We have seen PID control panels fitted to several pellet grills under $500 from Green Mountain Grills, for instance. I’ve previously written a summary article on the various combo pellet/gas grill options, which I’ll have to amend to add in the Expert Grill Concord above. However, as is usually the case with product marketing descriptions, that’s for both the main cooking grate and the two upper warming/smoking racks. Although tabletop grills from Expert grills are most of the time also propane gas-powered I still thought it would be useful to mention them separately here. Most small and average-sized grills have two separate burners, controlled independently, or one burner with independently controlled halves. Some average-size grills have up to four burners with corresponding controls large grills often have six.
It has cast iron grates for longevity and durability, and large shelves and food preparation areas. It has a mightily impressive 1260 square inches of cooking space between its charcoal and propane areas. Across these 1260 square inches it has an amazing 40,800 BTUs of power. Not only this, but it also has a side burner that packs in 12,000 BTUs of additional power.
Infrared burners aren’t always offered in conjunction with porcelain enamel grates, but if your grill has either of them then you’re onto a winner. Wood pellet smokers and grills have grown in popularity over the past few years due to their ‘cleaner’ burning, and significant fuel savings in comparison to charcoal. While I’m undoubtedly a grill and smoker nut, small investments quickly add up and it’s easy to have amassed needless costs between different grills. Furthermore, having both doesn’t interfere with your cooking space. The best gas-charcoal hybrids offer you the very best of both worlds.
If you don’t want to invest in a dedicated griddle, the Little Griddle is a great option. If you need to move the griddle around, you’ll appreciate the quality 360 degree lockable caster wheels. After putting the Victory griddle through rounds of cooking tests, I can confidently recommend this to both the novice and experienced flat-top connoisseur. There are some caveats here, particularly if the grill has more burners. For example, if a grill has an average BTU number but a high number of burners, then this actually means that the grill is quite weak per burner. The Oklahoma Joe series has stood strong for years, and with a range this powerful it’s not hard to see why.
Griddles let you cook everything from eggs, pancakes, and other fragile foods that would fall straight through a gas griddle surface. Griddle surfaces provide a uniform cooking area that doesn’t leave marks on your food or require as much cleanup as a traditional grill. It still uses 4 stainless steel burners with matchless ignition for Grills Portable Grills ease of use and features two wheels instead of four to allow for transportation to and from a given storage area. It’s incredibly easy to store since you can remove the top and flip it so that it’s upside down to protect the cooking surface. At 17 inches wide, it’s not too unwieldy to be carried to and from various cooking locations.
Plus, the heavy-duty cast iron cooking surface is a welcome addition, especially for a sub-$100 griller. Of course, charcoal grills can be more than glorified fire basins. Masterbuilt’s Gravity Series elevates ol’ school briquette burners to a whole other level. It uses smart technology and automatic fans to remove the guesswork out of cooking with charcoal.
On the charcoal smoker side, it has 580 square inches of space, as well as a warming rack and ash bucket for easy ash removal. Its charcoal grill has an ash catcher, which is a great addition to have. Far too few charcoal grills have these, when I consider them as necessary as the grates themselves. Just like other models it has cast iron grates, which help ensure durability and also makes it easy to clean. Of the current pellet grill/smoker products on the market, I’m not aware of another ‘full-sized’ pellet grill smoker for under $300, which is fitted with a PID control panel.