Finally got the BBQ assembled. Man, what a job! The directions say about 2 hrs., it took me 6. Guess I'm a little slow.
But it's done and it appears to be built very well. There is a gravity feed hopper that holds 10 hrs of briquette or lump charcoal. There are several probes to monitor the food and digital controls allow temps to be set anywhere between 0*-700*. Bluetooth keeps you updated on the progress of the food and allows you to make changes from your phone.
The fire sits to the right of the grilling area and never actually comes in contact with what you are cooking. A fan blows the heat from the fire, across the BBQ and up under the food. Very cool indeed!
There are 3 ways to use this grill.
1) When using it as a smoker, you put the grates, which have a flat side and a raised side like a pyramid, with the pyramid side up. This lets your food sit on just the top of the grate and makes extra space for more of the smoke to get to the meat.
2) When using it to BBQ steaks, you flip the grates to the flat side, turn the heat up to 700*, and toss the steaks on. The extra width of the grate makes it great for searing. Once seared, turn the heat back down and BBQ appropriately.
3) Replace the grates with the griddle attachment. Then cook anything that you want that is best cook on a griddle. Eggs, bacon, etc. You can even use it for cooking pizza! Heat up the grill anywhere between 500*-700*, toss the pizza on the griddle and close the lid. The bottom of the pizza cooks like it should and the heat from the closed lid, reflects back down on top of the pizza to cook the toppings.
This bad boy will make plenty of burgers, dogs and other stuffs on those days we have a group feast! And with a little training, will be available to our guests to use when you want to have a special event at the pavilion.
BBQ's have come a long way!
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