Warming up now, we will see if that helps! Already spent over $600 with the vet last week because our 16 year-old cat is being eaten alive from the SC critters that she’s not used to!
Debby?
- Thread starter Jim6820
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AlphaPapa
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- Stampede
Ouch! I hope he/she is better. I saw my dog get stung on the nose by a wasp once. After I took care of her I went all Rambo on that nest!
One step closer to cooking something great on the deck! FINALLY got the gas line from the base of the deck plumbed to the two cookers. The lines have quick disconnect fittings, so if I want to say use something like the Matador (which I no longer have), I can just plug it in. Seasoning the Halo now, as it has not been used in a long time. The Loco clone cooker is new to me, and is functional now for crawdad and soft shell crab season! It’s coming together!
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- #64
How has the Halo griddle worked out for you, @Greg Jones? I’m starting to think ahead to the outdoor kitchen project here and am considering adding a griddle. IIRC, the Halo is made in the UK—right? You know my “Chinaphobia. 
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I’ve owned 3 dedicated griddles over the years now, first a Blackstone, then a Pit Boss ceramic, then the Halo. I was not happy with the first two, but I suspect Blackstone has resolved some /most of my issues by now. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy another today, and my SIL has been pleased with the one I gifted him.How has the Halo griddle worked out for your, @Greg Jones? I’m starting to think ahead to the outdoor kitchen project here and am considering adding a griddle. IIRC, the Halo is made in the UK—right? You know my “Chinaphobia.
The Pit Boss was a nicely made griddle, but the ceramic surface was a challenge for me. If you want to cook outdoors on a griddle, you want to cook hot and fast and make those spatulas sing by banging and chopping them on a steel cooking surface. Not happening with silicone tools on a ceramic surface. Otherwise, the Pit Boss was a great buy. I gave it to a friend that had no experience with a griddle and she loves it, because she didn’t have to unlearn how to cook on the griddle. The steel top Pit Boss, I would not be afraid of buying.
The Halo company is based out of Elizabethtown Kentucky, not that far from my last home. However, I had no reason to believe their grills and griddles were made anywhere other than in Asia. Having said that, I had two ‘issues’ over time with my Halo, one was a later warranty issue and another was a ‘me’ issue during the initial assembly. Halo replaced both of those parts, with shipping, no charge to me. Quite impressed with their customer service. Now the Halo griddles can run hot because they have 8 cooking zones over 4 burners, unlike most, perhaps all, other 4 burner griddles. So a novice to this griddle may have a relearning curve to adjust for cooking zones to get the best results, but it is worth it. Which, as I’ve mentioned before, is why I far prefer this griddle to one like from one of our favorite pellet grill makers that is one zone only. Bottom line is I left multiple grills/cookers behind when moving here from Kentucky, and I paid about double to run a gas line from the house propane tank here to the Halo than I paid for the Halo. It’s a keeper in my book.
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My research says the Halo is now “made in UK.” I suppose that could be “United Kentucky” right?
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Those United Kenticky devices sure have my attention so can I humbly request a cease and disist on enabling?
I did have my not so rogue landscapers over today, they took out six weed trees aka crepe myrtles, five dead azaleas, a bunch of privets attptimg to become a problem and a massive cherry tree limb over my extended pool patio, so I can finish getting it set up with cover. They did this all without turning on, covering up or uncovering my Bull. It's a win! They also hauled it all away.
I did have my not so rogue landscapers over today, they took out six weed trees aka crepe myrtles, five dead azaleas, a bunch of privets attptimg to become a problem and a massive cherry tree limb over my extended pool patio, so I can finish getting it set up with cover. They did this all without turning on, covering up or uncovering my Bull. It's a win! They also hauled it all away.
Now you have me concerned! My wife bought a small Crepe Myrtle that I planted when we were in Kentucky. It did fine that summer, got over a foot tall, and the following winter we had an unusually cold spell of single digit temps and it looked like the cold killed it. Nope. Next year, same thing happened and I dug it up and planted it here in South Carolina. Imma now thinking that was a mistake!
