10 Best Built-In Grills – Reviews and Buying Guide
Table of Contents
How to Choose a Build-in Grill?
Grilling food is a form of art, and certain people can’t be persuaded anyway else. However, most people don’t care about the process of grilling and the importance of the grill. All they care about is the final product, how it tastes, and its quantity.
But, if grilling is your thing and you enjoy grilling as much as you like seeing people enjoying your food, you know how important the grill is.
Here is a guide in the fine art of choosing a built-in grill. The idea is to help you make the best possible choice while considering all the essential factors. Therefore, instead of relying on reviews and recommendations, the selection can be based on some key features.
So, here is what you should consider most when choosing the best possible built-in grill.
Quick Summary
Built-in grills are easy and common grills that service the cooking for most families. We have reviewed air fryers, outdoor pizza ovens, and smokers, the outstanding feature of built-in grills is their diverse usage. You can use it for frying, steaming and boiling, etc. You can also use it for grilling, the taste of food is almost the same as your make from a Kamado Grill or Pellet Grills, of course, it needs cooking skills. Also, compared to portable grills, the built-in grills are more suitable for home and family use.
Here are high-quality built-in grills that you can buy on the market:
1. Best Single Side burner Grill – Blaze Grills Single Side Burner
2. Best Surge Protected Electric Grill – Coyote Portable Electric Grill
3. Best Built-In Electric Grill – Kenyon B70400 Texan Built-In Electric Grill
4. Best Stainless Steel Grill – Stanbroil Built-In Gas Side Grill Burner
5. Best Grill with cooking surface – Bull BBQ 47628 Angus Grill Head
6. Best Portable Grill – Char-Broil 240 Gas grill
7. Best Versatile Electric Grill – ANWALE Smokeless Electric Grill
8. Best Propane Gas Grill – Cuisinart CGG-306 Gas grill
9. Best Easy to Clean Grill – Royal Gourmet PD1301S Gas Grill
10. Best Sturdy Grill – Blackstone Tabletop Griddle Grill
Top Rated Built-In Grills Reviews
1. Best Single Side burner Grill – Blaze Grills Single Side Burner
Whether you are a backyard grilling enthusiast or you are looking to cook a delicious meal for your family, Built-in grills are essential to have. This piece is a great fit for outdoor grilling.
Featuring a dimension of 19.5 x 12.25 x 4.5 inches and weighs 11 pounds. This grill is not too large nor is it too small for outdoor grilling. It has a 12,000 BTU brass burner that supplies the much-needed heat for grilling. With a stylish design, this grill will make a great addition to your outdoor cooking space. The cover is made of stainless steel and is also removable. It helps protect the burner from outdoor elements while making cleanup quite easy.
The push and turn ignition knob make it very easy to light up the grill when needed. It is compatible with natural gas.
2. Best Surge Protected Electric Grill – Coyote Portable Electric Grill
If what you need is a simple but elegant grill, and look no further. With this Electric Grill, you can add a subtle and appealing appearance to your kitchen area. It has many features that make it an excellent choice.
This piece features a 156 Square inch cooking surface enough for a family meal. The surface is Teflon coated and has a 1300-Watt heating element which has the ability to reach a temperature as high as 5500F. Its exterior is made with 304 stainless steel making the whole structure very durable. The Coyote electric grill can be used both indoors and outdoors. Featuring a removable frame that helps switch from built-in to pedestal installation
Your safety is fully ensured with this appliance with safety features including a 60-minute timer that helps turn off the grill if it is accidentally turned on. It is also fully surge protected. Using a ceramic heat control grid to ensure that heat is evenly distributed while cooking.
3. Best Built-In Electric Grill – Kenyon B70400 Texan Built-In Electric Grill
Electric grills are all the rave these days. The Texan Electric grill can be a great addition to your indoor kitchen, it can as well be used for outdoor grilling.
It features two heating elements that are 1500 Watts each. These elements are in direct contact with the grilling surface, providing the much-needed heat for grilling. This grill heats up to about 600 degrees in just 10 minutes. The body is made with Marine Grade stainless steel that ensures the grill stays rust-free through its lifetime.
