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I tried the Charbroil Commercial Series 4-burner grill previously and liked the versatility and build quality. I wanted to see if that translated to its little brother, the Pro Series 2-burner, so Charbroil sent me on to try out.
The Charbroil Pro Series 2-burner grill is an easy grill to fall in love with. It can do everything, with an included griddle plate and the capability to use charcoal, making it a do-it-all tool for the backyard.
Features and Specs
- Retail price of $499 (check price – also on Amazon)
- Includes a griddle plate
- Gets to 500 degrees F in under 10 minutes, and will get much hotter than that
- 325 square inches of primary cooking space and has a 120 square inch warming rack
- Folding side shelf for space while cooking and to make it smaller for storage
Versatility
This grill is all about cooking versatility. It comes with a thick griddle plate, so you can change it up and cook breakfast, rice, and other food you can’t easily cook with a grill.
They designed the griddle plate with a grease management system, which is a fancy way of saying a hold to push grease down. That’s a big plus, and makes it much easier to cook on and clean than griddle plates that don’t have them.
I also liked that the grease hole was in the middle of the back, which is away from the burners. I was a little worried on the 4-burner model that the hole was closer to the burner underneath.
If you’re going to use the griddle, make sure to get some utensils to make your life easier. Charbroil sells their own, but I used a set from Pit Boss that has the basics and is at good intersection of quality and price.
If you want some smoke in your cooking, you can also get Gas2Coal charcoal trays for the grill. These hold charcoal and sit underneat the cooking grates for a different cooking experience.
TRU-Infrared Cooking
Before cooking on a Charbroil gas grill, I thought their TRU-Infrared technology was just marketing speak. I’m a complete convert now though.
On a gas grill, people often think that it’s the flames that give the food that grilled flavor. It’s totally not though. It’s from drippings dropping down, hitting heat, and steaming/smoking back up.
It’s even up for debate if that’s where the flavor comes from in charcoal grilling. Unless you’re smoking, the flavor arguably comes from drippings on the hot coals.
Other gas grills will have deflectors over their burners to create that flavor, but Charbroil takes it to the next level with their infrared design. It looks a little different than what you might expect, but it totally works.
There are steel plates directly underneath the cooking grate, and the grate sits on little holes in them to speed up heat transfer to the grates from the fire. The plates get hot, and make it so all those drippings hit the plates and create flavor.
Cooking
The first thing you’ll notice when cooking on this grill is it gets very hot very fast. That makes it amazing for searing steaks, but also for why people buy gas grills in the first place, convenience.
This grill is perfect for those weeknight dinners because it’s ready to go in minutes. If you’re coming from other grills, it almost takes a little getting used to at first because the grill will get really hot without having to crank the burner up.
That made me go to this grill for cooking time and time again even beyond the versatility. It’s also a nice size too for a household of 2-4 people. It’s compact and easy to move around, and it does its job incredibly well.
Little Features
I always like when a company designs a grill with little features that make it more refined and easy to use. This grill has that in multiple areas.
It’s great to have a versatile grill, but what do you do with a big, heavy griddle plate when it’s not in use? Charbroil put a bracket that holds it in cabinet solving that problem and keeping it from sitting in your garage.
I hate when I go to use a gas grill only for my gas to run out part way through cooking. Charbroil put a gauge on the gas line to prevent that from happening. Also note, for those lucky enough to have a natural gas line outside, this can run off it with a conversion kit.
This ones minor, but has a big impact all the same. Space is at a premium any time you grill, but especially with a smaller grill. Charbroil put a bar on one side of the grill for an easy place to put large items like tongs, other utensils, towels, etc.
What Could Be Better
It’s hard to find many faults with this grill, but there were two minor complaints I had. The first is I store my grills in the garage and wheel them out when I use them.
Using the bar is the side is the best option to move it, but the mini shelf that it’s on can bend away from the grill a little bit if you’re lifting it over cracks. I’d like if there was more rigid attachment to the grill body.
The other complaint I had is on the sizing of the griddle plate. It’s a good size for cooking on but when it’s placed on the grill it leaves a little too big of a gap with the cook chamber. It would look more refined and a be a little more secure if it was slightly bigger.
Conclusion
I don’t know what more you could want from a 2-burner gas grill. It’s priced competitively, cooks a bunch of different ways, heats super fast, and has a nice design overall. I’ll be recommending this one to people.