grills

The Best Grills for Outdoor Barbecues

There's nothing better during the summer months than firing up the grill and barbecuing for family and friends. Today, more than 85 million American households own an outdoor grill.

There's an enormous variety of charcoal and gas grills, which come in hundreds of sizes, shapes, colors and prices. Consumers are demanding more features on their gas grills---from side burners and rotisseries, to sear stations and infrared burners. According to a survey conducted by Weber, 61% of consumers now own a side burner, while 32% own a rotisserie and 17% have a gas grill with an infrared burner. The survey also revealed that 89% of America grill owners are using full-size grills, rather than portables.

"As dedicated grillers continue to become more experienced in cooking a wider variety of foods, the barbecue is increasingly being viewed as an outdoor appliance," says Sherry Bale, public relations director for Weber Grills. "As consumers want good value for their money during these tough economic times, they're seeing the advantages of paying for a durable grill that will stand up to punishing weather and give them years of dependable service."

To figure out the best of breed, we asked our Luxist readers to nominate their favorite manufacturers of outdoor grills. The top five nominees are:

Jenn-Air
Kenmore
Lynx
Viking
Weber

Jenn-Air is known for its precision craftsmanship and distinctive styling while Kenmore, which has a line of grills, is also well-known for its broad range of home appliances it manufactures. Lynx was founded by a group of individuals who started out by manufacturing restaurant ranges while Viking makes grills that one might expect to find in a restaurant setting. Finally, there's Weber, which is a household name that is credited with revolutionizing the backyard barbecue.

Interested in finding out what the best online meat companies are? Check out the Luxist Award's Readers' Choice Nominees for Best in Online Meats.

Tags: awards-main, barbecue, barbecue-and-grilling, barbecuing, barbeque, grill, grilling, grills, Jenn-Air, Kenmore, luxist-awards, Lynx, outdoor grills, Viking, Weber

Lynx Professional Grills: Quality and Performance By Design

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Gadgets

Many foodies balk at the notion that outdoor cooking should be reserved for hot dogs and hamburgers. Lucky for them, Lynx makes products perfect for preparing any sort of meal in the great outdoors-and has even earned a Luxist award nomination for its efforts.

Lynx Professional Grills was founded in 1996 by a group of individuals who'd started out by manufacturing restaurant ranges for an outfit called BECA. With their new idea, they aimed to profit from the growing demand for luxury outdoor cooking equipment. The company's first product was the Lynx Professional Grill, available both in free-standing and built-in models, featuring an access door, side burners and even a cocktail station.

The Professional Grill was designed exclusively for outdoor use. To ensure that this flagship product could stand up to the elements, Lynx used a special welding technique, to ensure that the stainless steel grill wouldn't have any gaps, seams or other places where rain, grease and pesky liquids of that ilk could collect.

Gallery: Lynx grills

Tags: awards-main, best grills, grill, grilling, grills, luxist-awards, Lynx

Continue reading “Lynx Professional Grills: Quality and Performance By Design”

Viking: Restaurant-Quality Grills in Your Own Backyard

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Gadgets

Some of the best products are born of sheer need. That was certainly the case when Fred Carl, Jr. created the precursor to today's Viking simply because he wanted a restaurant-quality stove in his own home. The result: a flourishing company and a Luxist award nomination in the best grills category.

Carl first dreamed up the idea of building ranges when he and his wife were designing and building a new home in 1980. A fourth-generation contractor by trade, Carl wanted to include an industrial-grade stove in his kitchen, but he soon found himself lacking options. Stoves made for restaurants were accompanied by extremely high surface temperatures and few safety features, and residential ranges just didn't pack the same punch.

Gallery: Viking

Tags: awards-main, grill, grilling, grills, luxist-awards, Viking

Continue reading “Viking: Restaurant-Quality Grills in Your Own Backyard”

Jenn-Air: Precision Craftsmanship and Distinctive Styling

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Gadgets

Though Jenn-Air sounds more like the moniker of a company that flies people around the country in jets than one that makes cooking surfaces, its reputation for durability and quality have earned it a nominee for a Luxist award in the best grills category.

Founded by Louis J. Jenn in 1947, the Jenn-Air Products Company of Indianapolis, Indiana soon had its moniker shortened to Jenn-Air. The company was focused on manufacturing and marketing industrial fans in its early years. In 1961, Jenn-Air integrated one of these fans with a stovetop and created the world's first self-ventilated downdraft range.

The company then expanded its product line to include many other kitchen appliances. Among Jenn-Air's offerings were microwave ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, and small appliances including mixers and blenders. Thanks to the name Jenn-Air made for itself, Maytag purchased the brand in the 1980s; two decades later, Whirlpool bought Maytag.

In recent years, Jenn-Air brought its indoor expertise into the outdoor grilling arena. Boasting the same sleek stainless-steel look and sturdy construction, the brand quickly became one of the favorites in its space. Jenn-Air's products still can't fly you from New York to Los Angeles, but they sure can help you cook up a sumptuous meal in the comfort of your own kitchen or back yard.

Vote for the Grill line that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, Best grill, best grills, grill, grilling, grills, Jenn-Air, luxist-awards

Estate Buyer Wants Your Grills

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

A couple years, one gaudy fashion was the trend for diamond and gold grills. The pair shown above, Brooke Hogan and Paul Wall, probably don't need to be selling their grills but for those who have gold teeth and no cash, a new website has been created. Porcello Estate Buyers has created a website called Sell Your Gold Teeth. Mark Porcello says in a press release "selling your gold teeth and crowns is an excellent way to bring in a little extra money for you and your family in these troubled financial times."

The push to sell gold teeth started to pick up in earnest about a year ago as gold prices began to climb. Most crowns and other dental work doesn't yield enough gold to sell whereas grills, which are created to go over teeth and are often quite heavy, can be worth more.

Source

Tags: gold teeth, GoldTeeth, grills

Outrageous Dragon BBQ Grills

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets, Art

Wow. These Dragon BBQ Grills are one of those things you either love or hate right from the get-go. They're a combination of functional grill and artistic sculpture, with amazing detail. "Intense" is a word that comes to mind, and a definite requirement for owning one is being into dragons in a big way. There are three dragon grills in the collection so far, with the first one already sold for $65,000, the second premiers in Nevada in January and will be listed for $90,000, and the third remains TBA.

Via Born Rich

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Tags: barbeque, barbeque grills, BarbequeGrills, bbq, bbq grill, BbqGrill, dragon, dragons, grill, grills

LuxList: Time To Grill

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

We've covered a lot of grills at Luxist over the past few years. Here's a look at some of my favorites as well as some new toys. Whether you prefer the colorful mosaic of the Kamado grill, the charmingly wavy Sculpture grill or you want to skip the grill all together and go for a table with a grill in it, these are most intriguing grills on the market today.

See more of my Grills and Such list at ThisNext.

Tags: grill guide, grilling, grills, luxury grills, summer