As with many of the grills seen on this site the Weber grills are magnificent in their own right, each one coming in not only in a Natural Gas form but also the more common propane forms. My personal favorite being the Summit Series S-650, sporting 6 stainless steel burners, 60,000 BTU main burner, 12,000 BTU side burner, 8,000 BTU smoker burner (which is not found in just about any other grill that we’ve looked at so far), 10,600 BTU rotisserie burner, stainless steel cooking grates, nearly 700 square inches of cooking surface, and last but certainly not least on the list of features are two lights on the handle so you can see what you’re doing at night. As per usual this is one of the larger and of course higher priced grills that Weber has to offer. Weber has a few things though that the other grill companies on this site do not offer, Weber offers a wide range of portable charcoal and gas grills, smaller but no less sturdy in build and useful.

Posted in Types of Grills

There are many grill companies out there, they each put out an extensive product line, and for the most part they all equally okay… Jenn-Air, I will admit, does not have near the number of different grills that most companies have, but they don’t have to, all of their grills out perform just about any grill on the market. They have grills versatile enough to almost replace your entire kitchen, and each of their grills comes in two models, Natural Gas, and Liquid Propane. My person favorite being the Four burner 62,000 BTU Natural Gas grill, sporting a massive 869 square inches of cooking surface, dual side burners, push and turn igniters, complete stainless steel build, 10,000 BTU rotisserie, 3 storage drawers, 12 quart insulated ice chest, stainless steel cooking grids, stainless steel firebox and heat tents, granite workspace. There’s enough space in this thing to make 40 burgers! 40… its insane, but the price isn’t at a low $1,750. Let’s assume for a moment that you don’t feel like spending almost two grand on a grill, I understand, and you’re in luck Jenn-air also has a 3 burner 45,000 BTU grill for as little as $850, the same overkill stability that you expect from anything made with stainless steel and more than half the price.

My opinion, if you’ve got the money, Jenn-Air is the way to go.

Posted in Types of Grills

I can remember a time when according to “man law” using a gas grill was sacrilege. Today the game is different, sure there are still some die hard have to play with coal people that refuse to admit there really is no taste difference between the two. After extensive research I have come to perfection. The Ducane Meridian Series 32” five burner w/ warming drawer, a giant stainless steel monstrosity of a grill over 830 square inches of total cooking area, 5 burners rated at a whopping 60,000 BTU, 110 volt electric warming drawer, 5/16” stainless steel rod cooking grates, stainless steel heat distribution plates, push and turn ignition system on the main AND side burners, all stainless steel construction with thermometer in the lid, 12,000 BTU side burner, 10,000 BTU rear infrared rotisserie burner with rotisserie and motor with light, electronic ignition on infrared rotisserie burner, granite work surfaces, storage for NG units and whatever else you need to put in it, 4 heavy duty casters for easy maneuvering, heavy duty protective cover, and a huge 10 year limited warranty…. Need I say more? Every one of their grills is built with the same magnificence and beauty and usefulness as this one. These grills are heavy duty enough for even the manliest man and elegant enough for a woman to see beauty in it. Now I’m sure you’re thinking… “Well something like that would be way too expensive to even think about” and you’re right, like all things the pretty things cost money, and you’re wrong the price tag on perfection is only $1500. Not as much as you thought? Well that’s because while ducane strives to achieve grilling perfection they also strive to make it affordable. You can pick up one of their grills geared more towards the normal family for around $150. Even then you get the same sturdy construction and cooking performance, as you’d expect to find in their larger units.

If you want the best of the best in performance, construction, and a look that will be the envy of all your neighbors until the end of time… you want Ducane.

Posted in Types of Grills

Okay first of all, I am not an expert with Natural Gas Grills, nor do I claim to be one. If you aren’t comfortable working with gas… don’t try to do this on your own. Also, you will likely HAVE to do some minor modifications to your grill, hence voiding any warranty that you might still have. Keep this in mind. Another thing that you have to know is that this is just a GUIDE; I will be in NO way responsible for ANY damages to you, your family, or your property if this doesn’t work for you. If you attempt this project, you do so at your own risk. Now that we’ve covered all that, let’s move on to the fun stuff.

First thing we do is inspect the grill you currently have, before we convert it to natural gas we want to be sure it’s worth it. Check the burner, is it rusted or burnt out? Are the cooking surfaces in good condition? Is the case rusting? Does the igniter still work properly? If you’ve said no to any of these you may want to consider buying a new grill all together.

