Whether you’re planning an outdoor kitchen build, or just want a grill that will outlast any big box grill I’ve tested, it’s worth a look at the RCS Premier Grill from Renaissance Cooking Systems. We’ve grilled everything from steak, burgers and sausages to shrimp and chicken on this grill as well as tested out some of the accessories available to see if they’re worth the upgrade.
I’m David Gafford, and here at The Barbecue Lab, we test over 100 different cooking appliances every year so you know where to invest your outdoor cooking budget. We’ve had this grill at The Lab for a few months now, and it’s time to share our tests with you.
Quick Links to the products mentioned in this post and video:
- Get VIP PRICING with code BBQLAB at checkout!
- Premier Grill
- Sear burner
- Rotisserie kit
- Griddle insert
Disclaimer
First, a disclaimer. This is not sponsored content. RCS hasn’t paid us to make this content, and they haven’t given us a script or told us what to say. They aren’t getting a copy ahead of time, so our opinions on this grill are our own. They did send us this grill to test just like every other manufacturer we review on this channel, and we have special VIP pricing that we can share with you. So if that kind of testing is what you’re looking for, let’s start with what this grill is designed for…
RCS Premier Gas Grill
Renaissance Cooking Systems is primarily known for outdoor kitchen appliances and fixtures. The Premier line is their price conscious grill series and it comes in widths of 26, 32 and 40 inches. If you’re not building an outdoor kitchen, there is also a cart available for each model in the Premier line. We have both the Premier 32 and the cart here today, and that’s what we’ll be testing.
This grill is available in both propane gas and natural gas, so it’s fuel flexible depending on how you’re set up in the back yard.
Premier Cart
The cart has two static side shelves, which means they don’t fold down and are very sturdy. There’s a good amount of storage space underneath the grill in the cart model, but the propane tank does take up a good bit of room. Plenty of space to store accessories down on the left side though.
For mobility, this cart isn’t designed to move off a smooth surface. As long as you’re on the concrete, it’s great and locks in place so it won’t move if you don’t want it to. I wouldn’t plan on moving this grill around personally, since this specific model needs plugged in to access all of the features.
Lights
This “L” model has two internal lights over the cooking surface. Cooking at night is as easy as a push button on the right hand side of the grill. There’s also blue lights over each knob so you can see your grill settings in the dark as well. This all requires power, so I would recommend plugging in the grill and leaving it be. If you’d rather not bother with the lights and hassle of plugging in your freestanding grill, you can get the non-L model for about $400 less.
Assembly
Assembly was incredible easy compared to most gas and propane grills that we test here at The Lab. The cart took about 30 minutes to assemble, and the grill head itself comes fully assembled. All you need to do is just slide the grill into the cart and you’re done.
Construction Quality
I always want to know the quality of construction of any grill I consider buying, and let’s start with what this grill is made from. This is stainless steel all around, and it’s not just the exterior. The grates are stainless, the burners are stainless… it’s a whole lot of stainless steel and not much left that can rust.
Burners
The burners give out 12,000 BTUs each. There are 4 main tubular burners, and a 12,000 BTU ceramic infrared burner in the back for the rotisserie.
Cooking grates
All of the grates in this grill are made of stainless steel. The grates are very heavy. I weighed one of the panels and it registered 4lbs 14.6 ounces. That’s just 1.4oz shy of 5lbs. There are 4 grates like this, so just the main level grates on this grill weigh just under 20 pounds.
For comparison, I pulled a grate from a big box store grill that weighs 2.59 pounds and there are only 3 grates in that model for a total grate weight of 7.8 pounds compared to almost 20.
Cooking Capacity
To show you the capacity of this grill, we keep a box of 1/4 pound Patties in the freezer to measure with, and they’re definitely not edible anymore. These are measuring tools, not burgers at this point, so don’t freak out.
If we’re measuring what I would comfortably put on this grill, it’s 6 burgers wide by 3 burgers high at a time. Could you cram more on there? Probably, but I’m going to say a comfortable 18 burgers at one time, which is more than enough for most backyard get togethers.
