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compumom_gw

Built in Gas BBQ's-- Discuss!

compumom
10 years ago

I'm looking for feedback on high quality *made in USA or North America- Natural Gas Bbq. We are in the midst of a large landscape reno. We will be adding a small bbq island to our hardscape. There is room for about a 36" grill, possible side burner and storage. I don't need a fridge. We have looked at DCS, Viking, Lynx and Bull. We currently have a Bull on a cart which our daughter will inherit. I'm not sold on their even cooking-- it's never even from front to back. I like the DCS grates and the idea of ceramic briquettes- it's been recommended, however I am looking for feedback from users!
It's a costly purchase and being built in makes it even more permanent. Please give me informed opinions!
Thanks in advance!

Comments (6)

  • deviant-deziner
    10 years ago

    We've never specified Bull but have installed DCS, Viking, Lynx, FireMagic, the BBQ Galores in store brand and Twin Eagles.

    All of them have performed pretty good over the many years. Lynx is at the top of my list.
    Viking was top for awhile but they don't seem to be keeping up with newer technologies and Twin Eagles has taken some of their customers.

    The one thing that I feel is important is to have a reliable service tech branch that will service your area.

    Also note that some of the bbq's require a below mount GFI for their electronic start vs. some that use a battery.

    If you're really into multiple heat zones the Twin Eagles and Lynx have zone dividers, which can come in handy, I also like the smoker box feature that Viking, Lynx and Twin Eagles has.

    And if you plan to have a variety of electrical needs I really like spec'ing an electrical gutter box to keep everything tidy.
    We just wrapped up a project where we had both line and low voltage lighting, speakers and other entertainment electrical lines and found the electrical gutter box to be very helpful .

  • rosiew
    10 years ago

    compumom, you were blessed that Deviant answered this post.

    I can't add to this other than to say you'll be spoiled for life with a natural gas grill. How I wish I had one again. LOVE never having to worry about running out of gas.

    Bump bump, Rosie

  • marcinde
    10 years ago

    If you can swing the cost, use the stainless steel cabinets from Danver instead of a masonry island. I added them to my product offering because the masonry kitchens waste a lot of storage space and can also be a challenge for fitting in everything you want.

    There's a ton of grills. Your best bet is if you can buy them from somewhere that also installs and services them.

    Keep in mind that propane burns hotter than natural gas. Definitely be sure to get something with infra-red burners

  • deviant-deziner
    10 years ago

    Marcinde,
    Thanks for the tip about Danvers . I was unaware of them and just checked out their site.

    I too am finding that some people are preferring the fully finished interior cabinetry vs. the open underbelly of the masonry body.

    You wouldn't happen to have a photo detail of one of their cabinet handles ? They didn't have any detail up close shots on their website.

    I'm in the process of adding a pizza oven and a side wall cabinet to an existing bbq island that we designed 10 years ago that used VIKING appliances and I'd like to see if Danver's cabinet handles closely resemble the handles on the VIKING appliances.

    Thanks.
    Michelle

  • marcinde
    10 years ago

    Michelle, shoot me an email to archvisva [at] gmail [youknowtherest] and I'll send you a couple close-ups. If I don't have any good ones, I have a commercial outdoor kitchen that I did about 10 minutes from the house and I'm happy to run by for a few more snaps.

    For an amazing company run by great people, their website could use some help :)

  • deviant-deziner
    10 years ago

    thanks , will do.