TL;DR:
- The Even Embers 36-inch Santa Maria grill is a $499 crank-style charcoal and wood grill sold at Home Depot, with 716 square inches of main grate and 1,023 square inches total.
- The most detailed long-term review so far, from Tim Clowers of Cook it with Tim, calls it a solid entry-level grill that will rust in the fire baskets if you get lazy about cleaning out ash and grease.
- I haven’t cooked on it yet. A teaser, an unboxing, a first cook, and a full review are coming, and they’ll all land on this page.
Cooking over a wood fire is about as old as cooking gets, and for most of American backyard history the gear for it has been either a campfire ring or something expensive and custom. The Santa Maria Valley on California’s Central Coast built its whole barbecue tradition around a grill with a hand crank that raises and lowers the grate over a bed of red oak coals. Argentina and Uruguay got to roughly the same place with the parrilla. For decades, if you wanted one of those outside of those places, you were looking at a welder’s quote or a four-figure price tag.
That’s changed fast. In the last year or so, Blackstone, Even Embers, and Weber have all put crank-style grills on the market or announced one, and two of them sit right around $500.
The price is the story here.
Which brings me to the one sitting in my garage. My wife got me the Even Embers 36 in. Santa Maria Charcoal and Wood Grill for my birthday, and over the next few weeks I’m going to put it through a teaser, an unboxing, a first cook, and a full review. Before any of that, I wanted to lay out what this grill actually is, what people who’ve owned one longer than I have are saying about it, where it fits against the other brands, and what you’d actually cook on one.
For the record, this one was bought at retail. Even Embers didn’t send it to me and doesn’t know I’m writing about it.
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Even Embers grill, still boxed or freshly assembled, in the garage]
Table of Contents
- What a Santa Maria Grill Is
- The Even Embers 36-Inch, By the Numbers
- What Other Reviewers Found
- Where It Sits on Price
- What to Cook on One
- Fuel and Heat Control
- What I’m Making
- Frequently Asked Questions
What a Santa Maria Grill Is
A Santa Maria grill is an open grill with no lid, a firebox underneath, and a grate hung from a cable or chain that you raise and lower with a hand wheel. You don’t adjust the fire to change the heat so much as you move the food closer to it or farther away. As Meathead Goldwyn puts it in his Santa Maria tri-tip recipe on AmazingRibs, the grill has “a built-in elevator.”
The style traces back to the Santa Maria Valley, a ranching area originally settled by Mexican vaqueros. According to Meathead, the cut most people now associate with it, tri-tip, only got popular there in the 1950s, when a Safeway butcher named Bob Schutz put a piece of bottom sirloin he’d normally have ground on the store’s rotisserie and found it was a lot better than anyone expected. The traditional fuel is red oak, the seasoning is mostly salt, pepper, and garlic, and the meat is served without sauce.
The Argentine version, often sold as a gaucho or parrilla grill, works the same way with a couple of additions. Many of them have a brasero, a steel cage off to one side where you burn whole logs and rake the coals under the grate as they drop. And many use V-shaped grates that channel fat away from the fire into a drip tray. AmazingRibs’ review of the Ñuke Puma credits those V-grates with zero flare-ups during a burger test, which is a nice trick on an open grill.
The Even Embers is closer to the California side of that family tree. It has flat, porcelain-coated cast iron grates and two charcoal baskets that sit inside the firebox, not a separate brasero. You add fuel through two doors on the back or by cranking the grate up and dropping it in from the top.
The Even Embers 36-Inch, By the Numbers
Even Embers is a brand from Fair Game, and the 36-inch model (ARG6055AS) is sold mainly through Home Depot, where it’s $499 and carries a 4.6-star average from 147 reviews as of October 2026. A smaller 26-inch version also exists. Here’s what the Home Depot listing and Fair Game’s own product page say you get:
| Spec | Even Embers 36 in. (ARG6055AS) |
|---|---|
| Price | $499 at Home Depot |
| Main grate | 716 sq in |
| Swing-away warming racks | 307 sq in |
| Total cooking area | 1,023 sq in |
| Grates | Porcelain-coated cast iron |
| Fuel | Charcoal, wood, or both |
| Firebox access | Two rear doors, two charcoal baskets and trays |
| Weight | 167.55 lb |
| Dimensions (H x L x W) | 61.02 x 35.83 x 52.36 in |
| Extras | Fitted 400D cover, fire poker, fold-down front table, sausage hooks, steel wheels with locking casters |
| Warranty | 1-year limited |
Tim Clowers measured a few things the listing doesn’t publish in his 8-month review. The main grate is about 35 1/2 inches wide by 19 1/2 inches deep, the firebox is roughly 34 inches wide by 18 deep, and the grate travels about 13 inches above the top of the firebox. Even Embers doesn’t list a steel gauge, and Tim couldn’t measure it directly either, so that’s one thing I’ll be looking at closely once mine is out of the box.