The Split lid design gives you control when it comes to maintaining built-up heat while grilling. You can easily open up one side while maintaining the heat in the other half. The controls are waterproof which protects them from accidental spills. It also ensures they are protected from the elements when left outside. This piece comes with a grill mark design to impart grill marks on food items cooked on it. It also features a drip tray that helps you add flavor while also keeping the food item juicy.
4. Best Stainless Steel Grill – Stanbroil Built-In Gas Side Grill Burner
Here is another awesome grill for the aficionados. If you are looking for a portable but powerful grill, this is the one for you.
It has a dimension of 21.6” L x 13.7” W x 6.6” H which shows how portable this grill is. With a heating power of 12,000 BTU’s, your food items will certainly be grilled to your satisfaction. Its grates are made of solid stainless steel which protects it from rust and ensures it lasts several years.
The body is also made of 304 Stainless steel, this makes it suitable for an outdoor kitchen. It also comes with a stainless-steel cover that protects the grill from the elements when not in use.
5. Best Grill with cooking surface – Bull BBQ 47628 Angus Grill Head
This BBQ Grill is the definition of power and elegance. It features an excellent design that makes it a perfect fit for your kitchen. Cooking with this grill head is bliss
Featuring 4 burners made completely of stainless steel. This ensures your food items are evenly cooked on these burners. Offering cooking power of 75,000 BTUs which heats up the grill within minutes. The surface offers a huge 810 square inches of cooking space which also includes a warming rack. It ensures even heat distribution with the ReliaBULL flame tamers. This is a new technology that eliminates hot and cold spots, making sure the entire grilling surface is primed.
The sturdy construction makes it suitable for outdoor kitchens. It is made with 304 stainless steel which assures the durability of this grill. Other features include a twin lighting system and Piezo igniters. It also comes with a 15,000 BTU back burner.
6. Best Portable Grill – Char-Broil 240 Gas grill
Sometimes all you really need is a portable grill to take care of your own personal grilling needs. If so, why not try out the Char-Broil 240 Gas grill
It features a 240 square inch cooking surface which is just enough cooking space for six to eight burgers. This grill is built for traveling purposes. It is suitable for beach parties as well as camping. The built-in handle makes it easy to carry it around. It also sits on four sturdy legs that keep it level while cooking.
Talk about the heating power. This grill features an amazing heating power of 9,500 BTUs. Ignition is relatively easy with the Piezo ignition that is controlled with a button. The lid is mounted with a temperature gauge which is used to monitor the cooking temperature while grilling. It uses a propane tank that is connected to the side of the grill.
7. Best Versatile Electric Grill- ANWALE Smokeless Electric Grill
Add some modern design touch to your kitchen area with this ANWALE smokeless Grill. It is the perfect fit for kitchens with very limited space. This grill is also suitable for outdoor grilling.
This Electric grill offers features that soar in comparison to gas and charcoal grills. It features a 3-layer Design which includes the Grill, Raclette, and a Warm insulated layer. The Raclette layer has eight dishes and spatulas which can be used to prepare cheese meals for eight people simultaneously. These dishes are made with non-stick coating for easier cleanup
It has a 2 in 1 reversible plate which features a griddle plate and grill plate. The griddle plate can be used for making pancakes, eggs, etc. while you can also grill food items on the grill plate. The grill plate adds authentic grill marks that look exactly like ones made by traditional grills. Both plates are nonstick which makes cleaning easier. The top layer is a removable plate that can be used for storage. It is non-stick and also dishwasher safe.
Control cooking temperature with the stepless temperature control feature.
8. Best Propane Gas Grill – Cuisinart CGG-608 Gas grill
If you seek a grill that gets the job done and also takes little space, this is the one for you. This Cuisinart Gas Grill is the perfect fit for medium to large-scale grilling.
This grill is very easy to set up, heating up in less than 10 minutes. The heating power is 10,000 BTUs. The burner has dedicated control knobs for maintaining temperature. Ignition is done electronically. The cooking grate is made of stainless steel and it is large enough to cook large cuts of meat.
