Char-Broil Santa Fe - 491 Charcoal Grill

I bought a Char-Broil Santa Fe at Home Depot to replace my aged 860 grill. That was a bad idea as it turns out.

The Santa Fe construction is cheap and flimsy. The thing leaks air at every possible place and the front door for fire access doesn't seal worth beans and warps as it gets hot and cold. The wood slats for the side tables are a poor idea as the space between them allows things to tilt and easily fall as compared to a solid piece of wood. Sure, I can replace them with a solid piece, but on a new grill!?!

The cooking grid is a pain to take off and on as it is one large piece and they provide no tools with it. If it is hot, forget about taking if off and on, it's too big and unwieldy, not to mention there is no place to put it. The coal pan sits far too low under the cooking grid even at the highest placement. The lack of an ash drawer had me wondering before I bought it and those fears were justified. Lifting the entire coal tray out to dump the ashes is poor and the ventilation holes in the tray allow ash to collect on the bottom of the case so you still have to deal with that. The interior volume combined with the outside air leaks requires you to build a much larger fire than is necessary just to get adequate heat for cooking. That is a waste of charcoal or wood. The thermometer is a joke and not a very good one at that.

I was able to cook on it but it wasn't pleasant and it took far longer than it should have because of the poor heat control due to air leaks. I wish I had spent the extra money to get another 860X or whatever the current generation of good Char-Broil grill is called. I will likely have to do that anyway and just kiss the $110.00 I spent on the Santa Fe goodbye. Don't waste your money on this piece of junk. I'm disappointed that Char-Broil would produce such a lousy product. It's obviously built for a low price point and not for quality. Skip it and get something else that is good.