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Crank wheel and cable, close up]
What Other Reviewers Found
The most useful review out there right now is from Tim Clowers of Cook it with Tim, who got his before it was released and put roughly 25 to 30 cooks on it over 8 months. He’s not a neutral party in the strictest sense, since his video tags the Home Depot listing and his channel earns commission on tagged products. That said, the review is mostly about what went wrong, which is what I’d want to know before buying one.
What people like
- The price. Tim’s bottom line is that it’s worth $499, especially if you don’t have $1,800 to $4,900 for some of the other Santa Maria grills on the market.
- The crank. He calls the crank system the thing he likes most, and says the grate lowers smoothly.
- Space. 716 square inches of main grate is more than the Ñuke Puma (475) or the 30 x 20 Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters grill (513), per AmazingRibs.
- The small stuff. Tim liked the fold-down front shelf, the lower rack for storing charcoal and a chimney, the hooks for hanging meat, and how easy it is to roll around on the big rear wheels.
What people don’t
- Rust in the fire baskets. After 8 months, Tim had rust starting on the bottom of the charcoal baskets. He’s upfront that it was his fault, since he’d go a cook or two without emptying ash and wiping out grease, and moisture sat in there. His fix is to clean it out every couple of cooks, and touch up with high-heat paint if it starts.
- The rear grates can block the crank. If the swing-away racks aren’t pushed all the way back, they can stop the main grate from coming up.
- Limited fuel space where it counts. The firebox is big, but Tim points out the fuel should go in the baskets, not loose on the floor of the firebox, both for airflow and because coals sitting on the bottom can eventually rust or burn through the steel.
- The cover. He tore his, though he says that was from unzipping it carelessly.
- Entry level is entry level. In his words, it’s not the best one on the market. It’s a good way to get started.
None of that is unique to this grill. Every open fire grill burns through fuel and leaves a lot of ash, and AmazingRibs’ Puma review sums up the rust problem pretty well: “Ash + moisture + steel = rust.” Even a $2,890 grill gets that warning.
Where It Sits on Price
AmazingRibs describes the Santa Maria market as running from a few hundred dollars for thin-metal party grills all the way past ten thousand for brick-lined rigs with rotisseries and offset fireboxes. Here’s how the options most backyard cooks are actually looking at line up, with prices as of October 2026:
| Grill | Price | Grate area | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone Bronco | $494 | 22 x 17 in | Has a side brasero, stainless firebox lining, cover and rake included. CookOut News found it in-store only at Walmart. |
| Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters 30 x 20 | $495 (BBQ Land) | 513 sq in | 10-gauge steel, per AmazingRibs. Shipping outside California can be steep. |
| Even Embers 36 in. | $499 | 716 sq in (1,023 total) | Biggest grate in this price range, two warming racks, 1-year warranty. |
| Weber live-fire grill | ~$899 / ~$1,299 | 750+ sq in | Announced May 2026, expected early 2027. Stainless frame and grates, firebrick cookbox, 2 to 27 in grate travel, 5-year warranty. |
| Ñuke Delta | $1,521 (Ñuke) | n/a | The entry gaucho grill from the same Argentine maker as the Puma. |
| Ñuke Puma | $2,890 (Ñuke) | 475 sq in | Firebrick-lined, V-grates, 4 to 23 in grate travel, griddle included. |
Wes Wright’s review of the Bronco for CookOut News is the closest comparison to the Even Embers, and it’s worth reading. He was surprised by how well it held heat at that price, liked the stainless steel where it mattered, and called the fit and finish “a little clunky.” That trade, solid where it counts and rough around the edges, is pretty much what I’m expecting from the Even Embers too.
The Weber is the one I’d watch. According to Weber’s own announcement, it debuted at the Open Fire World Championship at Memphis in May, and on paper it fixes the two things budget grills usually skimp on, the warranty and the materials. It’s also nearly double the price and doesn’t ship until next year.
What to Cook on One
This is the part I’m most excited about, honestly. A crank grill isn’t a smoker and it isn’t really a kettle either, and the foods that show up again and again on them reflect that.
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Fire going in the charcoal baskets]
Santa Maria tri-tip
The signature cook. In Meathead’s version, a 3-pound tri-tip gets about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound a few hours ahead, then pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, and comes off around 130°F for medium rare. In Santa Maria, he notes, they raise it high over the coals and flip it often during a cook that can run up to an hour. The traditional plate alongside it is grill-toasted bread, salsa, pinquito beans, and salad. If you want a head start on the salsa, my fire-roasted tomato salsa was built for exactly this kind of fire.
One wrinkle worth knowing: Meathead actually prefers searing at the end instead of the start, and says so plainly. The crank makes either one easy, since you just lower the grate when you want the crust.
Argentine asado
The other big tradition. An asado is a long, social cook where things come off the grill in waves, usually sausages like chorizo first, then cuts like skirt steak, flank, and cross-cut short ribs, with chimichurri on the side. A crank grill is well suited to it because you can park slower cuts high and pull faster ones down close to the coals at the same time.
