If you are designing your dream outdoor kitchen, you may be wondering what built-in charcoal grills are best. A lot of people choose to include a kamado grill to satisfy their charcoal needs, but many of us really enjoy cooking on a more traditional charcoal grill, similar to what we experience with a kettle cooker.
Our Outdoor Kitchen Build
We built our outdoor kitchen during the pandemic and had a case of kamado tunnel vision when we designed it.
We really loved the storage that came from the kamado drawers from Renaissance Cooking Systems, and decided to install 2 of them, thinking we would use one for an XL kamado to use when cooking for a crowd, and the other for a small kamado to use when cooking just for our family.
In reality, we found ourselves not using any kamado as often as we anticipated, but gravitated toward using our Weber kettle which wasn't even a part of the outdoor kitchen build.
Weber does not design built-in charcoal grills for outdoor kitchen design. Weber designs grills built to move around on your patio or driveway.
For consumers looking for a high-quality charcoal grill that's designed to be built into an outdoor kitchen island and stand the test of time, we introduce you to the Premier Charcoal Grill from RCS Gas Grills.
7 Reasons I Wish I had installed this charcoal grill in my outdoor kitchen
The Premier Charcoal Grill from Renaissance Cooking Systems wasn't yet available when we were shopping for our outdoor kitchen appliances, doors, and drawers. However, if it was we would have designed things a bit differently.
Fortunately for us, it is also available in a cart so even though our outdoor kitchen is fully built, it wasn't too late to add one of these grills to our collection.
1- Charcoal flavor
While I do still utilize our built-in American Renaissance gas grill when I want to grill something quickly without too much fuss, there's just something to be said about the added flavor that charcoal brings to a cook. In hindsight, I might have opted to go smaller with my gas grill in order to accommodate a built in charcoal grill.
2- Spacious grate real estate
The 32" Premier Charcoal Grill has plenty of cooking space. It's no problem at all grilling for a big group of people on this grill, which is something I struggled to do with even the XL-size kamados I've worked with.
3- Heat Control
One of the features I love about the Premier Charcoal grill is that it has an adjustable charcoal tray that you can raise or lower depending on how close you want your food to the coals. It's super-easy to adjust the tray with a simple spin of the wheel on the front of the grill.
We also have the option of only lighting up a small section of charcoal if we're not doing a big cook.
4- Weatherproof
The Premier charcoal grill is fully stainless steel, making it much more resistant to the weather than most charcoal grills on the market. There's no threat of rust with this grill.
We have also found this charcoal grill to be very resistant to the wind. We've had a very windy spring so far while we've been testing this grill, and have had no problems getting a fire going or maintaining it in the wind.
5- Gets HOT for searing
I have pegged the thermometer on this charcoal grill several times now. This sucker gets hot! Getting an amazing sear on your proteins is no problem at all. Just make sure you've got a good pair of grill gloves to protect
6- Big enough for 2 zone cooking
Our favorite way to use this grill is 2 zone cooking. We often build the fire on one side of the charcoal tray leaving the other side available for indirect cooking. Depending on what we're cooking, we'll either cook our proteins entirely on the indirect side or start with a sear directly over the coals and then move to the indirect side until the internal temperature has reached the target. Cooking chicken wings indirectly on this grill was 100% the best we've ever made.
7- Easy to clean
There is a full-width removable ash pan under the charcoal tray. This can be pulled completely out of the grill to easily dump the ash.
