DCS gas grill won't get very hot

[Tricky]

I read a thread down below where folks were talking about the relative merits of gas vs. wood and charcoal. Well, include me among those who feel that a gas grill has a place in our arsenal of cookers. Mine is a DCS natural gas grill that is built in to our outdoor kitchen area.

When I first moved into our house several years ago, the DCS was in pretty bad shape. I don't think it had a cover over it and many of the parts inside had rusted out. I cleaned it up, replaced the grates, put in new artificial briquettes and even replaced two of the three iron burners. It runs well but there are only get a couple of spots on my grill that are REALLY hot. I end up using the grill like a multizone cooker -- I move stuff to the hot spots when I need to sear it and move it to other spots when I want a longer cook :-D

The guy who does my gardening (I'm not rich, but here near LA almost no one mows their own lawn) took off the gas line regulator and after that that thing could run really hot! But I was nervous that it wasn't safe like that, so I put it back on.

Any suggestions for making the whole thing run hotter (closer to my Weber Summit grill)?

 

[Rockinar]

Take out the fake briquettes.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Nat gas does not burn as hot as propane. Less BTUs.

 

[legendaryhog]

I have a DCS.

Your valves may be propane valves. If it was converted to natural gas you need to replace the valves or drill them out (if you feel up to that) to make them bigger (let out more gas).

The BTU on propane is much higher than natural gas. So it takes less propane to reach a higher temp. You need to use more natural gas to reach a higher temperature.

Also, the burners are cast iron. So they rust like crazy. I have to replace mine every other year basically. It's nice because they hold heat and are even when they are new, but they are going to rust no matter what precautions you make.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

One more thing, A Nat gas grill can be converted to propane with newly sized burner orifices and regulator. Google it. They make conversion kits.

 

[Demosthenes9]

Don't know how things are out there, but most NG gas grill setups that I've seen don't use regulators. You might check with your gas company or find a knowledgeable pro in your area to come take a look at your setup.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[ssv3]

What the legendaryhog and Demosthenes said. I have DCS natural gas and it gets nuclear hot if I choose to. I farkin' love mine and the thing is bulletproof.

A question for you would also be if the ceramic briquettes you installed were aftermarket? I know most DCS grills come with the style of ceramic radiants below. Mine were due for replacement which I did and they make a huge difference also.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Don't know how things are out there, but most NG gas grill setups that I've seen don't use regulators. You might check with your gas company or find a knowledgeable pro in your area to come take a look at your setup.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

True. It's regulated from the regulator that feeds the house at the meter.

 

[LloydQ]

What the legendaryhog and Demosthenes said. I have DCS natural gas and it gets nuclear hot if I choose to. I farkin' love mine and the thing is bulletproof.

A question for you would also be if the ceramic briquettes you installed were aftermarket? I know most DCS grills come with the style of ceramic radiants below. Mine were due for replacement which I did and they make a huge difference also.

Sako, you know your ****, don't you? You epitomize why I come to this site. To learn.

 

[ssv3]

Sako, you know your ****, don't you? You epitomize why I come to this site. To learn.

Thanks Lloyd! I wouldn't go that far :icon_blush: but I have a lot of passion for anything Q, Q related, food related. I learn/learned so much from this that I'm paying it forward.

I love it when it's as illustrated (pics) as it can be, so I snap pics left and right because I know it'll help someone, somewhere, someday as it has done for me in the past.

 

[Rib Rub]

I know with my Weber Genesis. I always have to unscrew the regulator from the tank and blow in it and tap it a few times to get the gas moving. If I don’t do that the gas flow is almost nothing. Not sure how a built in is set up, but that is something to try.