It's a sad fact that most of the grills produced today are made in China or other parts of the world where labor is cheap and quality control is something they haven't gotten around to yet. The same is true of grill parts. Like many other things, they just are not made here anymore.

One day, awhile back, a customer asked about a flame tamer that we didn't carry. When told that we didn't carry them and didn't know where one could be found, the customer responded that he had looked high and low, and these flame tamers were just nowhere to be found. He was quite distressed, believing a costly new grill was his only alternative. We asked the customer to send us his old flame tamers and we'd see what we could do. We have a small shop back in the warehouse and, before we got really busy selling parts, we occasionally fashioned custom parts to help out local customers who had purchased grills from us. Of course that was back when we sold and serviced grills.

After receiving the flame tamers, which were substantial and beyond what we could produce because of the stamping required, we took them to a metal fabrication shop in a nearby town that our family has worked with in the past. Another family business. They were able to make a very suitable substitute that was actually a little heavier duty than the original. They ran us off a couple of dozen and we sold them in short order. Our original customer was, of course, ecstatic. After selling the first couple of dozen, we added them as a new part to our online catalog and have been selling them ever since.

After those first flame tamers, we added a few more locally made parts to our catalog, and ala! Our buy American program was born. Simply put, we've committed to making as many parts as possible. Of course, we don't make them ourselves. Small companies across America make them for us. If we can have them made in the USA, at a price that is competitive, we will. Even if the cost isn't all that competitive, we frequently reduce our margin so that we can still offer the American made part.

We have a small but growing list of American made parts. The American flag under the part number means that the part was produced here in the USA. Not just assembled here, but built here by American workers. Machinists, welders, and metal fabricators. Folks, like many of us, with kids in school and college tuition to pay. Help us keep these jobs here, buy American!

NOTICE: We would love to offer made-in-USA cast iron burners and cooking grids but do not have an American supplier for these products. If your company manufactures cast iron, brass or stainless products and is interested in working with us, please contact us.