# Napoleon Gas Grills



## wenger7446 (Mar 6, 2011)

Does anyone have any experience with Napoleon gas grills? I want to get a duel fuel grill (charcoal & gas).

I am thinking about getting the one below. The shop is close to my house so I can pick it up to avoid shipping charges. 

http://www.firecraft.com/category/napoleon-prestige-gas-grills

Does anyone have any other options of gas and charcoal combo grills?


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## PJF1313 (Mar 7, 2011)

Never heard of a gas/charcoal "duel fuel"
The only duel fuels that I know of is nat. gas / propane (have a Charbroil myself)
I've heard/done change a gas to a coal, but not both/either.

Wouldn't the charcoal/ash clog up the gas burners?


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## fishingpol (Mar 7, 2011)

Looks like you put a tray down over the burners and put charcoal in the tray.  The gas burners start the charcoal, once glowing, shut the gas off.  As long as there are no holes in the tray that will drop the fine ash, you may be ok.


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## mayhem (Mar 7, 2011)

I've seen a whole mess of gas/charcoal grills lately, usually HD or Sears Kenmore things in the $300-500 range.  Look interesting, but for me they just aren;t useful since I'm usually short on adequate time to make proper use of charcoal.  

Never heard of the Napoleon brand of grills, but I just couldn't bring myself to drop $1200 on a grill.

Here are some quick links to ones I've seen.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07116143000P?prdNo=9&blockNo=9&blockType=L9

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07116431000P?prdNo=12&blockNo=12&blockType=L12

Here is what we opted to take home.  Last year's model, so we walked out the door with the grill and a nice cover for $180.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07116657000P?prdNo=21&blockNo=21&blockType=L21

The Sears grills are made by Char-Broil, or at least mine is.


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## gpcollen1 (Mar 7, 2011)

There really is no equal to the Weber kettle grill - charcoal.  This is coming from someone who pretty much only cooks steaks over an open fire or wood charcoal.  

I have charcoal, gas and a smoker - all separate units...


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## gpcollen1 (Mar 7, 2011)

mayhem said:
			
		

> I've seen a whole mess of gas/charcoal grills lately, usually HD or Sears Kenmore things in the $300-500 range.  Look interesting, but for me they just aren;t useful since I'm usually short on adequate time to make proper use of charcoal.
> 
> Never heard of the Napoleon brand of grills, but I just couldn't bring myself to drop $1200 on a grill.
> 
> ...



I got the kenmore that is a bit larger than that at end of season for $280 - listed for $499.  A pretty awesome grill and large enough for a party to couple with the charcoal.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 11, 2014)

I just picked up a Napoleon Prestige 500 floor model and will let you know how it cooks in a few weeks.


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## ironpony (Mar 11, 2014)

when I built the outdoor kitchen I did away with the gas forcing myself to have to make time to get charcoal ready. The wife is happy, prefers charcoal grilling.
Seems like a nice unit, is it built well enough to justify the extra cost?? with so many available in the 300 dollar range.
look forward to a review.


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## wenger7446 (Mar 11, 2014)

I ended up buying the Prestige PRO about three years ago. It has been a great grill. However, I have not used the charcoal feature of the grill. I just couldn't bear to put charcoal in a $1800 grill.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 11, 2014)

ironpony said:


> when I built the outdoor kitchen I did away with the gas forcing myself to have to make time to get charcoal ready. The wife is happy, prefers charcoal grilling.
> Seems like a nice unit, is it built well enough to justify the extra cost?? with so many available in the 300 dollar range.
> look forward to a review.


I too was looking to buying something in the $300-500 dollar range, but most of the grills are fully stainless steel especially the heat
box area. The only part not stainless steel as far as I can tell is the cart. To get one with total stainless steel runs at least $1500 & up. Most of the reviews say that the $300 units don't last long, hence the reason I went into the higher range. Btw - I still have a weber charcoal grill and planning on using it as a backup.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 11, 2014)

wenger7446 said:


> I ended up buying the Prestige PRO about three years ago. It has been a great grill. However, I have not used the charcoal feature of the grill. I just couldn't bear to put charcoal in a $1800 grill.


Hi Wenger, Nice buy. I was in the dilemma between the pro and regular.   They say you can buy their cast iron charcoal tray and use charcoal & wood chips in it. I will get the accessories and let you know how it turns out. If the cart doesn't last, I will find a way to get one built out of stainless steel or put it into an island. I prefer the mobility of it though. Thanks for sharing your experience with Napoleon.


