A caveat: This review is written after initial burn-in and an inaugural use of the Broil King XLS90 LP Gas Grill. I'll update the review with additional comments as it is used more. And use it I will, since it is well worth the premium price. At $880 (US), this Canadian-made grill is a serious investment. For that price, you should expect a solidly made grill that delivers steady, even heat across the grilling surface. The Broil King more than delivers.
Be advised that this grill required roughly 3.5 hours of assembly, not unreasonable for first-timers. The instructions were generally adequate and relatively easy to follow, but not so easy as to be idiot-proof. What was immediately apparent was that Broil King does not in any way cheap out on the essential components. The main oven is made from cast aluminum and is clearly solidly -and heavily (!) -built. Other key parts, such as the venturi tubes and other cook parts such as the Flav-R-Wave vaporizing system appear to be well-made of aluminum, while the cooking grills themselves are made of solid stainless steel. This model also shipped with Broil King's premium rotisserie, itself clearly solidly built, with a solid stainless steel rod, 2 sets of heavy duty rotisserie forks for holding the cooking product in place, and what looks to be a reasonably heavy-duty electric motor. The model also includes a rear burner unit for the rotisserie, which is designed to distribute a low flame across the width of the rod as it rotates. Note that one must remove the warming shelf in order to operate the rotisserie, and the rotisserie unit must be removed (and the rear burner not fired up) when the grill itself is being used.
The cabinet has two doors, one shelf, and a preconfigured recess to hold the LP tank. All of these are well-designed but unspectacular. A nice feature is that the doors latch solidly closed (note that they have to be lifted slightly when closing). The model also comes with a covered side burner unit on the left, and a work surface on the right, with recessed external shelf areas on both sides for spices, etc. There are recessed hooks built into each end of the grill from which to hang grilling tools, etc.
Now for the important stuff: This grill can COOK! With the lid closed, the grill preheats very rapidly, pumping out more heat than one can really cook with unless you are using a two-zone high sear, medium/low finish process. If that is your preference, you will be more than satisfied with the Broil King. It is clearly ideal for steaks, allowing you to sear, flip, sear, and flip etc. to get beautiful wide grill cross-hatches. The very solid and wide warming shelf allows the chef to finish cooking the seared product on the upper level. There is room to spare: my inaugural use consisted of 7 individual T-bone steaks, 1/2 dozen bratwurst, and 4 hot peppers on the lower grill, with 7 large foil wrapped baked potatoes on the warming rack. There was no crowding -all of the various food items had plenty of room. All this cooked quickly and perfectly. The potatoes had been partly cooked in the microwave, but even wrapped in heavy duty foil, they finished cooking perfectly, yielding a crisp external peel with a firm, completely done interior. The steaks were superb -nicely seared with perfect grill marks on the exterior with the interior tender and flavorful. Medium rare steaks were achieved by quick sear on the lower grill and finishing on the warming rack. A nice feature of the heavy-duty stainless cooking grill is that the bars are spaced close enough together to make fall-through an afterthought. Finally, the touted Flav-R-Wave system works as advertised -there was virtually no flare-up to speak of, and what very little there was dissipated almost instantly.
Since my initial review, I have had a chance to use the grill a bit more often, including use of the rotisserie. Nothing has changed in my original 5 star review; to the contrary, repeated use has simply underscored the high build quality and overall cook-worthiness of this excellent product. The rotisserie worked very well, with clear and straightforward instructions perfectly sufficient for a novice like me. I cooked two full chickens at the same time, they browned beautifully and looked pretty well identical to our local grilled chicken chain. I had a bit of a struggle keeping the rotisserie "bar" from dropping out of the motor end of the unit, until I looked very closely at the accompanying literature and realized that the small lock nut assembly was meant to sit inside the grill against the inside bar holder at the end closest to the counterweight. Once I made that adjustment, the bar rotated two heavy chickens with further problem. A comment particularly applicable to the rotisserie -BRINE IS YOUR FRIEND!! Due to a tight schedule, I was unable to brine the chickens before cooking them. I compounded that error by failing to appreciate how efficiently the small horizontal rotisserie gas apparatus actually worked. The result was beautiful looking chicken that was, sadly, dry and overcooked, due entirely to my failure to brine the chicken. My strong recommendation is that you brine pork and poultry lest the remarkably efficient grill and rotisserie dry out the product.
A word about the rotisserie apparatus: Like everything else about this grill, it reflects the overall attention to high quality construction. The grill bar and 4 accompanying prongs appear to be solid stainless steel. They convey heat superbly well and clean up easily after use. They are, however, quite heavy, and the overall apparatus is quite long and bulky, particularly when weighted down with several chickens. Keep this in mind when deciding where and how to mount raw chicken onto the grill bar.
