I have a Weber Q200 portable grill, and while it fit the Little Griddle Sizzle-Q *pefectly*, the griddle just never got hot enough. I tried frozen hamburgers first, and they just sat there bubbling away in a sort of simmer. Some research later and I discovered that the regulator might be in "bypass" mode which is about 20% of it's capability, and despite the techniques to clear the bypass mode, I figured either the regulator was bad or the Weber Q200 just didn't put out enough heat. The specs on it are only 12,000 BTU over 280 sq in of surface area, which comes out to 43 BTU per sq inch. Figuring it was time for a new grill anyway, and that I love Weber grills, I bought a Weber Spirit E-210 for four-hundred dollars at the hardware store which has dual burners and is rated at 26,500 BTU over 450 sq in of surface area, which comes out to 59 BTU per sq inch, a 37% heat improvement over the Q200 grill. I'm not claiming to be an authority on this, but I just figured that getting the Sizzle-Q hotter was all about BTUs per sq inch. Plus the dome cover of the Spirit E-210 fits over the Sizzle-Q whereas the cover for the Q200 does not. OK, so now four-hundred dollars more out of pocket for a new grill, I was ready to start cooking on the Sizzle-Q! Now, let me say first that I worked as a fast-food cook at Roy Rogers when I was a teenager, and we had a flat-top grill to cook the burgers (no, not Trigger-burgers). I came to love cooking on flat-top grills because it was like a work area and cooking area all in one. I'm 45 now and cooking on the Sizzle-Q brought back fond memories of cooking on a flat-top. I've had the Sizzle-Q for 3 days and have cooked every meal on it. My favorite is breakfast. BACON COOKS FLAT. It does not curl-up like it does in a frying pan. This was a welcome surprise, but I suspect that because a frying pan is hotter in the middle and cooler towards the edge, that it causes the back to heat up unevenly and curl up. Omelettes on the Sizzle-Q are especially fun and easy. Do yourself a favor and get a turner, not fancy rubber handled spatula, a good ol' wooden handled rectangle-shaped seven-dollar turner, one the length of a folded up omelette, a 7-10 inch blade or so. The Sizzle-Q is solid, hasn't warped, and has been easy to clean up with water and a scotch-brite scrubber and scraper. I love that I can cook a whole meal -- bacon, omelette, sauteed onions and spinach, and garlic fried rice -- all on the same cooking surface all at the same time. No rinsing, no washing, no switching pans. I think I love this part the most. One side benefit is that the flavors intermingle. The bacon grease can't help getting itself into the sauteed spinach and fried rice as they're cooking side-by-side. I just have to periodically scrape the excess bacon grease into the trough with my seven-dollar turner. Oh, that's another thing -- the front top edge of the grease trough in the front is an excellent edge to scrape the schmutz off your turner if you need to clean it while cooking. Just pull your turner blade down across the top edge of the grease trough on both sides. Even at 59 BTU per sq in with my new four-hundred dollar Weber Spirit E-210 grill, I still wish I could get the Sizzle-Q hotter. It's not the fault of the Sizzle-Q, just an issue about the grill. I'm a loyal Weber customer, so I wouldn't consider another brand, and the top-of-the-line Weber Summit E-670 costs thousands more for 78 BTU per sq in. Instead, I'm going to experiment with letting the grill and Sizzle-Q heat up with the grill dome cover closed for awhile. Without the Sizzle-Q, the grill gets up to 500+ degrees with the dome closed. The Sizzle-Q acts as a sort of heat-sink dissipating some of the heat. Perhaps I just need to wait longer with the dome cover closed. The Sizzle-Q does great, reminds me of my days as a fast-food cook cooking on a flat-top grill, and I'm enjoying every meal I've cooked on it.