Food hung from hooks
The hooks on these grills aren’t decoration. Tim says he hangs meat from them often for slower, asado-style cooking of bigger cuts, and pineapple. In the AmazingRibs Puma review, the reviewer hang-roasted a spatchcocked chicken from meat hooks for several hours and got crisp skin and a juicy bird, basting it with the drippings from the tray.
Thick steaks
Anything that needs a hard sear and gentle heat in the same cook works well here. Start it high to come up slowly, then drop it down over the coals to finish. A good thermometer matters more than usual on an open grill, so if you need a refresher on targets, my meat temperature chart has them.
Vegetables, seafood, and weeknight stuff
Peppers, onions, corn, and whole fish all do well over wood coals. And for what it’s worth, Wes Wright’s point in his Bronco review holds for any of these grills: you can treat it like a regular charcoal grill and cook burgers and hot dogs on a Tuesday. You don’t have to make every cook an event.
Fuel and Heat Control
Two dials control the heat on a Santa Maria grill: how high the grate sits and how thick the coal bed is underneath. Raise the grate or spread the coals thinner and things cool down. Drop the grate or pile the coals up and it gets hot fast.
Fuel is mostly personal preference. Red oak is the Santa Maria tradition, but most backyard cooks mix it up. Wes Wright did a hybrid most of the time on the Bronco, laying a log down and dumping charcoal on top, which kept a steady supply of coals going. AmazingRibs ran the Puma on both wood and plain briquets and found briquets gave steadier heat, with a few wood chunks added for smoke. The Even Embers is rated for charcoal, wood, or both, so I plan to try all three.
If things get away from you, the recovery is the same on every crank grill. Crank the grate all the way up first, then spread or pull coals out from under the food. Don’t throw water on the fire; it kicks up ash onto everything on the grate.
What I’m Making
Here’s the plan for the Even Embers, in order. Each one will be added to this page as it goes up.
- Teaser. A short first look at the box and what’s coming.
- Unboxing and assembly. What’s in the box, how long it actually takes to put together, and anything that showed up damaged or missing.
- First cook. Tri-tip, Santa Maria style, since that’s the cook this grill was made for.
- Full review. After a real stretch of cooks, including how the crank, the grates, and the fire baskets are holding up, and whether I run into the same rust Tim did.
I’ll test it the same way I test anything else here, which I’ve laid out on my how I test gear page.
My guess going in is that the crank is the feature that matters and the 1,023 square inches matters a lot less than the box suggests, since the warming racks are more parking space than cooking space. That said, I haven’t cooked a single thing on it yet. Everything above about how it performs comes from people who have, so take my guess for what it is until the first cook is in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you smoke on a Santa Maria grill?
Not the way you would on an offset or a pellet grill. There’s no lid on the Even Embers, so there’s nothing to hold smoke around the food. You’ll get real wood-fire flavor from cooking over oak coals, and you can do slower cooks by raising the grate or hanging meat, but for a brisket or a pork butt you still want a smoker.
What wood is used for Santa Maria barbecue?
Red oak is the traditional choice in the Santa Maria Valley, according to AmazingRibs. Any dry hardwood will work, and plenty of people use lump charcoal or briquets with a few chunks of wood added.
Does the Even Embers Santa Maria grill rust?
It can. Tim Clowers found rust starting on the bottom of the fire baskets after 8 months, which he blamed on letting ash and grease sit between cooks. Emptying the baskets, wiping out the firebox every couple of cooks, and keeping the cover on are the usual fixes.
Is the Even Embers better than the Blackstone Bronco?
I can’t answer that yet, and I haven’t cooked on the Bronco. On paper, the Even Embers has a lot more grate space for about the same money, while the Bronco has a side brasero and stainless steel in the firebox. Which matters more depends on whether you’re feeding a crowd or burning a lot of whole logs.
How big is the Even Embers Santa Maria grill?
The 36-inch model has 716 square inches on the main grate and 1,023 square inches total including the two swing-away racks. It weighs 167.55 pounds and stands about 61 inches tall with the frame.
So that’s where things stand. A $499 crank grill that the people who’ve used it like, with some honest caveats about rust and fit, and a whole category of cooking I’m looking forward to spending a lot of weekends on. If you’ve got one of these already, or a different crank grill you’d steer people toward, I’d genuinely like to hear about it before I write the review.
Sources: Tim Clowers, Cook it with Tim, Even Embers Santa Maria Grill: 8-Month Honest Review; Meathead Goldwyn, AmazingRibs, Santa Maria Grilled Tri-Tip; AmazingRibs, Ñuke Puma Santa Maria Grill Review; AmazingRibs, Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters 30 x 20 Review; Wes Wright, CookOut News, Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Review; Weber, Santa Maria-style live-fire grill announcement
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