard. The other end is a pizza oven. Then his other equipment. My old POSK was #2 but he got rid of it long ago. His collection now rivals Jay Leno's garage. So he loves the Santa Maria grill but he doesn't use it much.

I'm a big fan of adjustable height grills. They simplify timing your fire. While my 23" sees duty for centerpiece cooks, my hybrid Solo Stove rig sees frequent use for preparing ingredients or grilling a single steak or two sausages... I can set up and light a wood/charcoal/isopropyl mix in a total effort of 90 seconds, go in to manage everything else I'm cooking, and time my return for grilling. With an adjustable grate, what's at stake is how long the grilling takes, not whether it works.

Solo Stove Ranger ($215)

Breeo Outpost 19 ($129)

Harbor Freight Service Cart ($38)

 

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I'm waiting for my Santa Maria to be built and delivered so i don't have any experience yet, but i can tell you why i went with brick-lined with brassero. Of course, i could be totally wrong about any or all of these points!

o Brick-lined should be more efficient for longer cooks since it will radiate back the heat it has absorbed. With a mesh bed, any heat radiating down will be lost. You'll also be heating up the metal that makes up the firebox and losing some of that heat as it radiates thru the metal. While the cooking methodology is different, i considered this as similar to how a ceramic cooker like our kk's differs from a drum or thin metal smoker like a Smokey Joe.
o The added airflow from underneath should let you build a hotter fire, i decided that this is offset by the big benefit of the Santa Maria design - if you need more heat, lower the cooking surface! That extra heat from extra airflow will come at the cost of much higher fuel consumption. The fall-thru ash is a nice feature though.
o I decided that i wanted a brassero because i think it will be handy for longer cooks -  i initially thought about just having a wheelbarrow as a burn barrel but i really don't want to be shoveling hot coals from a one area to the grill, especially when there are others standing around. My back also doesn't like me doing a lot of shoveling; of course, there will most likely be some post - cook ash shoveling. Mine will have the brassero in the back instead of at the side of the firebox - although that will make it a bit more difficult to load it, the wood burning in the brassero will be adding to the cooking heat, especially if i decide to add a rotisserie later.

 Like most of my acquisitions, I blew my budget on mine: 


 

Edited by jeffshoaf
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Cageguy, I believe the Lone Star Santa Maria is 10 gauge approx 3/16 carbon steel. They offered a reason for staying away from the insulated brick which I believe was airflow/ventalation. If you purchase one with the fire brick make sure you get the grill cover or expect to store it in a pavilion set up or pull it in and out from the garage. My drawback on these is if not covered water could easily seep between the cracks and sit there on the metal for some time. My Santa Maria has a raised fire grate above a pitched floor to a grease catching bucket and I also keep mine covered and under a pavilion roof. Smoky ribs bbq did a review on the lone star 48, you can catch it on you tube. If I were to choose one of the two you suggested it would be the Sunterra. If cared for and covered, I like the brick lining, simply raise the cooking grates and shop vac out the ash. It takes alot of ash to fill one of these and you can push the ash over to a corner, I clean mine every 3 or 4 cooks.

If you wanted to see some video cooks on a Sunterra 48 split with the fire brick and also the review unpacking, check out Dski Grillz on you tube. He's cooks alot on it and shows you around the block in what to expect

Edited by Tyrus
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