The bulky backyard Grill market is a difficult one to crack because it’s such a crowded place and people usually go with the more familiar brands suggested by their friends. The better known names however tend to charge higher prices for their reputations meanwhile other brands are making great BBQ’s priced a lot lower and often they’re not getting the credit they deserve. That is why you should check this list of the Best wood smokers to ensure you’ll get nothing but the best wood smokers available in the market today. I wanted to review the Thermos 4-Burner Gas Grill because I felt that it might be one of these diamonds in the rough. After some testing, this is what I found
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Pros:
- 480 Square Inches of Primary Cooking Space
- 210 Square Inches of Secondary Space
- Easy to Clean
- Nice Design
- Low Weight
Cons:
- Slightly Difficult Assembly
- Steel Grates
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Thermos 4-Burner Gas Grill Review:
Size/Design:
There’s nothing too adventurous about this design. What you get is a pretty typical looking Gas Grill modelled on some of the large Cuisinart Offerings. Cuisinart Grills aren’t bad looking so you can see this is an observation rather than a critique. The cooking unit is placed upon a Cart, with Side-Shelves positioned on either side of the unit, with wheels for portability. The wheels could have been of a better quality but other than this I’ve no major design issues with the Thermos. The weight was kept down to 96 pounds, which was pretty good especially with the Stainless Steel construction and the dimensions of 56×44.5×23. A big unit at the right weight.
Performance
The assembly is a bit of a task, as is the case with most of these large Grills, but you do get a lot of power for the money. For around $200 you get 4 Burners each distributing 12,000 BTU’s an hour so that’s a total of 48,000 BTU’s of output across a 480 square inch cooking area. This be more than enough space to feed the whole family plus any friends you might have over, and to get this amount of space you’d usually be paying twice as much.
As well as the primary cooking area you also get 210 square inches of secondary cooking space, which no doubt most buyers will be using as a Warming Rack. And, you get a lidded Side-Burner distributing 10,000 BTU’s an hour, which should be used for sauces. They’ve kept the costs down by going with Steel Grates and these aren’t as good as Cast-iron Grates so you won’t get that Weber flavor. But, you also aren’t being asked to pay 400 Dollars and this has to be taken into account as well.
I mentioned in my introduction that people go with familiar brand names when buying large grills like this, and that there are lesser known brands making perfectly good grills at lower prices, that don’t get enough credit. Thermos is one of these less known brands but you’ll be happy to know that you get the best of worlds because this is actually a Char-Broil Grill. Thermos is Char-Broils vehicle brand for selling their more budget friendly offerings, so you get the low price with a familiar name.
This is a well made Grill, with a wonderful electronic ignition. visible Thermometer and because it’s completely coated with Porcelain it’s easy to clean and it even comes with a Porcelain Swing-Away Wire Rack. It’s also very simple to operate with knobs for each Burner placed upon the cooking unit so you can use them individually or in combination with each other.
The Verdict
The room for making mistakes is lowered by the simple design so it’s also very beginner friendly, and despite the hard assembly taking up to an hour, I was impressed with the quality you get for the price. They could have put in Cast-Iron Grates, but then the price would have been higher, and the main reason people buy this is as a quality budget alternative to the higher priced large Grills. 480 square inches of primary cooking space is great value at $200 Dollars, the 48,000 BTU’s make cook times fast and although the side-burner is best for sauces it can be used for more than just heating up food. Fast ignition, terrific design, and remember Thermos is a Char-Broil brand name.