Hey,

I am in the process of building an island. I am looking at free standing grills, and they are an absolute fortune. I found one that looks pretty nice at Lowes. Its 40" with a searing station for $1,000. But even that price is a little heavy for me at the moment.

Is it possible to easilly and safely convert a free standing grill to a build in?

I dont see what the problem would be in not using the shelf and stand and just making sure everything looked sound and the airways were open.

Has anyone seen this done or know any pitfalls that can be caused by this?
If I can get an excellent grill for around $600-$700 and just use the grill itself in the island, disgarding all the shelving, that would be amazing.

Thanks a million in advance.

Why not a Big Green Egg? It is a smoker and a grill and I love mine!

Ken

Mitch,
I looked into doing this as well as the sticker shock of the built-in was overwhelming at first. I spoke to a few different people at patio stores that sold both and was advised that there are pretty significant differences between the two types of grills. It really sunk in when my Bull- Angus model grill was delivered and weighed over 200lbs. It was explained to me, that the built-in's are designed to last longer than the cart grills. Even among the built-ins there are a wide range of quality and prices. Also, I think repair parts would be easier to find for the built in's. I never even got to the safety aspect, mounting capabilities or how they may drain differently. (built-ins are designed to have a pull-out-the-front drain pan where as the cart grills I have had in the past had a catch down several inches below the grill bottom)
Just my opinion but I would spend the time researching built-in's and find one that you feel comfortable with (price & quality) as it should be with you for a long time.
Good Luck.

Thank you very much for that quick response.

It looks like I am going to have to bite the bullet and spend the dough. When you were looking around, did you happen to find any that were around $1,000 or less?

Lowes has a Jenn-air that looks pretty solid. All the features I would want. It is $999. Ugh

Ken: I never heard of a green egg until you mentioned it. I looked it up on line, and it looks great. But not exactly what Im looking to do.

I tried one of the JennAirs from Lowes - not built in, but a cart model. It was the worst grill I've ever owned. It heated so unevenly, and would not get hot enough to effectively cook anything beyond hot-dogs. Hamburgers, chicken, steaks... forget it. After a couple of months, I spoke to the store manager, and we tried a few fixes. I returned it after about 6 months... felt like a scumbag doing it, but I tried everything to get the grill to work right, and it wouldn't.

The built ins might be better, but I know at least 2 others that tried the JennAir cart models with unhappy results.

... And, fwiw, it's not really a JennAir. It is a Chinese grill imported by Nexgrill, who licensed the right to use JennAir's name

The reason I purchased the Bull was due to the fact that the salesman raved about its construction. I did not want something that would rust after one winter. We have a dry climate in Colorado but winters have my island covered in snow for some of the time. There were grills that were in the $1K range (Vermont Castings come to mind) but I did not see very good reviews when I checked the web. I think these are sold at Home Depot in some parts of the country. The Bull Angus model (4 burner plus infrared rotisserie) was $1,385 shipped to my door. It was a tough sell to the wife but she is very happy with it now. It is the only built-in we have owned but so far, we are thrilled with it. No complaints. You can look at my earlier posting (Island in Colorado) for pictures if you want. It looks like Bull has other grills that are closer to your $1K range. There are tons of manufacturers of these things though. All of which seem to advertise on the web.
Best of luck and let me know if you have other questions.

Jenn-Aire indoor appliances generally suck, so I wouldn't expect much from their outdoor ones.