In market for built-in grill

We are having a stone wall extended in our backyard, with plans to build in a gas grill (with a gas line). I know everyone prefers charcoal, and I get that and agree food tastes better cooked that way, but I really am looking for some advice on built-in gas ones for this particular project. We have had a Weber Genesis for a decade and clearly want something bigger and better. Is there much a difference between the premium brands ($3000-5000) and say, the ones at Costco or other lower priced alternatives (more like $1500-2000)? What are the key specs to look for?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Biggest differences are therms and surface area. The more therms and surface area the more you pay. I have a Weber Summit which is their top of the line product and think it’s about as good as you can do on the “low end” ($1,500.00-$2,000.00) before making the big jump to the high end units like DCS. The Summit has 6 burners, 1 infrared, 1 smoker box and a side burner. All stainless. About as good as it gets before maker the big leap up.

From a higher end standpoint we looked at DCS, Lynx, Viking, PGS, etc… When we finally make the switch off the Weber to a high end built in it’ll likely be the DCS. We thought it had the most features, best quality, etc… We really liked the porcelain rods for obtaining and retaining higher heat.

My two cents.

Sherri, as much as I love Costco…and I do love Costco…I would stay away from their grills. They are sourced from China and the grill grates don’t last…and they are non-standard sized, so are very difficult to replace. Of course Costco warranties them, but you have to return it to get your money back. Try taking back grill that weighs several hundred pounds or is surrounded by brick/stone. Weber is damn fine and the higher end Solaire is something to investigate as is DCS.

I’d look at Napolean and Pacific Gas Specialties, too.

Great info! Much appreciated as always. I have seen the DCS ones and was curious whether they are worth the extra $$$ over something like the Weber. Are there certain minimum BTU’s/burners/surface area numbers I should look for? Thanks.

What do you typically cook on your grill and how many people do you typically cook for? Do you ever do anything unusual like trying to grill something really large like a turkey or cook for really large parties? That might impact things like size, BTUs, etc… For instance. If you grill a lot of thick steaks then an infrared burner or really high BTUs are good because you can jack the temperature up close 1,000 and sear the meat properly. If you don’t then you could skip infrared and extra BTUs pretty easily. If you do large parties on a regular basis then the highest surface area you can afford is a must. If you love rotisserie then you’ll need something with slots for that, plenty of head room and preferably an infrared in the dome.

I’d go custom myself but some key points, and I’ll be in the minority here and say avoid Webers (for gas, they aren’t really that great compared to most).

Cast iron grates are a must. And pretty tight spacing so shrimp cannot fall through. Asparagus will but that’s about the “hole size” you want. (to cook asparagus of course lay it perpendicular to the openings).

Surface area. HUGE. HUGE HUGE. One of my biggest pet peeves about Weber’s, not enough surface area. My Kenmore has enough surface area to put 2 whole turkeys on the grill. (oh yeah, you need a tall lid).

A top rack that can be sturdy wire. A place to keep things warm, to slow cook baked potatoes, etc. Make it LARGE. Large enough that it basically, when the lid is closed, extends to match the surface area of the lower grill. You can never have enough space.

I like a metal pan that supports volcanic briquettes. They get changed out once a year. Juices drip on them, you get the smoky and this is a huge difference worth exploring. IT costs nothing but another 4 notches, one at each corner, slightly below the burner level but such that the briquettes fit in the holes of the burner.

Have the heat adjustable left to right, not front to back. You can then put veggies on the left side, and meat on the right and have the right temp for both. The front back is just nonsense as who wants to reach OVER one set of flames to get to something else. Cook “side to side” and not “Front to back”.

Think about cleaning. How will you disassemble it?? You need to get the cast iron grates off, you need to get the burners out, you need to get the catch tray out and you need to get the catch cup out. Plus you’ll want to hose out the lid so need some drainage for gallons of water. Where will the venturi’s be (hopefully with the burners as one piece) as you’ll need to hose them out because spiders etc will build small structures in there and mess up your airflow over time.

Handles. WOOD or hard plastic. Metal handles on a grill lid?? How stupid is that? You don’t want to be forced to wear gloves all the time to open/close just to check on things.

You want NON-metallic metal pieces. If a magnet sticks to it, avoid it. Aluminum, most stainless steels. Heavy duty, when you touch something you want it moving exactly how you want, no “wiggle room”.

For all pieces (screws, hinges, burners), that will be directly exposed to heat or that will get filled with meat juices, fats, etc and thus wear out or get destroyed during cleaning/disassembly, buy 2X and keep in a drawer. And make sure you are buying standardized everything every chance you get. No "oh that was last year’s model, this year we have a 4-screw hinge which is “much better”. Yeah except that I’m trying to replace it on a pre-existing built in grill that only has 3 holes in very very specific places. Morons!

Storage. First is “accessible storage” and I’m talking easy to reach hooks for your grill scraper, for your tongs, for the spatula. Second is “non-accessible” which tends to be doors underneath. I AVOID any “non-accessible” myself. Everything lives inside and comes out when it is time to play.

My $0.04

Jeff - such great info, thank you so much. You are SO right about left/right burners. I have a Weber now and that is a pet peeve of mine. Is there a specific brand/model you recommend? I have been looking at the DCS line.

Joe - Most of the time, I am grilling meat/chicken/shrimp/veggies for my family of 4, but I do entertain larger crowds enough that I like the idea of having a larger surface area. I don’t need a rotisserie.

No brand I recommend. I recommend custon designed. no commercial supplier really understands us hard core grillers…