This twenty-eight-inch grill by Blackstone is the ultimate grill for the outdoor enthusiast. The manufacturer has cleverly designed this model for backyard use. This grill whip up a large batch of food in minutes. It comes equipped with a couple of independently controlled burners with a high heat range. These burners allow you to quickly and easily sear meat, fry up some eggs, and feed the entire family, and then some.
Right off the bat, you can tell that this grill offers more than other models in this price bracket. Its versatility earned it some serious points and is just one of the reasons this particular model is one of Blackstone’s best-sellers.
The fact that each heat zone can be used independently also means that you can conserve fuel if you want to grill for one or two people. Easy to use and maintain, this is the perfect grill for the barbeque enthusiast who loves to host or the one that loves grilling all year round.
Table of Contents
Overview and Features
With this grill, you’ll get a huge, versatile cooking surface, and a setup that’s perfect for handling all your breakfast needs, or great side dishes. This durable, well-built model is not only versatile, but it’s also the perfect multitasking machine. So, if you’re looking for a grill that you can use to whip up an entire meal on, then look no further.
It’s powerful enough to take on a high volume of food at once, so it’s the perfect model to host your weekly backyard barbeque. Since the heat zones can be controlled independently, you can save plenty of cash on fuel costs and only light a single burner. This is a great choice for the family on a tight budget that loves grilling year-round. If you want a reliable, easy to use grill to try out cheap grilling ideas, then you’ll appreciate the low maintenance, beginner-friendly, fuel-efficient design.
Product Rating:
- Griddle
- Four heat zones
- Two-burners
- Affordable
- Fuel efficient
- Push start ignition
Cooking Surface
This model offers a total of four hundred and seventy square inches of cooking space. The griddle can be used for so much more than just hotcakes. You can make a grilled cheese sandwich, quesadillas, potatoes, and more. This model also comes equipped with two side shelves and a bottom shelf for food storage.
Push Start Ignition
If you’ve had a charcoal grill for years, then this push start ignition design is a big deal. This is a model that will easily replace any type of standard grill. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle that comes with firing up your charcoal grill, then you’ll love the battery-powered easy start button ignition. No mess, no waiting for the charcoal to catch and waiting for all the coals to evenly ignite. Just one touch of a button and your grill is ready to whip up your dinner in a matter of seconds.
Portability
If you’ve struggled in the past to move your old charcoal grill from one spot to another, then you’ll love how easy it is to transport or wheel this model around the yard. It comes equipped with four industrial-strength fold up legs with tough caster wheels.
Durable Design
This model is designed to last. It features a frame made out of stainless steel that has been powder coated, so it can easily handle inclement weather, without the fear of rust. The burners are also made out of stainless steel, while the cooktop is made out of thick cold rolled steel. Not only do these materials help to improve durability and protect the grill against inclement weather conditions, but they also make this grill a cinch to clean and maintain.
Heat Zones
With a charcoal grill, you don’t have many options in terms of cooking different types of food at the same time. But with this model, you’ll enjoy two independently controlled heat zones. Each burner offers fifteen thousand BTUs, giving you a total of thirty thousand BTUs of power. Each burner has a low, medium, and high setting.
The burners are powered by a twenty pound, standard propane tank, which can easily be tucked away under the stand’s side shelf. In total, counting the warming rack, the grill itself, and the burners, you’ll have four adjustable heat zones, which provides a very versatile cooking surface, allowing you to cook several different types of food at once.
Griddle
It’s clear that the manufacturer has thought of everything. The large griddle is an electronic cooking surface that makes start-up a breeze. It allows you to cook up your favorite foods in a fraction of the time, without the added hassle that comes with using charcoal or kerosene. The only drawback to this design is the grease dripping system, which can make cooking messy at times, so you’ll need to spend time cleaning up after you cook greasy meats such as sausage or bacon.
Large Cooktop
The massive cooktop is perfect for the grill owners who loves to entertain. That being said, since it has four adjustable heat zones, the grill can also be used to cook food for one or two people, without wasting fuel.
Versatility
Considered one of the best gas grills, this model can cook up anything from sausage and eggs, and pancakes, to your favorite burgers, fish, chicken, and steaks, or veggies. When you’re using this flat cooking surface, you can enjoy the perfect crisp or soft texture, while the meats are perfectly seared in order to retain both the juices and flavor.
Cleanup
Fortunately, clean-up is pretty easy, even with a messy grease containment system in place. To keep the grill clean, you can use a scraping tool, some hot water, and a tough grill sponge. Once you’ve finished cooking for the day, fill up a spray bottle with hot water and spray down the griddle. You can then use the sponge to wipe it down and the scraping tool to remove any stuck-on food. You’ll also need to empty both the drip pan and the drip bucket for the griddle.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Pros
- Four heat zones
- Push start ignition
- Griddle
- Durable design
- Highly portable
- Powder-coated frame
Cons
- The grill can be difficult to clean if you’re using it to fry up certain foods
- Small drip bucket for griddle
Blackstone Versus Cuisinart CGG 7400
The Blackstone grill has some serious competition with the CGG 7400 by Cuisinart. The competition offers eleven thousand BTUs for a combined power of forty-four thousand BTUs of cooking power with its four-burner design, while this model features only the two-burner design for a total power of thirty thousand BTUs. The Cuisinart model is also able to easily take on the elements without rusting, thanks to its stainless steel design which is naturally rust-resistant.
The twist start ignition is just like the one you have on your gas stove, and it allows you to quickly fire up your grill and get started searing steaks or cooking veggies. The included cart is made out of stainless steel and coated with enamel paint to make it easier to clean and maintain, while also improving its durability. Additionally, the large heavy-duty wheels also make it easy to move around the yard or transport. If you’re in need of more cooking power than what this model by Blackstone has to offer, then the Cuisinart is a great choice, however, it doesn’t come equipped with a griddle, which can be a major drawback for some.
Conclusion and Rating
Product Rating:
This newest model from Blackstone is the ultimate, versatile gas-powered grill that allows you to cook a wide variety of foods all at the same time. If you enjoy cooking your entire dinner on your grill, then you’ll love this model’s four independent heat zones, which offer precise temperature control.
The large, durable frame is made from stainless steel and has been powder-coated to increase durability and prevent corrosion and rust. The built-in griddle is perfect for pancakes, fried eggs, bacon sausage, a grilled cheese sandwich, and more. Versatile, easy to use, and designed to conserve fuel if you’re only cooking for one or two people, you really can’t go wrong with a model that’s built to last and designed to please. I gave this model a rating of four and a half stars out of five.