Temperature control is made easier with an integrated thermometer which is used to monitor temperature change. Each burner is controlled by an adjustable burner knob. It also comes with a drip tray.
9. Best Easy to Clean Grill – Royal Gourmet PD1301S Gas Grill
Here is another grill that is worth trying out. It weighs just 20 pounds and has a dimension of 25 x 16.3 x 7.9 inches.
It features three burners which when combined offers 25,500 BTUs cooking power. Ignition is made simple with the integrated piezo igniter. This grill heats up fast and does so evenly. The grill offers a cooking surface of 316 square inches.
Cleanup is made easier with the removable grease cup that gathers oil residue.
10. Best Sturdy Grill – Blackstone Tabletop Griddle Grill
Grilling is made easier with this Blackstone griddle grill. It offers many essential features that you should look out for in a grill.
This portable grill offers just enough cooking surface of 339 square inches to cook for the whole family. It has a heating power of 24,000 BTUs, ensuring your meals are properly cooked. Its lightweight quality makes it a carry-around. Suitable for camping and outdoor cooking.
It also features a grease trap that gathers leftover oil, making cleanup a lot easier.
10 Things to Know Before Buying a Built-in Grill
1. Gas Grilling vs. Charcoal Grilling
Grill masters have had this debate since ever. Here are their main arguments.
Gas Grilling
Gas grilling requires a natural gas line or a propane tank to be connected as a fuel source. There are several advantages of gas grilling over charcoal grilling. Some of the most notable benefits include ease of use, easy to clean, ease of maintaining temperature, and so on.
Plus, many of the gas grills come with handy features like electronic ignition to get the grill going right away, sear plates that can reach high temperatures very fast, infrared burners, side burners, and so on.
Charcoal Grilling
These types of grills are less mechanical than their gas counterparts. Food is cooked on a grate placed over burning charcoal. The heat is controlled by the amount of charcoal, the airflow mechanism, and its placement in the grill. The more open the airflow, the more air enters the grill, and the charcoal can burn at higher temperatures.
One of the biggest advantages of charcoal grilling over gas grilling is the unique flavor. The smoke that comes out as a result of the food drippings creates a distinctive and deep taste that cannot be matched by any gas grill.
Unlike gas grills, there is no chance for the ignition to fail, rust on the burner shields, or the burners to clog. The charcoal grills are quite simple, and there isn’t much that can go wrong.
2. Consider the Size of the Grill
Typically, the cooking area is measured in square inches. For example, a three burner grill requires 450 to 500 square inches of cooking space. Generally speaking, that’s more than enough for an average household. On the other hand, a larger family might need a grill with five or even six burners. A grill like that will need somewhere between 550 and 650 square meters of cooking space.
Furthermore, the footprint of the grill should also be taken into consideration. Many grills come with side shelves that can be collapsed or removed. One of the safety measures is that the grill is located two or three feet away from the house, or anything combustible.
If the grill is to be fitted on a patio or a deck, make sure that they can accommodate it. You don’t want to get into redoing your patio or deck just to accommodate your grill.
3. Cooking Grates
There are three types of cooking grates, and each of them offers a unique grilling experience. The three types of cooking grates are stainless steel, cast iron, and coated aluminum.
The popularity of cast iron grates is on the rise in the last few years. They are somewhat less conductive than aluminum but can retain heat better than anything else. As a result, they can provide consistent temperatures. Other than that, sometimes they crack due to thermal shock, and their surface area can be damaged over time.
This is the most common type of cooking grate. Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat but is less durable than stainless steel or cast iron. As a result, this type of grates can become brittle and can lose their enamel finish after some time.
This is by far the most durable material, easy to clean, and is resistant to corrosion. On the downside, its conductivity is not as high as in aluminum, nor can it retain constant temperature as well as cast iron.
4. The Impact of Grill Design
The grill design can have a profound effect on cooking performance. Inconsistent temperatures, uneven heat distribution, sudden flare-ups, all that can baffle even the best grill chefs. The way some grills are designed helps minimize those deficiencies and can potentially lead to much better-prepared food.
