They usually have cooking surface areas of 500 in.² or more and can cook for a large family. It boasts huge cooking space over an elite-level porcelain cooking grate, and pairs this with digital controls and propane ignition. It has beautiful porcelain enamel coated iron grates, which make it extremely good at maintaining even cooking temperatures across its surface. Here’s our Grills Portable Grills guide to the best gas charcoal combo grills out there today. Previously on earlier generation Pit Boss and Louisiana Grills pellet grills with a flame broiler, you had to remove the cooking grates to open/close the direct-flame access. It uses two stainless steel burners instead of an “H-shaped” burner in the center, giving you a little more fine control over your cooking area.
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.
Take a look at each grill’s cooking grate size (usually expressed in square inches) and consider if this will be enough. The amount of features it offers considering its mid-range price is remarkable, making it one of the best budget combo grills out there today. This is one of the smallest grills on Grills Portable Grills the list, with a cooking area size of only 505 square inches. However what I would add here is that compared to a lot of other types of grill, this is still adequate size to work with. It also packs in cast iron grates across both its charcoal and propane grill elements, which ensures durability.
If you were only willing to spend less than $500 on a pellet grill, sure, the Expert Grill range could be worth considering. If you are willing to spend a bit more, there is a wide range of potential alternatives you may want to consider. In recent years we have also seen other established brands enter the pellet game, such as Cuisinart with their Woodcreek/Twin Oaks models and their latest offering, the Clermont. Hence, they mainly stock budget offerings such as the Camp Camp SmokePro range and various budget models from Pit Boss and Z Grills, as referenced above. I even read that the 24″ charcoal grill could be a competitor of the Weber kettle grill. I will try to find out more about that and link it to my findings here.
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 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.
After reading a lot of the comments, ratings, and opinions on several sites I can only say that my Expert grill reviews show they are a nice affordable way of starting with grilling. Most grills have a mechanical igniter of either the push-button or rotary design. More convenient is a battery-operated electronic igniter, which usually ignites the gas on the first try.
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 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.