Looking for a good outdoor gas cooktop/range

[fzxdoc]

Dan Deter I talked to Camp Chef. A 20 lb tank of propane would last 3.5 hours if all burners were on high.
Uncle Bob , FYI.

Kathryn

[Uncle Bob]

Good to know,, thanks Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

surfdog, FYI as well, since you're tempting yourself with this purchase.

Kathryn

[surfdog]

fzxdoc Yes, thanks. That's good info. It should easily go a couple weekends, as I can't imagine needing to run all burners at once very often...and certainly not on high.

[fzxdoc]

...I too have propane plumbed to the whole house and that gasser and a separate sear burner on the counter/cabinet setup in the background of my pictures is hard lined to the house system. As you are probably aware, the whole house is controlled by a largeish pressure regulator usually at the entry point to the house. My gas stove in the inside kitchen as well as the Summerset gasser for the outside kitchen both work fine on the house regulator. The Somerset IV might work fine too, but it might be worth a call to CC tech support to verify (that would delete the concern I cautioned for the supplied regulator). Likely the first helper at CC won't have the answer because it's rarely if ever asked, so you'll probably have to urge to check with someone higher up/more experienced.

I asked the CC folks just now and they said that they recommend a quick disconnect when hooking up the Somerset IV to the house propane line. That's all they said about it.

I'll follow it up when I have a little more time.

Kathryn

[Uncle Bob]

Yeah, didn't exactly answer the question, or answered what they thought the question was.

[Uncle Bob]

Just in case I bought this last night to park in the driveway......……………...……...

[surfdog]

That should get you through the weekend!

[Uncle Bob]

Yet another installment of the testing saga. I mentioned earlier I had a griddle to test. This is one I had gotten earlier to use on my higher btu camp stove that I've used for deep frying. Size wise it fit very well, but with only two banjo burners, even at 70k btu each, it had two hot spots and the rest of the surface tapered off a bit much. That was part of the rationale to buy the Somerset. Well, today I got around to it, an started the seasoning process while doing temp zone testing. I am resting the griddle on top of the supplied grate as it spaces the griddle about 1/2 inch higher from the flames. I had taken the CC grate off and trial fit and it fit very well as it's built for a 16" spaced stove which the CC is as well. But, knowing the btu power available I opted for more spacing, which ended up a good thing. Turns out that on the lo setting the griddle maintained heat in the zones above the burner heads in the 375-410 range according to my IR gun. The zone above the brown seasoning marks in the pics was high 200s to low 300s, with the zone below the dark seasoning ranging high 100s to high 200s. The proof will come in the actual cooking, but there are plenty of options for where to park the food for desired outcomes, just unsure right now on how much food for the available temperature/space combination. The griddle is stainless, 32 x 16 on the flat, and has both angle shaped bracing and diffuser box across the entire bottom. No apparent distortion at theses temps. I still have to work up a drain catch for the hole in the grease channel across the front that is an easy attach/detach, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Once all the fiddling around is done if there's anything of significance to report I can do that.

[fzxdoc]

Good info as usual, Uncle Bob . I'm uncertain whether I'll purchase the CC griddle, as my primary use is for making sides while smoking and for frying. But never say never is a good working motto.

I wonder, do Blackstones have more even heat distribution across the griddle? I don't know anything about their construction. I should go read Max Good's review.

I had thought to get a griddle to fit my gasser where the heat sources are not as focal as for the CC, but, as I say, that's in the future.

Kathryn

[Uncle Bob]

@fzsdoc In some ways the banjo burner is more focused, the Blackstone and it's similar competitors typically have a tube/inline burner, some an H shaped one, depends to some degree on how many burners the manufacturer wants to tout. They too have their hot spots and cooler zones, just different in shape/orientation. If you end up looking for one for the gasser, the Steelmade brand is highly regarded, and is of thicker material than most. Also on their website is some thermal imaging that compares the Blackstone vs. theirs which might be informative for you.

[fzxdoc]

Uncle Bob , Thank you for the recommendation for Steelmade Griddle products. Pretty impressive lineup!

I've been looking at the Baking Steel Griddle for my gasser because of its thickness 3/8", like Steelmade's Pro series. Steelmade does not yet offer a Pro series for the gasser, though.

Still, it looks like it can handle the job nicely. I like the idea of the drip tray option that snaps to the grill's grate.


That's a pretty impressive set of thermal images on the Steelmade site, comparing the heat distribution of Steelmade to the Blackstone griddles:

Blackstone Griddle:


Steelmade Griddle on Gas Grill:


Thank you for the information. I'll tuck it into my brain's hard drive for future recall.

Kathryn

[texastweeter]

I love my camp chef. Have both the griddle attachment as well as the italia pizza oven attachment for it.

[texastweeter]

No, I have the 2 burner. The griddle I use is the black iron one, not the steel one as it retains heat better for searing. Yeah, it gets used quite often. Keep it covered when not in use. 2 years plus and going strong.

[fzxdoc]

Good to know. Thanks, texastweeter .

K.