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## wenger7446 (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks Jay, I would love to know how it works.

On average, I use the grill once a week all year long. In fact we are making chicken on it tonight.

Once a year and dissemble grill and use Krud Kutter (http://www.amazon.com/KK32-Original...50929&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=grill+degreaser) to clean it out. I also keep it covered.

I hope to get 10 to 15 years out of it.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 11, 2014)

wenger7446 said:


> Thanks Jay, I would love to know how it works.
> 
> On average, I use the grill once a week all year long. In fact we are making chicken on it tonight.
> 
> ...


I am sure you will. Thanks for sharing your tip on the krud remover. (propane version) I think most of the rust that comes on the cart comes from the propane tank when in use. When you go from high pressure to lower pressure condensation occurs. Hence, the reason why they designed the propane tank holder open bottom to let moisture out. I plan on keeping my cover and in garage too. Call me crazy, but I am almost tempted to use car wax on the painted  cart panels.


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## wenger7446 (Mar 11, 2014)

jaychino415 said:


> Call me crazy, but I am almost tempted to use car wax on the painted  cart panels.



Not crazy at all. If taken care of, it will last a LONG time.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 18, 2014)

Okay, here's the update on grill. Hand wash grilling grates and warming rack with soap and water. Did the initial burn for 30 minutes per instructions to remove any oils and residues. A little smoke came out of box, but was gone after a while. Preheated it to 400° with cover closed. Turned the two outer burns on high while the two inner burns were set on low. Then threw on the tri tip in the middle cooked for 20 minutes. There were a few flare ups but were really quick. The grill marks were nice and grill heated fairly quickly.


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## wenger7446 (Mar 18, 2014)

Jay, You have the IR searing plate right? For great steak place the steak on the IR searing plate for 45 seconds on either side and finish up on the grill to taste.

I also cook pizza on mine by turning on all burners on high, including the rotisserie to pre-heat the grill. I then place the pizza directly on grill with the lower burners turned off and the rotisserie turned on high. The pizza is finished after seven to ten mins.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 18, 2014)

wenger7446 said:


> Jay, You have the IR searing plate right? For great steak place the steak on the IR searing plate for 45 seconds on either side and finish up on the grill to taste.
> 
> I also cook pizza on mine by turning on all burners on high, including the rotisserie to pre-heat the grill. I then place the pizza directly on grill with the lower burners turned off and the rotisserie turned on high. The pizza is finished after seven to ten mins.


You betcha, I wouldn't have bought it without the IR searing plate. ;-) thanks for the tip. Will try the on the steaks the next time. Do you make your own dough for pizza too? Definitely have to try putting a pizza on as well. I use to work at a pizza place. Always wanted a wood burning pizza oven. After finding this forum, my love for burning wood went sky high.


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## wenger7446 (Mar 18, 2014)

Hello Jay, yes I do make my pizza dough quite frequently. Nothing beats homemade pizza on the grill and a nice IPA.


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## jaychino415 (Mar 22, 2014)

Hey Wenger, just picked up the smoker tube and charcoal tray. I will let you know how things pan out.


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## wenger7446 (Mar 22, 2014)

jaychino415 said:


> Hey Wenger, just picked up the smoker tube and charcoal tray. I will let you know how things pan out.



Nice! Thanks!


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## jaychino415 (Apr 3, 2014)

Time to report in, the grill cooked for 23 people. Had chicken drumsticks, hamburgers, hot dogs,hot links and kabobs. Had some flare ups with the burgers, since they were 73% need some fat. Use the warming rack to start baking some of the chicken with cover down which help a lot. Will test smoke tube and charcoal tray next time.


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## jaychino415 (May 29, 2014)

wenger7446 said:


> Nice! Thanks!



Hi Wenger,

The charcoal tray works great. Just needed to remove flavor bars, put charcoal tray on top of where they use to sit. Picked up a 40 lb bag of Lazzari's Hardwood Lump Charcoal @Bevmo for $22 bucks tax included. Put in enough chunks to cover tray. Fired up two burns on high, after 20 minutes charcoal was roaring to go. One thing I only worry about is ash getting into burner tubes since the holes are exposed.  I took out the tray after it cooled down and threw the ash into my old Weber kettle. Cleaned tube area. It provided great flavor, so I am happy.


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