In general natural gas grills are very large, and you’ll be hard pressed to find one under 300 bucks, so if you don’t want a huge grill and you don’t want to dish out that much money for one, go ahead and spend the 100 or so on a new propane grill and continue the conversion process.

Next you have to decide where to tee into the gas line. Do yourself a favor and do not tee in at the meter. Once you’ve decided where you want it, shut the gas off, and install the tee wherever you want it, for safety sake install a tee with a shut-off. When you’re putting this all together be sure to use a sealant on ALL pipes that is approved for use with gas… Gas leaks are bad.

Run whatever piping you’ve chosen out to where you are going to have your grill sitting, and install another shut-off at that end. In my project I ran ½” flexible gas line under the house, and ½” rigid black pipe through the skirting and anywhere outside. The flexible line is more expensive but you’ll thank yourself later for getting it.

Now, turn the shut-off at the far end (where your grill will sit) off and turn the gas back on, check EVERY connection for leaks, this can be easily done with a bit of soapy water, or just spraying Windex on it. If you see bubbles, its leaking and you’ll want to turn the gas off right away to get it fixed. Once you’ve got all that checked, and any leaks that were found got fixed, go through and relight all the gas appliances in your house.

Converting your grill.

First remove the regulator. The regulator was there to regulate the pressure of the propane, it is no longer needed, and the regulator on your house will control the pressure to the grill. Locate the regulator and follow the hose back to the grill. If you have a side burner you may come to a tee with one hose going to the main and the other going to the side burner, either unscrew the ends or cut the hose a few inches below the tee or burner. If your line is crimped you have no choice but to cut it.
Next you will need to make the orifices slightly larger. The orifices are found in the control knob assembly. The control knob assembly simply slips inside the two tubs sticking out of the burner. Depending on your grill, the easiest way is probably to just remove the entire front panel, shouldn’t be too difficult, likely just a couple of screws. The reason for making the holes larger is because natural gas doesn’t burn as hot as propane, so it takes more natural gas to make the grill as hot as it needs to be, by making the holes larger you are letting more gas into the burner, and therefore making more heat.

Now we drill out the orifices, on most grills the orifice on each knob has two holes; the larger of the two should be fine so you’ll only need to drill out the one. With the orifices now exposed, drill them out slightly bigger, a 1/16” inch drill bit would suffice. Be VERY careful when you do this, if you screw up, or make the holes to big, you have to get a new set of orifices and start over. So don’t rush yourself and do this right the first time.

The last step is to connect the grill to gas. I used a long black rubber gas line, not the cheapest alternative, but very weather resistant, will last a very long time. Screw one end into the shut-off of the gas line, and the other end into the grill. If you had to cut the line insert a barbed fitting into the hose and secure with a hose clamp. Most grills will need a 5/16” barbed fitting, but just to be safe double check, most of the time the size is printed right on the hose.

Turn on the gas to your grill and check the two new connections for leaks, if everything is as it should be go make your family some burgers and enjoy your new natural gas grill. You may noticed that the flame doesn’t get enough air when the lid is shut all the way, if that is the case modify your grill to leave the lid open about an inch and that should fix the problem.

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Now here comes the biggest question you need to be asking yourself.

What do I gain from switching to a natural gas grill?

You gain one of human kinds most valued commodities, convenience, how many times have you gotten all fired up to cook on the grill? Got everything around, marinated the meat, got everyone excited to be eating something cooked over fire, get everything ready at the grill, all your tools in the proper place, went to start the grill and like getting hit by a train disappointment fills the house as you find out the propane tank is empty. Probably too many times to count. And aren’t you just a little tired of paying up to $30 dollars to get that tank filled? Or the horror of trying to get a charcoal fire started and trying to regulate the temperature to make the meat perfect, or just keeping the fire going at all… stuff like that could ruin a person’s grilling experience for life! You don’t have that problem with natural gas, your grill is connected directly to the gas line of your house, if you run out of gas that way you have bigger problems than not being able to grill that night. Studies have proven there is virtually no difference in taste between charcoal and gas, so you aren’t losing any of that legendary grilled flavor. I will admit, yes the setup cost of a natural gas grill is initially higher than getting a charcoal or propane grill, but the cost to keep it running is what makes it worth it. Over the lifetime of a propane or charcoal grill you spend more on the stuff to keep it going than you actually did the grill! With natural gas, it’s cheap, easy, and you can grill every night that you want to and never need to worry about the tank running dry, or worry about what you’re going to do with all the crap left behind by the charcoal.

In the end your family will thank you, and your wallet will thank you. Don’t let the disappointment of empty propane tanks and messy charcoal ruin your families grilling experience!

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