Review: Grill all year long with an American Outdoor Grill

The Wood Stove & Fireplace Center of Monmouth County Shares a review for the American Outdoor Grill

With so many outdoor grills on the market, it is easy for consumers to have the mindset: "it's all the same thing!" and purchase a substandard grill. It is true that there are some consumer brands that build a better product than others, but when it comes to the best grills out there, American Outdoor Grill (AOG) stands out. They’re likely the best brand you’ve never heard of because they’re not sold at big stores like Home Depot and Lowes. Instead, this premium maker of outdoor grills sells its goods at boutique stores across the country. They are 100-percent American made and that’s something to be proud of – not many cooking products can make that claim.

As with most any products we buy nowadays, we get what we pay for. If you’re looking for a budget grill then you’ll likely get one that has constant flare-ups, uneven heat distribution and will end up in a landfill within only two to four years, max. While there are many good consumer brands out there, like Weber, grills, like this one from AOG, take things a step further.

First off, the way the lid fits solidly in your hands and the sheer the weight of it, gives you that nice feel that you can compare to when you open a well-built, American made car door. The brushed stainless steel not only looks amazing on your deck or patio, it also means you’ll get years and years of reliability and good heat distribution.

This AOG grill features two infrared burners, which are becoming more common nowadays. One on the left-hand side of the grill and one on the back wall of the grill which is perfect for rotisserie (rotisserie unit included) or helping to brown the tops of whatever you have on the grill.

There is no better sear than that provided by an infrared burner. There is no drip protection over this burner because it’s so hot that any drippings instantly vaporize and go to adding flavor back into the meats.

Due to its electronic ignition system, AOG grills must be plugged into an electrical outlet to ignite their burners, unless you manually light them with a match or fire stick. Of course its built-in lighting system means you can easily grill year-round, even if you’re in the middle of an Alaskan winter. It's amazing how well the grilling surface lights up, and even more astounding is that the plastic covering them doesn't melt with the grill on.

While there are cheaper grills to be found, for sure – you’d be hard-pressed to find one that delivers that consistently good grilling results, ease of use, durability, lighting feature and precision that AOG delivers here.

If you do opt for a lower-end grill, you’ll likely find that you’ll end-up replacing many parts in it over a two to six year timespan which means you really haven’t save much and you’ll, in all likelihood, end-up with sub-par grilling results.p>