Electactic G31 3-burner gas grill review

REVIEW – For the past several years we have used an old-fashioned charcoal grill at the house.  We love that charcoal flavor in the food, and going old-school is pleasantly satisfying slowly watching those gloriously glowing coals!  But it was time to bring back the gas grill to our backyard barbeques, because sometimes you just don’t have sufficient time to wait for the charcoal to do it’s job.  So I reviewed the $233 Electactic G31 3-burner gas grill.  There are many details of the grill that I have to cover, so I took alot of pictures.  Also, you will notice that the pictures clearly show many smudges and fingerprints all over the surface.  I left those in the pictures on purpose, to show how easy it is for a stainless steel grill to look messy.  Every time we have used the grill we have to spend time wiping everything down, both inside and outside the grill.  So let’s dive in to see what this grill has to offer!

⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $233.99 Amazon and $259.99 on Electactic Website
Where to buy: Amazon and Electactic Website

What is it?

A classic stainless steel gas grill with 3-burners inside and a side burner on the right.

Specs

Dimensions:  48.27″D x 20.47″W x 42.99″H
Weight:  75.9 Pounds
Cooking Surface Area:   489 Square Inches, combined metal grates and griddle surface
Materials:  Upper grill of stainless steel, with chrome-plated cast iron metal grilling plates that are rust proof
Electronic ignition (with a AA battery – included)
Burner System: 3 main burners at 8,000 BTU each plus a 10,000 BTU side burner, delivering 34,000 BTU total output

Design and features

This grill has the typical design of a backyard gas grill.  The propane gas tank goes underneath, with doors that close on the front.  There are side trays on the grill, which do not fold down by the way.  That’s important to note, so you won’t be able to fold them down and save space when it’s not in use.  The right tray also has a burner that you can use to cook things like I did with a pot of baked beans. I thought this side burner would serve as basically a warmer on it’s lowest setting, but it was still quite hot and my beans almost boiled on the lowest setting. So it’s not a warmer, it cooks.  On the bottom of the grill the 2 front casters are lockable to prevent the grill from rolling around.  I found these casters to be lacking though.  No matter how tight I locked them, the grill was still susceptible to moving around beyond my liking.

There are 3 burners inside the main housing, and like most gas grills there is a small ‘warming’ grill surface that is elevated above the main surface.

The grill surface (as you can see above) is one of the unique features of the G31 that many folks will really like. So 2/3 of the surface is your traditional grill surface with chrome-plated cast iron metal grates (2 of them) which Electactic says are rust-proof, and can easily be removed to clean. The other 1/3 of the surface is a solid griddle surface that can be flipped over between one side that is completely smooth like a true griddle and the other side that has raised grill grooves. And each of these 3 sections can be moved around to your liking.

I have never had a griddle plate inside one of my grills, and in truth I have always wanted to buy a true griddle cooker for years, but I couldn’t justify spending money on a separate griddle that I wouldn’t use that often. So the G31 having 1 included is pretty handy to me.

Keep in mind that the G31 doesn’t come with another metal grate, so even if you won’t use the griddle plate, it’s there taking up space. We have used it numerous times to grill veggies, make quesadillas, and so forth. Plus, you can also grill things on it if you want.

I do wish the little lip that runs around the edge of the griddle plate was slightly higher. It can be easy, if you aren’t careful, for veggies to run over the side of the griddle or your melting butter to overflow over the edge.

On the front of the grill you’ll see the knobs to control the 3 burners and the side burner.  You’ll also see the electronic push-button starter that runs on a AA battery, and a bottle opener!  Because, of course, who doesn’t like a cold beer when you are grilling, right?  There is also a small chain and wire wand attached that you can use to place a match on the end of it and then use that to start the grill by inserting it between the grates, in the event that your battery is dead in the starter.

Another nice little touch is that on the left tray, on the lower edge of it, you’ll see some hooks to hang your cooking utensils when you are not using them. That’s nice so that you don’t have to lay them down on the tray surface, which you will probably want to use to hold your plates, food, spices, etc.  In the middle of the grill top, just above the handle, you’ll find the temperature gauge.  Interestingly enough the gauge goes all the way up to 1,000 degrees, which is quite humorous because I could never get the temp above 450 degrees even on the highest level of gas.  If you need temps to go higher than that for what you want to cook, you will be hard pressed to get that.  Having said that, I found the cooking surface to distribute the heat really nicely, and I never dealt with hot or cold spots.  The metal cast iron grates also performed well and I was able to move the food around easily without getting stuck all the time.

Finally, one of the hassles of gas grills is having to clean up the inside of the thing after you cook.  Food droppings and grease inevitably get all over the inside of the grill, and grills I have owned in the past required me to remove all the grates to get down inside the grill to clean it.  But the G31 has a handy metal tray that catches all the droppings, as well as a grease trap that attaches to the tray, so that you can slide the whole thing out the back and clean it really easy.

Assembly, Installation, Setup

The grill has to be completely assembled out of the box.  It took me about an hour to put it all together, and the instructions were clear and easy to understand.

Final thoughts

As far as the performance of cooking, the G31 does the job you would expect. The heat was even across the surface, and the chrome-plated metal grill surface performed well and I never had an issue with moving food around the grill.

The addition of the griddle plate on 1/3 of the grill surface was surprisingly nice and those folks who want the ability to grill traditionally, and have a griddle to make pancakes, etc, will like this grill. And honestly, that might be the main reason why you want to buy the G31, even though I would love to have a higher lip around the edge of the griddle.

The G31 is really easy to clean up afterward, especially with the slide out tray that catches all the droppings. And the electronic starter works great, with an easily replaceable AA battery. The sider burner is quite effective, and even on the lowest heat setting it almost boiled my beans, so it’s not a warmer in any sense of the word.

One of my complaints was that I could never get the heat higher than 450 or so degrees in the main grill area. I think that level of heat is gonna be fine for most grilling, but if you want a grill that burns hotter, this one isn’t for you.

The lockable caster wheels on the bottom don’t really function well, and I got alot more movement from the grill even though the wheels were locked as tight as I could get them.

The price is on the lower end for a 3 burner with a side burner so I think it is worth it for what you get, but having said that, I question whether the quality of the materials is really going to last many grilling seasons because the materials feel a little on the cheap side to me. The grill surface feels like really good quality for sure, but the housing is what I am referring to. I could be wrong, and we will see, but I did purchase a high quality grill cover for it so that will extend the life of it for me.

I think for larger families with lots of members and the need to cook large amounts of food on a regular basis, this 3-burner grill probably isn’t big enough because the work surface just isn’t that large, and the griddle surface alone won’t be cooking many pancakes at once. So perhaps the best use case for this grill is to put it someplace where you will only need to feed a few folks, and perhaps only use it occasionally. So as long as you realize these limitations, you’ll be happy.

What I like about the G31 grill

• The varied griddle surface is really handy
• The electronic starter works well
• Really easy to clean the droppings with the slide out tray

What needs to be improved?

• I want the ability to turn up the level of gas burning more, and therefore get higher levels of heat
• The lockable casters could be better
• A slightly bigger lip around the edge of the griddle plate
• The quality of the materials feels cheap

Price: $233.99 Amazon and $259.99 on Electactic Website
Where to buy: Amazon and Electactic Website
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Electactic. Electactic did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.