Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-Burner Outdoor Gas Range--A Winner!

[fzxdoc]

I did my first cook on that Somerset IV outdoor gas range I asked about on this topic when I was pondering the purchase.

I did purchase it and am so happy with it. I bought it from Home Depot, delivered to my door by UPS. In fact the UPS girl wheeled it on her dolly through the house to the back deck, it's new home. Home Depot has it for $297+tax with free shipping. Purchasing direct from the Camp Chef site would have been $525 plus tax and shipping.

Here's the website's photo of it:



That's exactly what mine looks like.

It arrived in one of the most beat up, poorly packed boxes I've ever seen. The box was falling apart, pieces of thin styrofoam packing were poking through the openings, and there was a hole in the back of the box where the regulator for the propane tank was peeking through. I called Home Depot and reported it right away, just in case something turned out to be damaged.

Since it came while family was visiting, my son-in-law put it together for me while I chased after his toddler. I waited until it was all together before seeing it all set up, and wowza, it was perfect! Not a scratch, mark, or dent anywhere.

Today I fired it up to fry sous vided chicken. What a pleasant experience. I used an 8 quart Lodge Dutch oven, filled just under halfway with peanut oil. It only took about 10 minutes for the cold oil to come up to 390°F. While frying 3 batches of chicken, the temperature never dipped below 360°. The chicken was crispy and perfectly done--not greasy in the least because that 30,000 BTU burner (with a diffuser that I purchased from Camp Chef) held the frying temp within the perfect frying range. Since the chicken was already cooked sous vide, then dipped in buttermilk and breaded, it only took about 3 minutes to fry a batch. All three batches were done in about 10 minutes.

I'm considering having a stainless steel spatter screen (backsplash) made for it; some of the smaller Camp Chef gas cookers have one, but they do not make one for the Somerset IV. Cleanup was easy--not nearly as fiddly as cleaning a kitchen gas cooktop range. I raised the grate and wiped down the inside and then wiped down the area above and around the burner controls. Easy peasy.

At this point I highly recommend the Camp Chef Somerset IV outdoor gas range.

Kathryn

[MBMorgan]

That’s awesome, Kathryn ... congratulations!

Mike

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Mike. After a couple of years of trying to find the best setup for outdoor frying and side dish cooking , I think I've finally nailed it with this gas range.

K.

[Polarbear777]

Today I fired it up to fry sous vided chicken. What a pleasant experience...Since the chicken was already cooked sous vide, then dipped in buttermilk and breaded, it only took about 3 minutes to fry a batch. All three batches were done in about 10 minutes.

Kathryn

Always trying to prefect fried chicken. Can you provide or post a link to the recipe? Thanks

Range looks good too. Who wants to cook inside ever anyway :-)

[fzxdoc]

Polarbear777 , I use Chef Steps method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVR6w_RFlDs , with modifications. I don't flour twice because it's too much breading for us. I just dip in buttermilk and roll in the breading mixture. Place on a rack for about 5 to10min to let the breading set and then fry them up.

Kathryn

[Steve B]

Very cool Kathryn. I’m glad you got the cooker you were looking for and it does what you want.

Do they make a griddle top for it. If so that would make it an incredibly versatile piece of equipment.

[fzxdoc]

Yup they do.

[texastweeter]

They make steel ones, and cast iron ones both. Even single and double burner versions.

[jfmorris]

All of the Camp Chef 16" stove accessories fit this stove - they have a 1 or 2 burner griddle, a 2 burner grill box, a 2 burner pizza oven, and probably a few other things I missed.

[RonB]

Congrats. I'm glad you are happy!

[fzxdoc]

Very cool Kathryn. I’m glad you got the cooker you were looking for and it does what you want.

Do they make a griddle top for it. If so that would make it an incredibly versatile piece of equipment.

Not only do they have a griddle top for it, they also make a pizza oven, and a grill accessory as well. It's pretty versatile, Steve B .

Here's a video about the 3 burner model that uses the same accessories. On the 4 burner model like I have, you can have side by side two griddle tops, a griddle top and a pizza oven, a grill box and a pizza oven--any combo you want.

Kathryn

[texastweeter]

I have the two burner pizza topper and two of the single burner cast iron griddles.

[fzxdoc]

Here are photos of the accessory options, Steve B :

Kathryn

[Steve B]

That's really cool. You have a world of options there. If I didn't already have the 36" BlackStone I would seriously want on of these.

[DavidNorcross]

Very nice for sure. Looking to learn more from your experience. Good stuff!

[Willard]

Very nice, Kathryn. I’m glad it found a nice home where it can be safe. Congratulations and that first fry sounds terrific!

Bill

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Bill , Willard . For sure I'll give it a good home. I'm thinking to have it hooked up to our home propane line after I get done with this propane tank. That will make it feel more like family.

Kathryn

[klflowers]

Awesome, Kathryn. Glad it turned out so well for you. I have been jonesing for the Pro 60 model, but I think I have temporarily wrestled my MCS to a draw. Who knows how long that will last though...

[Dan Deter]

This plus the griddle top may seriously push the blackstone off of my wishlist....

[jfmorris]

I agree - after Kathryn fzxdoc started the other thread about this stove, I realized there were some much more flexible options than just a flat top like the Blackstone. I like that you can boil/fry/griddle/grill/bake on this one. That Guy Fieri video with the 3 burner stove sorta sold it for me, if I ever expand beyond my current setup.

[Uncle Bob]

It's everything Kathryn has said...…………………...and more. I'd bet she'll have more adventures to share as this thing is really very versatile.

For the curious, this is what the CC 24 x 16 ci griddle looks like in place, and one of the diffusers in place.

[Max Good]

Thanks for this wealth of info!

[fzxdoc]

You're welcome, Max Good . I hope you get to play with one of these soon.

Uncle Bob , you blazed the trail for me on this Somerset IV gas range, getting yours a few weeks before I got mine. You've fired it up with a wok, griddle, and various CI pots and reported good results with all of them. Reading your posts here, here, here and here shortened my learning curve significantly, and I'm grateful.

About the diffuser (Fire Tamer by Camp Chef) :All 4 of my diffusers purchased from Camp Chef arrived with rust on them similar to that one shown on your cooktop. I called Camp Chef and sent in photos; I said I did not want to replace them, since I feared it would be more of the same with the replacements. After all, they are raw steel. So Camp Chef refunded half of my purchase price including shipping. In the meanwhile, I soaked them, one by one, in vinegar overnight and washed them well. All the rust went away. Then I coated them lightly with vegetable oil and popped them in a warm oven for a while. After that, I turned off the oven and let them cool. When cool, I wiped them well with a clean rag and put them away for use.

Here are before and after photos. The before photos are after I took a Liquid Wrench-soaked steel wool pad to them to see if that would do any good. It helped to remove some of the paper from the cardboard sleeve they each came wrapped in, but that was all.



You can see the heat effects and CI pot mark on the one I used yesterday.

Kathryn

[FireMan]

Hey, where’s the chicken?
Fantastic griddle BTW. Now how about the real thing with somethin bein cooked. 🕶

[fzxdoc]

That chicken is history! Well, not really. Husband will polish off the remaining pieces tonight. I wanted to take a photo but was way to busy getting the meal on the table for his Father's Day dinner. I might have dropped the phone in the fry pot if I had taken time to do one more thing like snap a photo.

Next time, I promise.

K.