Flat top build

[coolfins]

In case you're wondering why the grill is upside down in the previous photo, that was to locate the mounts, which go in the holes for the old casters. I also notched the cabinet sides to drop them down over the frame rails

[Mr. Bones]

channeled, we'uns usedta call that...

(Vintage Hot Rod Terminology )

[coolfins]

The grill is pretty much done, waiting on some back ordered parts to do the gas hook up. Hope it doesn't take much longer, I'm starving! Been over two weeks without a grill

[coolfins]

Found a really cool paper towel holder, has ratchet like mechanism that holds the roll in position. No more waking up in the morning to find the roll all over the back yard!

[jerrybell]

That really looks good. Great job!

[coolfins]

Thanks!

[coolfins]

Finally the parts arrived to hook up the gas to the two grills. Just need to season the top and I'll be grilling again!

[coolfins]

Your call, but you just missed breakfast!

[holehogg]

coolfins would you mind sharing the distance from top of burner to underside of cooking plate.

[coolfins]

It's 6", which I thought might be a little excessive, but it works great

[jerrybell]

Anxious to hear how the first cook goes.

[coolfins]

Got the flat top seasoned yesterday, did the first cook this morning, nothing fancy, just made myself some breakfast. Grill works great!
Cheers Bill

[HawkerXP]

Hmmmm, look at them eggs bubbling.....yum.

[jfmorris]

Good to see you breaking it in!

I was curious if you have an IR thermometer, and how even the temperature ended up being, across the griddle surface?

It seems by design there ought to be a "cooler" spot in the center area, between the two gas grills, due to the bigger gap between burners there. That could be useful as a place to push things to keep them warm without overcooking. I have a 6 burner griddle and usually make one end a cool zone by turning 1 or 2 burners off. Its still plenty hot, but is where I move stuff as it needs being done.

[coolfins]

I do have an IR and used it to check temps during seasoning, but honestly, didn't pay a lot of attention to the center section. I did notice it dropped somewhat, but probably not enough for a cool zone. I want to give it a half a dozen or so cooks for the top to "normalize", then I'll get some accurate temps and thermal images, I did note on the first cook with four burners on the right side the far left was at 140deg, but it was -8C

[coolfins]

Well, I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed, the paper towel holder didn't work as well as I thought it would

[HawkerXP]

Blowin in the wind!

[Mr. Bones]

So, more like "conditionally, semi-ratchetin??? "

Dang, an I was all kinda excited to hunt one down, an order it...

[coolfins]

I'll have to keep an eye on it next time, the ratchet is pretty stiff, hard to believe it turns in the wind

[SmokingSteve]

It is not that the ratchet turns, it is that the paper towels get blown by the wind and the roll unravels, I think. 'Course, I could be wrong, but I have watched the wind unroll a bunch of paper towels without the core turning...

[JimLinebarger]

That is awesome! My Blaze gasser has heat zone separators to setup different zones. It works well when grilling but also when I use griddle plates.

[coolfins]

You were quite right SmokingSteve, it was the wind, so I MacGyvered a little hinged thingy to stop that from happening

[SmokingSteve]

So now you have a doohickey to help keep the thingamajig from blowing in the wind, and helps maintain pressure on the roll so you can tear one off more easily! Great!

[coolfins]

I should have got a doohickey to keep my thingamajig in place years ago, maybe I wouldn't be on my third wife!

[coolfins]

My neighbor sent me this cartoon (which I'm pretty sure infringes on someone's copyright, but let's just keep that to ourselves)
Cheers
Bill

[coolfins]

I finally got around to taking some thermal images of the flat top, one with all burners going, one with half (obviously).
jfmorris to answer you question, it is a little cooler in the center, but not enough to make a difference while cooking. Overall, very happy with the heat distribution. It's great cooking on half, can slide things to the cooler side as necessary

[jfmorris]

Wow! I need to use my FLIR and get a snapshot of my Camp Chef griddle - yours is more even than I had expected, aside from a hot spot at the ends. Great job in the build!

[coolfins]

When I built it, I was concerned about air flow, as it was designed to have open grates rather than a solid surface. I didn't want excess heat coming out the front or the rear (lest the grand kids get too close to the backside) so I left about 3/4" gaps on the sides. This resulted in the hot spots on the sides

[jfmorris]

coolfins my Camp Chef FTG900 has heat coming out the two ends/sides as well, and the ends run hotter. I compensate by turning the end burners down to the lowest setting. I.e. run med-low on the center burners and low on the end. I rarely get any burner higher than medium.