[texastweeter]

my pleasure

[Uncle Bob]

@fzxdoc, hey Kathryn, I thought you were supposed to get your new toy last week. Somethin' happen?

[fzxdoc]

Seven somethings happened, Uncle Bob . Our kids and grandkids came home for a 10 day visit which is ending up this weekend. Whew. I'm exhausted chasing a toddler, cooking and cleaning up. The wash machine has gone non-stop.

In the midst of all this, the cooktop was delivered. Box in pretty bad shape, but son-in-law #1 put it together for me and there was no damage to the stove itself. I've got it hooked up with a propane tank but have yet to use it beyond testing each burner for lighting performance.

One thing it needs badly is swivel wheels. It's awkward to move it away from its stored-next-to-the-house location to a location a few feet away on the deck. There is no handle on the side opposite the wheels to get a grip on, so I have to grab and steer by the sides of the cooktop.

After the horde leaves, I'll investigate having a backsplash fabricated to sit on the cooktop, enclosing 3 sides. At least that's the plan for now.

Kathryn

[CaptainMike]

What, no pichers?

[fzxdoc]

Of the kids or the cooktop, CaptainMike ?

K.

[CaptainMike]

Both!

[Uncle Bob]

Seven somethings happened, Uncle Bob . …………...

One thing it needs badly is swivel wheels. It's awkward to move it away from its stored-next-to-the-house location to a location a few feet away on the deck. There is no handle on the side opposite the wheels to get a grip on, so I have to grab and steer by the sides of the cooktop.
………………...

Kathryn

Until you get the swivel wheel thing figured out (we can give that some discussion if you wish, I've thought about it too) I find it fairly easy to maneuver by raising the drop down shelf at the non wheeled end to it's up and locked position. Then you'll have a nice round handle to grasp and it gives some additional leverage for the picking up and steering.

[fzxdoc]

Yes, Uncle Bob , I saw that; however it is parked between my WSCGC and my PBC without clearance to open that side shelf to get to that nice round handle. So I sort of manhandle it out of its park position. I may have to rearrange my smokers or come up with a plan for pulling the unit directly away from the wall. Will get my thinking cap on.

In the meanwhile, have you used yours any more?

Kathryn

[Uncle Bob]

……………….

In the meanwhile, have you used yours any more?

Kathryn

While I may kid that you have been an evil influence on my MCS, I will give you a big THANK YOU for bringing this piece of gear to my attention. Last week I did a Chinese pork dish in the wok and what an experience. Not only was the cook time faster, but the ability to better sear the meat and get the umami thing going on the veggies was spectacular. I mentioned using the griddle I already owned and that too has worked out well. We did some smash burgers some days ago and they turned out great, though I came dangerously close to over cooking them because of how efficient the griddle is with the extra burner over my other camp stove. Then a couple nights ago I did my best impersonation of a Mexican street vendor when I processed some left over pulled pork into a reasonable facsimile of carnitas for some yummy tacos. And also last week I deep fried some calamari that we then toss on top of a dinner size Caesar salad. It's so nice to be able to cook those little ringlets to a beautiful golden brown and still be tender in just over a minute of cook time. And the bonus in all these cooks is the house doesn't get all smoked up or oily smelling. So, yeah, we've been getting some use out of it.

As a note regarding our mutual concern about controlling the power of the burners, it's turned out to be easier than I had anticipated. One is I'm using the "flame tamer" and or a cast iron diffuser plate I already had, that helps widen the heat pattern. Second, for warm up I use the knob gradients to the right of the HI mark, but for better cook control I find the red gradient part of the knob to the left of HI to be more useful and user friendly. Be interested to hear your experience when you get to using the stove.

[fzxdoc]

You are using that cookstove exactly as I am planning on using mine, Uncle Bob , keeping the smell and the mess outside, especially for frying.

I bought 4 of those heat diffuser (flame tamer) plates from Camp Chef, and they arrived last week as well, so I should be able to cook on all burners as easily as I do in the kitchen (just as you are), once I get the hang of the temp control. Thanks for the advice on using the heat settings. Makes sense. As I reseasoned a couple of CI griddles that had not been used for a long while on the Somerset IV, I noticed that there was better fine control of the flame to the left of Hi, just as you have found.

The flame was subject to even slight bursts of wind, which makes me want to investigate a 3 sided wind block/spatter guard to sit on top of the cooktop even more. The catch will be if there is enough clearance for my skillets with a spatter guard in place.

The kids will all be gone by tomorrow, and although I will be so sad to say goodbye, it will be nice to get the house back in order, the masses of laundry done, the toddler fingerprints wiped off all surfaces, and life more under control again so I can play with my new toy.

I have to say that as crappy as the box looked upon delivery (the UPS girl wheeled it through the house directly to the deck for me), I am so relieved that it works fine and there's not a mark on it. The packing material was the flimsiest I've seen in a long while, but it did its job.

Kathryn

[Meathead]

I just got a note from Janet Rodgers with a link to her article about "how to choose an RV stove. It is completely free and packed with practical tips and advice. You can find it here: https://www.your-rv-lifestyle.com/best-rv-stove/ "