RCS Premier RJC40AL 40” Natural Gas Drop-in Grill Review
A built-in or drop-in natural gas grill is meant to be the peak of efficiency and convenience for an outdoor kitchen. Many deck and patio grill stations are turning to natural gas for its ability to do what propane can, all at a lower cost, with less environmental impact.
The RCS Premier 40-inch natural gas grill is designed to be an easy drop-in for an outdoor kitchen or grill station. Just keep in mind that there isn’t a propane conversion specifically designed for this grill head.
It includes special fire stones that are also integrated with their own special flame tamers. They are designed to absorb the heat from the five stainless steel burner elements. The 60,000 combined BTUs are then more evenly distributed to give you a consistent cooking surface without the hot and cold spots that are a little more common with natural gas elements.
The majority of the RCS Premier is made from stainless steel, which gives is a sleek visual appeal. The drip tray is large and spans the entire bottom of the firebox. The stainless steel lid is double walled. This improves heat efficiency. The control knobs also have built-in blue LED lights to add to the Premier’s visual appeal. It’s a nice touch for those times when you want to grill out after the sun has gone down.
The burners can be easily lit using the integrated “Sure Strike” ignition system. It also has a back up easy light “Flash Tubes.”
Construction & Ease of Assembly
RCS is a relative newcomer in the drop-in grill industry. They do their best to cultivate a reputation for quality with the use of stainless steel throughout the Premier. One of the common complaints with natural gas grills is their tendency to create hot and cold spots across the grill surface.
This is largely related to the shape of the burner elements. The RCS Premier addresses this with their fire stones and integrated flame tamers, which absorb the heat and radiate it back to the grill grates evenly.
The RCS Premier isn’t all that difficult to put together. It is shipped and comes largely intact. The firestones and flame tamers aren’t hard to put together, but it does take a little bit of extra time.
The more time-consuming part of the process is the installation. If you aren’t particularly handy, you might want to find a local contractor who can help you fit it properly and up to code. Some online retailers do offer an “Expert Assembly Service.” Just keep in mind that this is related to putting the grill heat together, not the install into the counter or cook station.
Grilling Performance
The RCS Premier does a very good job of generating consistent heat across the large grill grates. This is largely due to the fire stones, integrated with the stainless steel flame tamers. In order to really make the most of this, you will need to give the grill a solid 10 to 15 minutes to preheat. This will allow the stones to absorb heat energy to radiate it up to the food being cooked.
The grill grates are made from stainless steel, which causes food to stick more than if it was a cast iron grate coated with nonstick porcelain. One way to minimize this is to lightly grease the grill grates with an oiled paper towel right before you lay the food down.
The RCS Premier comes with a large rear burner. Yet the hood and grate frame hasn’t been specifically designed to accommodate a rotisserie. Nor is there a rotisserie included in the purchase price.
Grilling Areas
The RCS Premier is large. The primary stainless steel grill grate offers 906 square inches of grilling space. The warming rack also offers 212 square inches, but it is a little on the narrow side.
Special Features
The Sure Strike igniter with Flash Tube backup is a nice touch.
The firestones integrated with the stainless steel flame tamers help redistribute the heat. However, they do make it a little bit harder to produce two separate heat zones.
The full-size drip tray isn’t necessarily all that “Special.” Still, one common complaint you get with the competitors is that their drip trays don’t fully cover the entire bottom of the firebox.
Ease to Clean
The RCS Premier is a little easier to clean than the competition. This is largely due to the large drip tray. The stainless steel grill grates tend to make foods stick. Lightly greasing the grill grates before placing the food will reduce this, but you should still expect to do a little scraping after every cook session.
Using a stiff nylon bristle grill brush will minimize scratches on the stainless steel. The more scratches and scuffs the more food is likely to stick in the future.
The firestones and stainless steel flame tamers can add a little bit of extra work to the process. This is pretty much par for the course with grills that use this feature. Most of the time drippings simply vaporize during the grilling process, and you just have to live with the fact that the stones will never look as pretty as they did when they came out of the box.
If you are grilling something greasy, or something that has a lot of excess marinade running off, you might want to let the flames keep burning for an extra 10 to 15 minutes afterward to burn it all off.
Warranty
RCS Premier comes with a lifetime warranty against any defects in the manufacturing and workmanship on the cooking grids, and stainless steel housing, as well as the stainless steel burners. The control valves are covered by a fifteen-year warranty. The ceramic fire stones and all other components are covered for a single year.
This level of warranty is a step above most of the competitors.
Conclusion
The RCS Premier provides consistent heating and comes with a lot of quality materials throughout. This is backed in testimony by their superior warranty. It will do pretty much everything you want a gas grill to do. Just keep in mind that the grill grates are a little sticky, and it’s not specifically designed to work with a rotisserie.
