The Big Easy from Char-Broil is just one of many units we've reviewed in our search for the best infrared grills, but the first thing you need to understand about this particular grill is that it isn't just an infrared grill.
This particular unit also comes with a smoker/roaster that allows you to cook up a storm by grilling, roasting, and smoking foods all at once. Being able to offer more than the usual barbecue fare certainly makes The Big Easy a compelling choice for home cooks who want to offer a wider range than traditional barbeque fare. Read on to find out how it fared during our tests.
J D. Chadwick worked at Top Ten Reviews between 2008 and 2018. He was an expert in software and covered everything from antivirus programs, software and apps, power tools and outdoor grills in that time. He reviewed The Big Easy from Char-Broil and tested its cooking performance, ease of use and heat consistency to see whether it stood up alongside the best units on the market.
Char-Broil The Big Easy: Cooking performance
The grilling portion of this model includes a decent-sized cooking grate for regular barbeque staples like those we mentioned above. You can comfortably fit about five burger patties on the cooking area. Although it cooks burgers, chicken, and steaks well, that’s only half the story with The Big Easy, as there's also the smoker roaster compartment in the bottom of the unit.
This additional smoker/roaster section can be used for pretty much anything that you can’t fit onto a grill, like a whole turkey, ribs, roasts, and more; it's a real boon for anyone who's serious about other types of outdoor cooking.
We would, however, note that we felt the heat distribution across the main cooking area of the grill wasn't the best, so your meats might come out at different levels of doneness.
Char-Broil The Big Easy: Heat consistency
The Big Easy puts out about 18,000 btu to the main cooking area, making it the second-most powerful infrared grill we reviewed after our top pick, the Char-Broil Performance 500.
To test heat consistency, we measured the temperature periodically during our testing period. Based on that data, The Big Easy scored the lowest among the infrared grills we reviewed, meaning it has a hard time maintaining the same temperature over long periods of time.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t rely on it to deliver a great cooking experience. You’ll just have to pay a bit more attention to your food and the unit during cooking compared to other models in our evaluation.
Char-Broil The Big Easy: Design and assembly
It took two members of our lab team more than a couple of hours to build this grill out of the box.
Although this is a long period of time, The Big Easy felt like a sturdy, solid unit that was built to last once it was put together.
One particular gripe we had was the weight of the grill. Whilst It has handles on each side, the unit is heavy and difficult to maneuver once assembled, especially if you don't have anyone to assist you.
Char-Broil The Big Easy: Warranty
Char-Broil has a standard warranty for all the grills it sells – five years for the burner and one year for all other parts. This is generally acceptable and more or less the industry standard.
Ultimately, we felt that The Big Easy from Char-Broil offered a lot to like. Whilst it does take some time to put together, and it’s hard to move around, it’s a great model with multiple uses that you’ll enjoy cooking with for years to come if you can get past those stumbling blocks.
