This website is intended to be an educational resource on BBQ pellets, pellet grills & smokers. PID control panels becoming the norm will help all pellet grill owners get more accurate/predictable cooking temperatures that will also reduce pellet usage/consumption. Therefore, on a combo pellet/gas grill you have the best of both worlds. You have a pellet side to provide flavour/smoking and the gas side for speed and really high-temperature searing performance. A gas grill can be useful for its quick warm-up time and very high grate surface temperatures over 600 degrees.
It features cast iron grates and wire warming racks coated in a layer of porcelain. The grill has a Lid-Mounted Temperature Gauge to help keep track of your pre-heat status and monitor the inside temperature of your grill. The charcoal/gas grill also features dual temperature gauges, a crank adjustable height grate for charcoal, an access door and an ash pan that slides out for easy clean up.
Identical in the key features to the Commodore offering a ‘Sear Station’ and a 24lb pellet hopper. So for anyone with a larger family/group of friends or that just wants to cook really long racks of ribs, there is the Atlas. For Walmart to release its own branded products, which directly compete with products from Pit Boss and Cuisinart, its a bold move. As is the case with most of the products that Walmart carry, they are focused on the value/budget end of the market.
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.
After cooking, it’s imperative that you clean your griddle to preserve its surface and avoid rust formation, even if you have a rust-resistant surface like stainless steel. These surfaces are then heated via gas burners that rest directly beneath the cooking surface. In addition, the cooking surface is made with rolled steel, which isn’t quite as rust-resistant but does allow for excellent heat retention and distribution. No, you can’t use charcoal fuel in a standard gas or propane grill. Gas grills are not designed to take on other fuels besides propane gas. Gas and charcoal is the number one priority here, but some models also add wood pellets as an added third fuel source.
Just load up the hopper with lump charcoal or briquettes, light it, and set the desired temperature via the digital, WiFi-enabled screen. It heats up to 700°F in just 15 minutes, and maintains a constant temperature for perfectly grilled food, no matter what’s cooking. Despite its relatively low price, it still boasts commercial grade burners and a huge 940 square inches of cooking grate area.
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 Grills Portable 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.
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 Expert Grill Combo Grills 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.
The initial outlay may be more than that of a charcoal grill, but the saving will be seen once you start to add gas grills to the mix too. Combo grills tend to be generously sized, with some on the list above offering two separate cooking spaces to cook over. This allows you to be extremely time-efficient, cooking larger batches of food at once.
At nearly 70 pounds, it’s a beast, which could be a good thing for anyone who values heft over portability in their charcoal grills. We highly recommend two very patient people put it together, however, as the assembly process isn’t easy. It also doesn’t maintain a consistent temperature as fast or as easy as others we’ve seen. Some reports note that it took more than two hours to roast a whole chicken, for example (that’s more than a half hour longer than expected). Still, if you’re looking to kickstart your next backyard grilling adventures on the cheap, you could do worse.