The roughly $400 price tag should be a clue that this is no ordinary tabletop grill. The clever, capsule-like design opens to reveal two grills in one, which effectively doubles the cooking surface to more than 200 square inches. Both sides boast a cast iron cooking surface and an ultra-durable aluminum exterior that’s guaranteed to never rust.
The burners are made with stainless steel to increase their rust resistance and make them less susceptible to corrosion. The grease trap for on the Blackstone is much better and easier to clean up than the Pit Boss or Camp Chef griddles we’ve tested. You can use charcoal in a combo grill, but only in the Flat Top Grills Gas Grills Pellet charcoal component of that grill. As a result, it’s important that you have quick and easy access to your charcoal so you can empty and replace it. As a rule, I would always go for a lower BTU if the unit is excellent and maintaining consistent heat levels with very little temperature fluctuation.
I ordered the 65 inch premium grill cover and it showed up on time and exactly as described. It’s made of thick, heavy duty material that repels water like a champ. It even has velcro strips on the side that give it a nice clean look. The stock temp Charcoal Grills Combo Grills gauge on my expert grill gave out after 5 years of diligent service. Luckily, the universal temperature gauge I ordered from My Grill Parts works just as well. If you are interested you can find more pellet grill brand reviews on this page.
While this is good in theory, I find that when I want to griddle, I’m always running out of space. The Blackstone is the industry leader for a reason, there are really only small nitpicks you can make on an otherwise excellent griddle. All Blackstone products are designed and engineered in the USA. For breakfast aficionados, you can easily cook a large volume of pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and eggs at the same time.
The discussion about which is better has been going on for many years and likely will continue for many more. From our thinking both sides are right, and we wonder why you should have to choose one over the other. With this large Combination Charcoal/Gas Grill you can have both with lots of space to grill how you want, when you want, to achieve the Grills Portable Grills results you want. This spacious grill has a total of 557 square inches of cooking space that can accommodate 32 burgers (16 per side) at once and an additional 188 square inches of warming space. As an added convenience, the grill includes a gas-powered side burner that can be used to prepare your favorite sauces or a whole host of other dishes.
This can be important if you plan to cook a lot of food at the same time. But some models offer the versatility to burn different types of charcoal and even wood or wood pellets. Keep an eye toward which fuel sources your potential new charcoal grill works with. At roughly $1,600, there’s no getting around the fact that this thing is pricey. It’s also big and extremely heavy (weighing almost 240 pounds fully assembled).
Instead of spreading yourself thin over two appliances, you and dedicate your time and energy on just one. Combo grills are a fantastic way to keep everything contained into one modern appliance, and is far more than just a quick gimmick. Streamlining your appliances from two grill to one simply by investing in a hybrid is a great way to stay organized, time-efficient, and clear-headed. Cooking and grilling appliances are fun, but they quickly pile up and dominate your kitchen and patio area. The mess this creates is not only impractical, but can also lead to unnecessary stress. The manufacturing costs for these types of grills are quite high, which means that these are a bit more expensive to purchase than single purpose grills.
As before, the size of the main cooking grate is not stated in the promotional materials/manual. The only real difference being this is just a larger pellet grill/smoker offering a total cooking area of just over 1,000 square inches. The smallest unit which is currently offered under the Expert Grill brand is the Commodore. This is a relatively compact pellet grill providing 770 square inches of cooking area. If you want more space there’s also a 5-burner griddle that bumps your cooking surface up to 750 square inches, and moves the grease catch to the side. The Primate looks and cooks like a regular gas grill but can be converted by swapping out the stainless steel grates for the griddle surface.
The side tables are a little larger, great if you like having a lot of extra food prep space during your cooking. It has a griddle surface of 604 in.², which helps keep the size of the overall unit down a little bit. When we first saw the price we thought it was going to be a total rip-off. But after testing the griddle out and experiencing some of the clever design choices and premium build quality we can say that the price is mostly justified. Stainless steel construction and a removable grease tray make clean up the easiest out of all griddles tested.