BOTTOM LINE: This is by far the best household grill I have ever owned or cooked on. It heats extremely quickly (the single rear rotisserie gas unit heated the grill to 375 degrees in about 10 minutes), sears beautifully, and shows quality throughout. The more I use it, the more I appreciate how well this grill is built. And the inclusion of a full featured, well made rotisserie unit makes this grill one of the best values out there.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Here is my story of how I came to the BBQ.I have owned a Kenmore Elite BBQ for over 5 years and at the start of the summer this grill had run it's course. The entire insides were rusted out and it was time. The Sears Kenmore Elite BBQ had treated me well and I was ready to buy the replacement. I went down to Sears (somewhere where I will never shop again) and ordered the equivalent grill for $699 (Model# 464224010). I read no reviews and I figured I owned one before this one must be as good. Right away I realized I couldn't get the grill past 400degrees due to a significant design flaw. I started reading reviews and realized that everyone was having this problem and that the grill was basically junk.
After 2-3 weeks of dealing with Sears (I will never shop there again) they gave me my money back.
So now starts the hunt for a new grill. I had about $850 or so to spend, which should be plenty for a good grill. Here is what my requirements for a grill that I wasn't willing to compromise on:
1) At least 500 sq. in cooking area.
2) Must have side burner.
3) Must have the ability to do rotisserie cooking.
4) Must have at least 4 burners (I do a lot of different types of meat at once).
5) Cannot be Kenmore.
6) Must have some good independent reviews (Consumer Reports is not my favorite).
7) Must get hot enough to sear meat and put nice grill marks. (may seem silly but the Kenmore could not do this and until you can't do a thing you don't realize how much you need it)
So doing a lot of reading both on Amazon and independent sites like and others it came down to two different BBQs:
Broil King 988744 Sovereign XLS 90 Liquid Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner and Rear Rotisserie Burner
Weber 6531001 Genesis E-330 Liquid Propane Gas Grill, Black'
Why these you ask? Well the reviews were overwhelming for them both.
Weber:
I had a chance to Q it up on Weber E-330 at a friends house and REALLY liked it. The construction was amazing, the grill was really nice and it got nice and hot so that I could sear meat. I went to the local BBQ shop and saw the Weber and was able to talk to the Salesman who had good things to say about the grill. I was pretty sold at this point that it was going to be a Weber. Interesting stats for the Weber:
Burners: 3
Cooking space: 507 sq in
Total Space: 637 sq in
BTUS: 38000 btu's for the three main burners
Rotisserie: No, but it did have a searing station
Warming Rack: Yes but was small.
I didn't like the side attachment for the BBQ tools
I didn't really like the storage area either.
Nowhere around me sells the BroilKing, so I couldn't check it out. So basically reading the reviews and reading the specs on the BBQ. Stats:
Burners: 4
Cooking space: 600 sq in
Total Space: 1000 sq in
BTUS: 50000 btu's for the three main burners
Rotisserie: Yes comes WITH the grill
Warming Rack: Yes. The design of the warming rack is amazing.
It had two other features that I thought were VERY interesting:
Stainless Steel Flav-R-Zone(tm) Heat Partitions which seems to partition the different burners off so that you can get real different direct heat on different parts of the grill.
Stainless Steel Dual-Tube(tm) Burners Saw in a couple different write ups that these were nice.
The customer service seems to be OUTSTANDING with Broilking from all the reviews that I read. This is HUGE.
The MAJOR negative that I read on the BroilKing was that it gets damaged in shipping.
So what did I decide to do? Well based on the reviews, the size of the grill and the fact that it came WITH a rotisserie package I decided to buy the BroilKing sight unseen.
It arrived on a pallet and there was little to no damage to the box. I quickly unpacked it to see if there was any damaged parts. There was not. I don't know if I got lucky or Amazon is learning from all the reviews. This was my biggest fear and my only real fear after reading all the reviews. GREAT JOB AMAZON!!!!
Anyways, I put the grill together in less then 2 hours. Was pretty darn easy, even with the picture only instructions. During the assembly I noticed a lot of REALLY well thought out designs that were lacking on the Kenmore and other grills that I have seen. I was really impressed with the thought and the level of detail that was put in this grill.
I had it up an running and made burgers for my first BBQ experience. It got up to temp in less the 10 minutes, and grilled the burgers perfectly.
I am VERY impressed and VERY happy with this purchase.