Flare-ups can be a good thing as they can lead to high temperatures, which are great for blackening and searing the meat. But if the flare-ups are uncontrolled, it can cause the food to burn, or even start a grill fire.
Features to Minimize the Risk of Flare-ups
- Ceramic briquettes placed on the bottom of the grill can absorb juices. That way, there are no flare-ups. On the downside, they need to after a while because they can retain odor.
- Burner shields can shield the burner from dripping food juices. of some metal and are very effective in shielding the burners.
- Burner ports that on the sides, instead of on the top, can prevent flare-ups and reduce clogging.
Features to Retain Heat Distribution
- If lower in the grill, it is much easier to maintain. The cooking temperature remains consistent and evenly distributed over the grid.
- A series of ceramic rods located just below the cooking grid is also helpful with heat distribution, as well as to minimize flare-ups.
- Metal shields are also great for even heat distribution as well as for reducing flare-ups.
Other Features to Improve Heat Distribution
- High BTU burners that next to the cooking surface area is perfect for even temperature distribution. Thanks to them, the proper temperatures can be achieved for excellent searing.
- Grills featuring three or more burners can for indirect cooking. For example, place a fish at the center of the grill and turn off the center burner. Then turn the right burner on low, while the left one on high. That will create a convection-like grilling. As a result, you will eat fish with a much-enhanced flavor.
5. BTU
One must always pay attention to BTU (British Thermal Units) output of the grill. It measures the entire heat output from the burners. The higher the number, the better.
6. Number of burners
Most built-in grills have three or four burners. Some grills even have five burners. That means you can have differently heated temperature areas for different dishes. For cooking fewer amounts of food, you just need to turn on the half number of burners.
7. Lighting
Nighttime grilling can be a fun experience or a nightmare if you can’t see what’s where and how cooked it is. Some barbeques come with bright halogen lights, while others with smaller LED lights.
8. Storage
Typically, two access doors cover the main and biggest storage areas. That’s where the propane tank is kept and/or the drip tray. The size of the storage space and how it is accessed can largely vary from one to another model. The most premium grills feature pull-out drawers.
9. Searing Zone & Rotisseries
The searing zone features a powerful burner that can reach high temperatures very fast. As a result, the meat gets blackened and crusty.
A rotisseries motor can be easily mounted on the grill and can deliver evenly distributed heat for consistent cooking. Many of the models come with a counterweight for even turning and balance.
10. Smoker Box & Side Burner
Grilling purists will always stick with charcoal grilling. However, more and more grilling enthusiasts turn to smoker boxes to enhance foods with a unique smoky flavor. The burning chips generate smoke that can captivate the food while the food is grilled.
They are ideal for making sauces and side dishes. They can also maintain low heat and keep the food warm until it is served.
Wrapping It Up
Grills come in various shapes and sizes. However, there are certain features you should always look out for before making a purchase. These are the Cooking Surface which determines the amount of food you can cook at a time, the British Thermal Unit (BTU), and the construction of the grill.
If you’re looking out for a portable grill, our best portable grill is the Char-Broil 240 Gas grill. In this list, the best electric grill is the Kenyon B70400 Texan Built-In Electric Grill and if what you need is enough cooking surface, check out the Bull BBQ 47628 Angus Grill Head.
Armed with the knowledge obtained here, you can bet on the fact that you can make the best possible choice. That is the only way not to depend on reading reviews, advice from other people, or spending hours and hours researching.
Once you identify a built-in grill you like and fit your needs, make sure that you get at least a one-year warranty. Most of them come with at least a one-year warranty, while some brands offer two or more years. But keep in mind that a warranty can cover some or certain parts only.
Last but not least, maintenance is an essential factor to consider. Every grill needs to be adequately maintained and cleaned after every cooking session. Therefore, one needs to open the issue with the seller before making the purchase.
The salespeople can explain what it takes to maintain it properly, how demanding the process is, and how to do it properly. The thing is, in terms of maintenance, there can be a huge difference between any two given grills.
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