Fuego F27S 27″ Stainless Steel Gas Grill Review
Fuego is a relative newcomer in the gas grill niche. They realize that quality and innovative design are absolutely necessary for attracting loyal customers. A sleek and interesting look, that can spark a backyard conversation also helps.
The Fuego F27S is made largely from 304 stainless steel. It represents the middle of their line between the small footprint 24C and the much larger F36S. It has a visually interesting cart base that provides storage for your grilling tools and gives you a discrete place to keep the propane tank. The side shelves collapse when not in use and tuck into recesses in the body.
It has two stainless steel U-shaped propane burners with heat diffusers. Each produces 20,000 BTUs of heat. This allows you to create two different heat zones for hybrid grilling. The diffusers also help vaporize drippings for easier cleanup while also evenly distributing the heat across the grill grate. Each of the burners can be lit with a push-button electric ignition system that runs on an AA battery.
The grill grates are made from stainless steel to help match the F27S’s gleaming visual look. Underneath there is a large, easy to pull out, drippings pan, which they call a residue tray.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
The 304 stainless steel construction used in the Fuego 27S makes a statement of quality. They also back it with a superior lifetime warranty on the body as well as a 5-year warranty on the burners.
Fuego also knows that a long drawn out assembly process can take some of the excitement out of the process of buying a new grill. To that end, there are some online vendor who provide a very affordable expert assembly service.
In all honesty, you won’t need it. Fuego makes their directions very easy to read, they also provide online assembly videos. It comes mostly put together, to begin with. It shouldn’t take you more than half an hour to assemble it.
You will have to remove the protective film from the hood. Fuego also recommends wiping down all the exterior surfaces with a stainless steel cleaner before using it for the first time.
Grilling Performance
The U-shaped stainless steel propane burners with their heat deflectors help to eliminate hot and cold spots. If you dial it in just right you can use them to create two separate heat zones. This can be helpful if you want to hybrid grill bone-in pieces of chicken or lamb. If you are only preparing a small amount of food, you could cook over one heat zone, then set the other side to low to act as an additional warming area.
Fuego also designed the F27S to preheat quickly. Set to full flame it can come up to a roaring 500 degrees in less than 10 minutes. Its low range is rated to around 250 degrees, while they claim the maximum temperature is 650.
This kind of heat capacity means that you could technically use the F27S to make grilled pizza. A nice wet dough and a frugal glaze of olive oil will give you a nice crisp crust while reducing its chances of sticking.
If you are going to try this, I would recommend a metal pizza peel with a thin edge, over a thick, soft wooden one. Once it is preheated up to 500+ degrees, there are two ways you can go about grilling a pizza.
The first is to oil the face of the dough and place it face down. Let it bubble for a minute or two. Then grease it, flip it, and dress it as fast as humanly possible.
The other way to make a grilled pizza on the F27S is to slide a pizza stone onto the grates before you fire it up. Give the stone a full 15 minutes to absorb the heat. Then slide the pre-topped pizza onto the stone and close the lid. You can give it a quick peek in 5 minutes. Just keep in mind that every time you opening the lid you are reducing the time the top needs to melt while increasing the chances of burning the bottom.
Grilling Areas
The Fuego F27S has a 645 square inch grill grate.
Special Features
The collapsing side shelves might not seem like the most “Special” of features. Still, it reduces the grill’s footprint when not in use, and they recess into the body seamlessly.
U-shaped burners have a reputation for making hot and cold spots on their grill grate. The thoughtful design of the flame tamers helps redistribute the high heat produced by the burners to eliminate most of the hot and cold spots. Still, the front corners aren’t quite as hot as the rear corners, but that’s a minor complaint.
Ease to Clean
The large residue tray spans almost the entire footprint of the firebox. This helps it catch any drippings. If you are making something extra grease or with a lot of sloppy marinade runoff, you will need to use a careful hand when pulling the tray out.
The stainless steel flame tamers help vaporize a lot of drippings but may need an occasional scrape down. The stainless steel grill grates can be a little sticky from time to time. Giving them a quick glaze of a neutral flavor oil before you place the food down will help reduce these problems. If you do need to scrape the flame tamers or the grill grates, I’d recommend a nylon bristle grill brush. This will reduce any potential scuff marks on the stainless steel.
Warranty
The body of the Fuego F27S is warranted for the life of the grill. The burners come with five years of coverage. There are also some online retailers who offer additional protection plans.
Conclusion
Fuego is doing their best to attract loyal customers with their first forays into the world of gas grills. The F27S certainly has a unique look, and it’s capable of reaching high heat quickly. Just make sure to put in the extra effort to maintain the appearance of the stainless steel with a grill cover.