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It is all a matter of location, location, location. Three of these were planted a foot out from the foundation, which first is bad, second they grow upwards and then get into the soffit, facia and the roof. They were also in prime location to bomb my pool with all of there mess like blooms etc.
Had the folks who planted them used their heads and planted them as far away from the house and pool as possible, all would be great and they would still be around.
One of the others was almost against the foundation and less than a foot for the driveway. On top of the proximity they dumped on anything parked in the driveway near the garage.
No more!
Well, it’s been a couple of months since an update on the outdoor kitchen but I’m getting closer! The biggest challenge for the last couple of months has been the plumbing to the two propane lines that our plumber put it. The original contract was to ‘plumb two propane lines from the tank to two cookers.’ The lines were to have disconnect quick couplers, like what is popular in RVs to connect gas grills to the RV’s tank. This has been a nightmare to say the least.
Now the plumber has been the plumber on this house renovation from the start, so we’ve written him checks for a LOT of money. I wanted to be able to use 3, perhaps even more, propane devices out here thus the quick disconnect feature. Months later, I still have only the Halo griddle working. The plumber took the regulator off the boil pot cooker with him, ghosted us, and we even reached out and asked him to bring the OEM parts back or tell me where I could pick them up as our son was coming home last month and I wanted to make him Frogmore Stew while he was here. Crickets.
Now I’m trying to complete the project, bought a new quick release connector today to close that loop, and don’t you know the plumber DID NOT use the standard coupler that RV users have on their stuff! SMDH. I’ve since been blessed with a new, replacement regulator due to the kindness of the company that makes the crayfish/shrimp cooker. Thinking I’ll just install the OEM connector and use a 20# tank for now. It’s not like I’ll be making Lowcountry boils or Frogmore Stew every week.
Oh, BTW the Camp Chef Pro dual 14” burner system is new, untested. I had an older Champ Chef dual 14” with a pizza oven back in Kentucky and retired it to a friend. I’m really surprised how much I miss it, and canning season hasn’t begun yet! No pizza oven for this one as I now have the wood fired oven on the Yoder.
Now the plumber has been the plumber on this house renovation from the start, so we’ve written him checks for a LOT of money. I wanted to be able to use 3, perhaps even more, propane devices out here thus the quick disconnect feature. Months later, I still have only the Halo griddle working. The plumber took the regulator off the boil pot cooker with him, ghosted us, and we even reached out and asked him to bring the OEM parts back or tell me where I could pick them up as our son was coming home last month and I wanted to make him Frogmore Stew while he was here. Crickets.
Now I’m trying to complete the project, bought a new quick release connector today to close that loop, and don’t you know the plumber DID NOT use the standard coupler that RV users have on their stuff! SMDH. I’ve since been blessed with a new, replacement regulator due to the kindness of the company that makes the crayfish/shrimp cooker. Thinking I’ll just install the OEM connector and use a 20# tank for now. It’s not like I’ll be making Lowcountry boils or Frogmore Stew every week.
Oh, BTW the Camp Chef Pro dual 14” burner system is new, untested. I had an older Champ Chef dual 14” with a pizza oven back in Kentucky and retired it to a friend. I’m really surprised how much I miss it, and canning season hasn’t begun yet! No pizza oven for this one as I now have the wood fired oven on the Yoder.
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- #72
Sorry to hear about the issues regarding the plumber and gas lines, @Greg Jones. I don’t know if SC requires bonding and insurance for contractors (my state does), but you might check. If it does, you might, at least, recover the cost of completing the job. Our daughter had a somewhat similar situation with a contractor involving about $85K worth of HVAC work. It took a while—and, the services of an attorney—but she was finally able to recover the full cost plus attorney fees. Good luck.
All good advice, thanks. The challenge is the plumber is a sub-contractor to our overall contractor, so now we play the finger pointing game. I told the plumber that I would take ownership of what it means to plumb these grills. I’m not looking to be cheap, and at the same time I’m looking into the rearview mirror to be all this to be done over a year after we bought this house.!