There is a removable upper rack if that’s something you like to use. Personally, I find that they’re always in my way, but if you utilize them, this rack measures 31″ Wide by 5″ deep.
The internal height of the cooking chamber is important if you want to do turkeys and beer can chickens on this grill. Measuring the height using the interior portion of the lid gave me 9 and a quarter inches. Measuring from the outside I get 10 and a half inches, but I think a little over 9 inches is the internal height on this grill.
Optional Accessories
Rotisserie Cooking
Most people I know who have a higher end gas or propane grill want to know if there’s a rotisserie option. The Premier does have an optional rotisserie kit, and we took it for a test drive with a rotisserie chicken. We started with both the ceramic infrared burner on medium and the burner directly underneath the chicken set as low as it would go. After 20 minutes, we could tell the bottom burner was probably too much, so we turned that off and let the rear burner do the heavy lifting. If a rotisserie is your thing, you’ll like this one.
Searing Power
Before we test the searing capabilities of this grill, I need to let you know that there’s also a sear burner available. You can take out one of the stainless steel tube burners and drop in the sear burner. Super simple process.
To compare the searing ability, we put 2 filet steaks into the Sous Vide and brought them up to 110 degrees internal. We patted them dry, seasoned them with our Essential Equation SPG seasoning and let the Premier handle the sear. We did 1 minute then a twist, another minute and here’s how the sear burner steak looked, and then the standard burner steak sear… Another minute, another twist and here’s how the second side looked when we finished on the sear burner… and here’s the second side of the regular burners. If you’re really into searing and crust, I think the sear burner is the way to go.
Griddle
The last accessory I want to cover is this dual plate stainless steel griddle, which is the same griddle top that you would get on the Le Griddle we have in our outdoor kitchen. We built the 30″ Le Griddle into our outdoor kitchen, and it’s a cast iron plate welded to stainless steel. It gives you maximum heat transference and evens out the cooking surface. You can take out 2 of the grates and 2 of the briquette trays, slide this griddle in and your grill will be half griddle and half grill.
I tested it out with a hibachi cook of chicken and shrimp, and it cooks like my 2-burner Le Griddle. Lunch was delicious, but here comes my favorite part. I threw some ice cubes on the griddle, let steam do the heavy lifting, and this griddle looks like new. This setup is a fantastic combo grill.
Warranty
The warranty on this grill is a lifetime warranty on all parts. They didn’t give any exclusions or prorated warranty, just lifetime on all parts. I love it when companies don’t monkey around. It’s not going to be the price of a big box store grill, but with lifetime on everything, you won’t need to go back to a big box store for a grill.
Pricing
At the time of this article, here’s the pricing on the 32″ Premier Grill from Renaissance Cooking Systems. The grill head itself with the lights included comes in at $2,089, which is amazing for a grill that’ll anchor your outdoor kitchen. If you want to add the cart to make it a stand alone unit, you can get the combo for $3,067, but since you’re reading this article, you can get VIP pricing on this grill by inputting the code “BBQLAB” at checkout. You can save a bunch with this code, so head on over, give it a try and see how much money you can save. (and it isn’t just for this grill, it works for everything else too.)
Conclusion
Overall, I really like this grill for an outdoor kitchen at this price point. If you haven’t been outdoor kitchen pricing, it’s a whole different world from the grills you’ll see at Lowes. With outdoor kitchen grills regularly in the $4,000 – $6,000 range, I love that you can put this grill in for right at $2,000. (or less with the code.)
Renaissance Cooking Systems is what we put in our outdoor kitchen build over 5 years ago, and each piece is still going strong. Give this brand a look if you’re looking to buy a long term grill.
Quick Links to the products mentioned in this post and video:
- Get VIP PRICING with code BBQLAB at checkout!
- Premier Grill
- Sear burner
- Rotisserie kit
- Griddle insert
