The complexities of the Broil King Baron S520 all lie underneath the floor. At a look, this 5 burner, $650 propane-powered stainless-steel cooker is a straightforward, if sizeable gasoline grill. It would not have a lot within the line of options — no aspect burners, good temperature gauges, or instruments to measure the remaining gasoline in your gasoline tank. It would not even actually have colour accents. It is huge and silver with black textual content, and slightly intimidating at a look.
That intimidation issue can carry over when you begin to prepare dinner, too. The Broil King runs sizzling. In case you’re not ready for it, you can simply burn your meals. When you get used to it, you may recognize the facility of the Baron S520, particularly if you happen to’re cooking a pile of meat without delay. The Baron additionally does loads of little issues proper — it is easy to gentle, straightforward to regulate, straightforward to keep up and it cooks evenly. It distributes warmth nicely due to ridged steel plates above the burners.
As a result of it runs sizzling and lacks easy extras, I do not advocate the Broil King Baron S520 to newbies. Even if you happen to’re nicely seasoned as a pit grasp, think about the $300 Char-Broil Performance XL, which provides virtually as a lot energy at lower than half the worth. The $600 Weber Spirit II has a lot of intelligent smarts, however not as a lot energy. The marginally costlier $700 Char-Broil Commercial Double Header handily has two separate, smaller grilling compartments so you may prepare dinner at two totally different temps. Nevertheless, if you happen to simply need a big grill with a ton of energy and you understand how to wield it, the Baron S520 has the chops that can assist you host sizeable cookouts.
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Warming up the grill
Given its hefty dimension, our Labs Supervisor Steve Conaway had a comparatively straightforward time assembling the Broil King Baron S520. We have examined four gas grills side-by-side over the previous couple of weeks, and Steve referred to as the Baron’s meeting the simplest of the bunch — which incorporates two fashions from Char-Broil and a Weber grill.
Notice that you will need to enable your self a few hours to place your grill collectively. Meeting was straightforward when in comparison with equally sized gasoline grills, nevertheless it’s nonetheless one thing of an enterprise. After you have it assembled, the directions stroll you thru attaching your gasoline canister, checking for leaks and working the grill for some time to burn off any residue collected throughout delivery or storage.
I like the easy look of the S520. It is understated and stylish. The cabinets on both aspect of the grill are roomy sufficient for platters and utensils, and it has just a few hooks for instruments hidden underneath the cabinets on both aspect. The cupboard beneath the principle grill hides the gasoline tank and nonetheless has room for slightly further storage. Broil King additionally put lighting and security tips about the within of the left cupboard door for fast reference.
The grill itself combines 5 burners for a hefty 50,00zero BTUs of energy. The primary grilling space provides 555 sq. inches of house and the S520 features a warming rack with 250 sq. inches for 805 sq. inches of whole cooking house. In apply, we had been capable of simply match six burgers on the principle rack throughout our excessive warmth take a look at. You can prepare dinner 12 burgers on the principle rack without delay with out feeling too cramped.
Here is how the specs of the S520 stack as much as the opposite 4 grills in our newest batch of testing:
Evaluating gasoline grills
Broil King Baron S520 | Char-Broil Business Double Header | Weber Spirit II E-310 | Char-Broil Efficiency XL | |
Worth | $649 | $699 | $599 | $299 |
Shade end | Stainless | Stainless | Crimson, blue, black, white | Stainless |
Variety of burners | 5 | four (2 per compartment) | three | 5 |
Predominant burners BTUs | 50,00zero | 36,00zero | 30,00zero | 45,00zero |
Variety of aspect burners | zero | 1 | zero | 1 |
Aspect burner BTUs | N/A | 13,00zero | N/A | 10,00zero |
Propane cupboard | Sure | Sure | No | Sure |
Dimensions (peak, width, depth) | 45.5 x 63.5 x 24 inches | 48 x 66.three x 24 inches | 44.5 x 52 x 27 inches | 45.1 x 57.1 x 25.four inches |
Weight | 170 kilos | 205 kilos | 114 kilos | 113 kilos |
Warming rack | Sure | Sure | Sure | Sure |
Temperature gauge | Sure | Sure (1 per compartment) | Sure | Sure |
Propane tank scale | No | No | Sure | No |
Wheels | four | four | 2 | four |
Device hooks | four | No | 6 | No |
If a giant grill with a lot of energy sounds interesting to you, the S520 is unique to Lowe’s. Head to the shop or Lowe’s site and you should buy it for $650 now. It is solely out there within the US.
Clear warmth
When you’re up and working, sustaining the S520 is pleasingly easy. You’ll be able to entry the grease entice by the cupboard doorways beneath the grill, or you may attain it by the gaps within the aspect of the cupboard. The entice slides off of a steel rail so you may get rid of its contents and put it again pretty rapidly.
The grill grates themselves raise away in manageable items, as does the stainless-steel “Flav-R-Wave” beneath them. Much like the “Tru-Infrared” plates that some Char-Broil grills use to distribute warmth, the steel plates that comprise Broil King’s Flav-R-Wave relaxation between the gasoline burners themselves and the grates to your meals.
They’re ridged like a potato chip, with gaps so you may nonetheless see the flames while you gentle the grill and regulate the warmth. As with Char-Broil’s model of the characteristic, they distribute warmth pretty successfully. Char-Broil’s characteristic additionally prevents flare-ups, and the Flav-R-Wave would not. As an alternative, along with distributing warmth, it is designed to catch grease drips and vaporize them to create a smokey taste.
Getting sizzling in right here
In response to the instruction handbook, the Broil King Baron S520 ought to roughly hit 600-650 levels Fahrenheit on excessive, 450 levels on medium and 310-350 on low. The primary take a look at I ran on the S520 was an anecdotal rib take a look at designed to see the way it does with lengthy, low cooks. I preheated the grill on excessive, turned the dials to low, then put the ribs on the warming rack for three hours.