Best Deals for Broil King 988744 Sovereign XLS 90 Liquid Propane Gas Grill
This grill is hands down the best grill I've owned. When you compare the price to that of the similarly equipped Weber, you are really getting a great deal. The flavor bars and partitioned cooking areas really keep the heat even. The ability to control the temperature on this grill is amazing! The rotiserie is amazing and the rotiserie burner is outstanding. This grill just plain looks cool too! The only drawback to this grill that I've found is that the burners appear to be very susceptible to wind and blow out fairly easily with a medium to strong breeze. You just have to keep this into consideration as far as positioning your grill when its windy out.Honest reviews on Broil King 988744 Sovereign XLS 90 Liquid Propane Gas Grill
I've waited almost an entire year to post a review because I wanted to rate the grill based on a long period of significant use. I grill 4-5 nights a week during the summer and 2-3 nights a week year round so this review is coming after a LOT of use and a LOT of variety as far as what I'm grilling. Beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, burgers, brats, even beans or fried potatoes on the side burner several times.The two things I like most are:
1. This grill gets HOT. It will hit 700 degrees in about 15 minutes.
2. The heat is even across the grill. I don't have "hot-spots" or "cold-spots".
The temperature control is really good too. I've used the rotisserie for chickens, pork loins and even our Thanksgiving turkey and it is superb. You can get the temperature to exactly 350 degrees and keep it there. When grilling, it is very easy to use one side to sear and finish on the other side at a much lower temperature if you want to. The controls are good enough that I used the grill to re-season my cast iron so my wife wouldn't object to the smell of doing it in the oven. I needed exactly 500 degrees for the method I was trying and it worked perfectly to hold that temp.
I frequently use the top rack to cook pork chops or chicken breasts after searing on the lower main surface. I've never been able to get the pretty crosshatch grill marks on anything else, but even my wife has commented several times about how perfect everything looks coming off the grill onto the table. Meat is juicy and cooked through just the way it should be.
I got the grill in Oct. 2012 and added several Broil King accessories at Christmas. Everything is heavy stainless and seems to be excellent quality.
After almost a full year, I have noticed a very minor bulge or sag on the front-bottom section of the cast aluminum oven. I know that several people mentioned this issue in reviews. I'll definitely keep an eye on it but for now it is very minor and has not caused any problems.
One note on the stainless grates I live in south-central Texas and it is very, very humid here. My grill lives under my covered porch and has never been out in the rain. It stays in the shade for the most part, but the back does get some direct sun late in the afternoon over the summer. I find it pretty much impossible to keep surface rust off the grates. I generally spray a light coat of canola oil on the grates to season them a little before I light the grill. The oil burns off and a good grill brush VERY easily cleans off anything leftover. The "vaporizer" pans under the main grill grates haven't faired as well in our humidity and I'll likely be replacing them by the 3rd year.
Overall, very, very pleased with the performance and quality of this unit.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Broil King 988744 Sovereign XLS 90 Liquid Propane Gas Grill
Love this grilling machine.......rotisserie is perfect chicken every time.... flavor it up with some brine for 5 hours ahead. I've always gone the cheap route for grills 300 or so every few years but I wanted to move it on up. The broil king choice seemed to be the affordable fully equipped heavy stainless steal grids choice.......and it is all that. I have used my parent weber for years as well....always liked it a lot...but didn't have $1500.The broil king slsss90 burners are perfect and get hot very quickly ....... the big box is like an oven......it's precision in so many little ways but you can absolutely control the heat everywhere on the surfaces for searing and you have the room to do all the indirect real barbecue you could want to...whole racks of ribs sit comfortably alone with one burner on and the temp stays perfect 225 on medium low....put your chips in the box....your steaming pan......no heat at all is under the ribs cus of all the room...34 inches wide !
It's not a weber my friends....this grill does not look that nice in comparison......but you don't get the heavy grates until you spend $1500 on a weber.....and you don't get the broil king burners....they show some muscle when they light up....though the weber has very effective burners there is that traditional hotter in the back colder near the front thing going on...not always a bad thing but it limits the usable grill space when doing lots and lots of food.
Well on that note this broil king grill is HUGE...and when assembled it is a sold piece of engineering....i've put a few grills together....this was not that big of a challenge and other than damage incurred inside the box probably in transit...i'm in love with this grill after a few months of use.
I believe a company is measured by how it handles the little bumps in the road.......they are frequent in the this thing we call life....expect them but also expect solutions will be available.
Ordered the grill from Amazon.....free shipping etc....it came damaged.....it was a much smaller hassle than I thought.....they took it back swapping for the next new one in a few days......oops this one also a little damaged...but usable. Amazon gave me some cash back......manufacturer for no cost on the warranty sent me the part right away. Bumps over come......grilling all kinds of stuffffffff 4 plus times per week.
burgers seared and perfect in 8 minutes.
For a thousand with rotisserie burner and rig....this quality of burner and the heavy stainless grids...you can't beat it. I only wish a local store would sell them and/or Onward could beef up the box or method of packaging for all the parts inside the box.
No comments:
Post a Comment