Cuisinart CGG-7400 Four-Burner Gas Grill Review
Cuisinart has been a commanding name in high-quality home cooking appliances for decades. In recent years they have brought this reputation for value and build quality into the world of outdoor grills. This includes the Cuisinart CGG-7400 Propane gas grill.
It’s based largely on commercial grade stainless steel construction. So, you don’t have to worry about the rusting and corrosion that kills some lesser gas grills before their time. It also gives it an impressive gleam on your deck.
The stainless steel lid also has a built-in thermometer that is very accurate, and there are two large side tables to hold prep and serving platters. There’s also a small bottle opener built into the left-hand side shelf. All this is built into a cart base with a solid face for added stability. There are two feet and two wheels, which lets you roll it off to the side when not in use. It can be handy for homes with limited space on the deck or patio.
Inside the large stainless steel firebox, you will find four propane burner elements. Each is rated to produce 11,000 BTUs of consistent heat per hour for a total of 44,000 BTUs. Each stainless steel burner element has its own independent control knob. This lets you create dual heat zones for doing things like hybrid grilling. Each burner is started by a linked twist-knob ignition system.
Both the 443 square inch primary grill grate and the 167 warming rack are coated in protective nonstick porcelain. This makes for easy release of the meats you cook, as well as convenient cleanup when it comes time to scrape things down.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
The stainless steel construction truly shines through with the Cuisinart CGG-7400 Propane gas grill. On a sunny day you practically need to wear your sunglasses to use it. At the same time, Cuisinart also engineered it for quality and long-term durability.
The cart base is sturdy and strong, protected by a black powder coat layer. However, it’s a solid face without any sort of cabinet door. There also isn’t any sort of shelf or holding bracket for a 20-pound propane tank. This can make moving it awkward, especially if you need to tuck it away somewhere when not in use. As it’s hard to move the propane tank separately from the gas grill itself.
The Cuisinart CGG-7400 is relatively easy to assemble. It might help to have another person involved just to hold components in place while you fasten them. Like a lot of Cuisinart’s products, the instructions are easy to read. You should be able to get it fully put together in a little over an hour to an hour and a half.
Grilling Performance
The four independent control knobs on the Cuisinart CGG-7400 allow you to create dual heat zones for doing things like hybrid grilling or simply having one hot area for searing off steaks and chops, as well as a lower heat area for making things like bone-in cuts of chicken.
The 11,000 BTUs of heat per hour, per burner, is right in that Goldy Locks zone where you can trust it to be hot enough to preheat and sear quickly, yet it isn’t so high as to be thermally inefficient. You see this in the rich blue flame of the burner elements that mean they are burner cleanly without any of that sort of butane flavor you find from lesser grills that has too much yellow in the flame the elements produce.
It’s also worth noting that both the primary grill grate and the warming rack are coated in nonstick black porcelain. While you often see porcelain coatings on primary racks of the competitor grills, you rarely see it on warming racks. This means you can truly use the warming rack as an additional grilling space. It’s a great place to put link sausages and artificial casing hot dogs to warm them up while you grill other longer-cooking foods on the lower primary rack.
Grilling Areas
The primary grill grate offers 443 square inches of cooking space. The warming rack with it’s additional porcelain coating also provides an extra 167 square inches. All told the Cuisinart CGG-7400 gives you an impressive 610 square inches of grilling space. This is more than enough to grill for a family of four or even six!
Special Features
The twist-knob ignition system lets you control each burner element independently and conveniently.
The porcelain coating on the warming rack is also rare at this niche and price range. It truly lets you use it as an additional cooking space.
Ease to Clean
Cuisinart knows how important convenience is to its loyal customer base. So, they made it a point to make the Cuisinart CGG-7400 easy to clean.
The porcelain coating on the grill grates is robust. It makes for easy release of food when you’re grilling as well as quick scrape down afterward.
The grease pan is also large and easy to pour away. The internal contours of the firebox also help divert drippings to the grease pan.
Warranty
Like a lot of Cuisinart’s quality cooking appliances, they back the Cuisinart CGG-7400 with their standard 3-year warranty coverage program.
Conclusion
The Cuisinart CGG-7400 might not have a lot of loud bells and whistles. Yet it has the quality materials and engineering principles to truly get the job done. The use of stainless steel and protective powder coat also adds to the overall lifespan of this gas grill. So, you should have no problem seeing a hearty return on your investment.
Though there are a few areas of complaint. The lack of a cabinet door or a true shelf to hold the propane tank can be annoying at times. Though you could get around this by simply laying a black-painted board on the lower frame rails. There also isn’t any sort of side burner, which you see in several of the competitors at this price range.
