I haven't bought a grill in quite some time. I picked up a cheap Brinkmann for $200 at Home Depot. There are no coals or lava rock with it. The description says and this is typed exact from the website:

Lava Rock/Heat Grate or Briquettes : Heat Grate

I think maybe the : was meant to be a /

Which [i]could [i] mean:

Lava Rock/Heat Grate or Briquettes/Heat Grate

And I take that as: I can either use lava rock with my heat grate or Briquettes with the heat grate. Make sense?

More than likely it has a heat grate or as Weber likes to call them, flavor bars. I don't think Lava rocks are used much in grills these days and some of the more expensive grills now have infrared burners.

Definately not infared. I was puzzled by the lava rock being in the desription as well. My last grill had them but that was ooooold!

It might support the lava or the bricks but they tend to flare a lot. I like the flavor bars much better.

Simple is fine with me. I almost went traditional with a charcoal grill, etc. But I'll have to save that for simpler times...like empty nest!!

The lava rocks/ briquettes were used to help distribute heat evenly in older grills. New grills now have the heat plate, usually v-shaped somewhat, that does the same job. Grills no longer come with lava rocks, although most places still sell them, because older grills still need them. (Sometimes newer customers will buy them also, thinking that lava rocks were "missing" when they bought their new grill.)

That's what I was thinking when I put the V plates in. I honestly want go charcoal and I've moved even furhter from that. I know we need the convenience of the propane, especially with my wife cooking after work, etc. But at some point, I might move to a second grill, using lump charcoal and taking advantage of some good ol' BBQ.

thanks again for the help