He did an excellent job, and for the most part that’s what we’ve always got from him. The challenge is when I took ownership of a miscommunication/misunderstanding of what ‘connecting my grills’ means, he agreed to to complete the work at an additional fee and I agreed because there was a misunderstanding of what I understood the scope of the project to be. I’ve not paid him anything additional, because he never billed me, but he took my chit and then ghosted me! And I’ve spent a not insignificant amount of money buying chit that isn’t working for me to fix the situation. I’m just looking for a solution and that’s harder to find than I would have ever expected.
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- #74
Wish I was closer, @Greg Jones, because I have installed gas lines in both a house and a motorhome. It really isn’t rocket science if you have the right parts. I guess you probably are in a permitted status with the renovation, so the install would need to comply with local building codes. That might require installation by a “licensed” plumber though most building codes allow homeowners to do their own work as long as it passes inspection.
Gas lines—propane or natural gas—are usually plumbed with “black iron” pipe and threaded fittings or copper tubing with compression fittings, but I don’t know what your local building code requires. Do you have propane already plumbed into the house for heating, water heating, cooking stove, etc.? If so, it would probably require just tapping into that line and bringing an extension to the outdoor kitchen.
Or, could you live with a refillable 20# cylinder on a pull-out shelf housed in an enclosure of some sort? It so, an extension hose like this—https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQPWMBK...bcac92-0366-41bb-9fa9-33fb4774b9d8&th=1—might work. I have seen them as long as 20’.
Just some rambling thoughts from an old Basque.
Good luck.
Jim, the dual propane lines to the deck are perfect in (almost) every way. The bigger issue is when the plumber was tasked with connecting my stuff to the lines. First, with this boil pot he didn’t see a problem with a propane cooker being connected to a gas line… without a regulator! Because the regulator is on the hose to a 20# tank we are no longer using. Then he took my regulator and would not/has not returned it. I bought an aftermarket regulator, but I need multiple brass adapters to get it to work.
Then there is the problem that he installed quick disconnect lines (perfect) but they don’t match the QD fittings that are considered the standard for connecting propane grills to the propane tank in a motor home. So when I buy one of those MH QD connectors, it doesn’t match what I have plumed to the deck, and since the plumber is AWOL… I have no clue what I need to buy or where. I don’t mind spending what it takes, but I dislike buying stuff over and over again and when it doesn’t work, I have to return it or eat it. I just want to cook some food!
Then there is the problem that he installed quick disconnect lines (perfect) but they don’t match the QD fittings that are considered the standard for connecting propane grills to the propane tank in a motor home. So when I buy one of those MH QD connectors, it doesn’t match what I have plumed to the deck, and since the plumber is AWOL… I have no clue what I need to buy or where. I don’t mind spending what it takes, but I dislike buying stuff over and over again and when it doesn’t work, I have to return it or eat it. I just want to cook some food!
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- #76
I can understand your frustration. When I did my propane plumbing I was fortunate to have an old-school hardware store in my area with knowledgeable staff. They walked me through what fittings I needed, answered questions and sent me out the door with what I needed. I was already knowledgeable about installing plumbing fittings, so things went well. Hope your situation works out as well. It looks to me like you are pretty much there other than getting the right fittings but I understand the frustration of having to buy stuff you have already paid for.
I too am familiar with pipe fittings, having done my share of pipe work when I was in the fertilizer business. And I take ownership of my role in this problem. I told the contractor what I wanted and he relayed something to the plumber and he did a fine job at that point. Just wasn’t fully what I expected. Really no different if it were an electrician and I had expectations that the work would come with extension cords to plug in my stuff. But the cooking stuff is different-you don’t just go to Lowe’s and buy something that replaces what was designed to connect to a 20# tank. I’ll get there, just wished I too had that old school hardware store to get me what I needed.
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larry4406
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