Hestan Aspire 36"

[GolfGeezer]

My Weber Summit E450 finally was retired. It had been a great gasser I got in 2009 back when Weber was made out of 304 stainless steel and made in the USA. It had survived being thrown across the yard by gale force winds (a little bent), but finally succumbed to needing new parts and a "I don't need this, but I want it!" lust for one of those fancy, pricey, pretty and feature rich gassers. I looked at Blaze, Napoleon, Summerset, Coyote, Fire Magic, American Muscle, AOG, DCS, Twin Eagles and more.

Criteria: made in US, at least 304 stainless steel throughout (including cart) at least 18K BTU burners, SS grates, at least 1 infrared burner, 3-4 burners, local dealer and 10 year or more warranty.

Fortunately there is a dealer close by who carries a huge selection in their showroom. When I saw the Hestan line, it was lust at first sight. Ticked all the boxes, plus it is sexy (a bunch of color panels to choose from) plus Hestan has a big rebate program for 2020. Hestan started mainly as a commercial kitchen supplier, is headquartered in Anaheim, CA just north of where I live and is made locally at their plant there. Not sure when they came up with the Aspire line of products for the home market.

The 36" has 2 23K BTU burners, 1 infrared main (not sure of BTUs), 1 rotisserie 18 K burner, ceramic briquette heat diffusers that can be flipped and cooked with either side up, cart with fold down side shelves, internal halogen lights, spring assist lid and a partridge in a pear tree (not really).

It was delivered last Thursday, assembled and tested by the delivery techs. I love it!! Grilled some prime NY steaks last night, but sorry no pics as I stressed about wrecking the steaks. I did a forward sear on the infrared, then over to the regular burner for the finish. They came out wonderful, great sear (about 45 seconds a side) and perfect red-pink edge to edge. I know - no pics, no cook. Oh well, next time!

Oh, yeah, the hot dog was a quicky cook after delivery.

[HouseHomey]

Congratulations!!! My kitchens have Hestan equipment and we have a gasser too. Ours is larger but not sure of the line name.

MH loves his.
that’s a beauty!

[GolfGeezer]

HouseHomey Thanks. MH's is from the higher end line, like your commercial products. Just a bit out of my price range, but for my level of grilling, I don't think it will matter.

[ComfortablyNumb]

That was a match made in heaven! Everything you want and local. Congrats on the acquisition.

[ofelles]

Beautiful cooker. And should last a long time. Congrats.

[HawkerXP]

Nice! Congrats!

[mountainsmoker]

Beautiful, Congrats.

[RonB]

Congrats on that beauty.

[smokenoob]

christened with a hotdog? oh my, may need to conjure up some smoke spirits and do that over.....

I’m sure someone around here has a chant for that....

[GolfGeezer]

😎. It was the wife’s dog. Gotta keep the boss happy.

[smokenoob]

oh I know, my wife loves hotdogs, they make me burb...but I eat em if she cooks em!

[Mosca]

Man, that is a nice piece of kit!

[Mr. Bones]

Really nice lookin cooker, I hope yer beyond happy with it, indefinitely, Brother!

[Jared49]

drool, drool!!!

[GolfGeezer]

UPDATE 11/2020: Well folks, I have to admit that after using this grill over the summer and fall, the "love" bloom has worn off. The "bloom" that has worn off are some design issues that for the dollars, really bug me.

1. The gas feed line from the grill intake to the LP tank as delivered was only 3'. So, if you want to attach an LP gauge (which are not very accurate at best), it is almost impossible. It is a 2-stage regulator, so not easy to source a longer one. I found a 5' one sold by the manufacturer of the delivered one. Also, you can add an extension line, but for the money paid for the grill, COME ON.

2. The infrared burner cannot be swapped out for a regular burner. It is "permanently" mounted - to swap for a regular, it needs to be unscrewed and the LP feed adjusted. I really, really should have paid attention to this when I bought it. For example, the Blaze lets you swap simply by pulling a cotter pin out. By being fixed, this severely limits the ability for full use of the whole grill surface for things like indirect cooks. Sure, I can use the IR burner as a heat source, but since a heat diffuser cannot be placed over the IR burner, it uses more fuel with less oven-like heating that help in indirect.

3. The diffusers are Hestan's unique ceramic brickettes in stainless steel holders. For some reason, this design causes a large number of flare-ups. This is due to the food drippings landing on the SS part and catching fire. The design seems to hold the food drippings on the diffusers and not allowing the drippings to go through to the grease tray.

4. Speaking of grease trays, very little ever makes it there. As opposed to other grills (Weber, Blaze, Summerset), the bottom of the firebox below the burners is not open. There are just a series of oval holes in line with the center of each burner. The firebox is also tilted back-to-front, so any grease that does make to the firebox mostly flows to the front drain holes into the tray. However, very little of that happens, forcing a regular cleaning of the bottom of the firebox.

5. Surprisingly, this grill does not get nearly as hot as I would have expected from the amount of BTUs. It goes through LP tanks pretty quickly compared to my old Weber Summit.

None of this is a show-stopper. It is just a clear message that huge $$$$ do not mean a well made/designed grill. It is pretty, the food is good once you learn the way the grill performs, but - COME ON!

Of course, my lovely bride of 38 years just smiles lovingly, then says "you are NOT getting a new grill!!".

[pjtdomer]

Thanks for the great and honest review. I have been seriously considering a Hestan, and your review has me pausing now. Would you buy it again? If not, what other brands would you recommend based on your research, as I have similar criteria?

Thanks again!

[GolfGeezer]

pjtdomer I replied via PM to your query.

[Attjack]

A couple of notes about the Blaze, the cotter pins that hold the burners in are just there for shipping. So swapping out the burner is even a little easier. Also, I do experience some flare-ups with the Blaze.

[Jfrosty27]

Maybe some more of those gale force winds are needed? 🤣😂😳

[GolfGeezer]

Jfrosty27 Guess I have to learn how to do a monsoon raindance....