Best Grills For A Large Family
Children are one of life’s true joys. One of the other joys at the top of the list is standing outside with the sun shining on your face and the wind gently wafting the smokey smell of fire-kissed grilled meat to your nose. Now if you have a lot of mouths to feed, or you are simply thinking about hosting the next family reunion, then chances are you are looking for a grill with some serious square inches on the grill grate.
Large Outdoor Griddles
Griddles used to be the sort of things that were reserved for the home kitchen. Most families used them for making a big mess of pancakes or frying up more bacon than two stovetop frying pans could handle. You only really saw large griddles in professional kitchens and hamburger restaurants.
These days griddles are enjoying a little bit of a renaissance. The flavors imparted by meat that is essentially fried on a flat metal surface is something you don’t really get from grated grills that let precious fats fall into the flames. It’s also worth noting that over the course of multiple sessions a griddle’s inherent “Seasoning” layer starts to develop, imparting even more depth of flavor to the meat.
Of course, high-quality grill gas grill manufactures caught on to this trend. Many well-established names and a few newcomers have been quick to offer outdoor griddles that are very much deserving of your time and money. Not only can they make a delicious lunch or supper, they can even be used to make breakfast for the clan, without having to compete with the indoor air conditioning on a hot summer morning!
Best Outdoor Griddles For A Large Family
Blue Rhino GGC1643B Razor Griddle
Royal Gourmet GD401C Portable Propane Gas Grill and Griddle Combo
Camp Chef FTG600 Flat Top Grill 600
Charcoal Grills
If you are more of a traditionalist, then chances are your attention is aimed more at a large charcoal grill. There are a few high-end units out there mixed in with some nice value picks. If you need to feed more than four people at a time, you will likely want to look away from kettle grills.
There are some large kettles that might be able to grill for five or more people at a time, but chances are you will find more real estate in a barrel-style or box charcoal grill. One that comes with an offset smoker is also a nice touch. Not only can you use it to make some smoky barbecue, but you can also repurpose the side firebox as additional grilling real estate. This might be ideal for say grilling hot dogs for the kids, and chicken for the adults, without worrying about the two types of meat touching.
Best Charcoal Grills For A Large Family
Char-Griller E1224 Smokin Pro Charcoal Smoker Grill Review
Royal Gourmet CC1830F-C Charcoal Grill Offset Smoker
Char-Griller 2137 Outlaw Charcoal Grill & Smoker Review
Napoleon NK22CK-L-1 Charcoal Kettle Grill
Weber 60020 The Ranch Charcoal Kettle Grill
Dyna-Glo Signature Series DGSS730CBO-D Barrel Charcoal Grill & Side Firebox
Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Offset Smoker
Dyna-Glo DGB730SNB-D Dual Fuel Grill
Dyna-Glo DGN576SNC-D Dual Zone Premium Charcoal Grill
PK Grills PK360 Outdoor Charcoal Grill and Smoker Combination
Gas Grills For A Large Family
The big complaint with charcoal grills is that they take time to start and preheat. Not to mention cleaning up the ash. At the same time, there is also the potential fire hazard of leaving a smoldering charcoal grill unattended after a grilling session, when small, curious hands could be burned.
These collective foibles drive a lot of large families with children away from charcoal and toward a gas grill. It’s worth noting that these days there are two different types of gas grills to consider.
Propane grills are the old standard, and still have the largest presence in the gas grill marketplace. Propane is the byproduct of refining crude oil into gasoline. Rather than burning it off as they did in the 1950s and 1960s, it’s now diverted into gas lines, where it can be stored in tanks available to the average consumer. There are even large retailers who offer propane tanks in exchange programs to spare you the hassle of having the tank manually filled.
When you want to use it, you fire up the grill, often via a built-in igniter. Set the burners to your preferred heat level and give it 5 to 7 minutes to fully preheat. At that point, you are ready to let the meat greet the heat.
Best Propane Grills For A Large Family
Weber 7471001 Summit E-670 6-Burner Natural Gas Grill
Cuisinart CGG-200B All Foods Tabletop Gas Grill
Napoleon T495SBNK Triumph Natural Gas with 4 Burners
Char-Broil 463377319 Performance Stainless Steel 4-Burner Cart Style Gas Grill
KENMORE 4 Burner Grill plus Searing Burner Oh40408solb
Broil King 988847 Sovereign XLS 90 Natural Gas Grill with Side Burner and Rear Rotisserie Burner
Natural Gas Grills
The problem is that the unit price of propane is inevitably linked to the cost of oil. Any time the crude oil market fluctuates, the price of propane gradually follows suit, though not as drastically.
The other option to consider is natural gas which is growing in popularity day by day. However, natural gas has a little more than a third of the energy density of propane. This means that for the average consumer, it’s simply not available in any reasonably sized tank. Instead natural has to be piped to your house from a municipal source. If you already have a natural gas line available to your home, you can delight in its relatively cheap per-unit cost, as well as the fact that it is cleaner, and more energy-efficient.
Natural gas also tends to have a better oxidation rate. With a propane grill, if you set it too low, or the fire burns inefficiently, excess hydrocarbon chains go unburned, which can land on the surface of the meat. It’s particularly noticeable with juicy cuts of meat, and it’s exactly the sort of thing that can turn a fussy child’s nose up at a meal you just labored to make. Natural gas burns much cleaner than propane, allowing the food to retain its natural flavor, which makes it more likely that your kids will enjoy their meal.
Best Natural Gas Grills For A Large Family
Weber 7471001 Summit E-670 6-Burner Natural Gas Grill
Broil King 986887 Signet 90 Natural Gas Grill
Lion Premium Grills L75623 32" Natural Gas Grill
Napoleon LEX 485 Built-In Natural Gas Grill
RCS Premier RJC40AL 40” Natural Gas Grill
Modern Home Gas Grills JNR4DD-N-MPP Natural Gas Grill
