Planning to buy a grill?
Have you scoured the internet, compared prices, read reviews, and researched the components each one offers?
I thought not!
Buying a grill is not that easy.
This is a huge investment and you need to make sure that what you are buying is exactly what you were looking for.
Considering the Napoleon Built-In LEX 605 Natural Gas Grill?
One of the best things about this grill is that it comes with a couple of pretty amazing accessories, which I will be disclosing later.
Napoleon has truly gone all out because its small grills offer almost the same components as its bigger ones.
However, this grill does come at a high price. For a small grill, some people might find it too expensive.
Even though I agree with this, I think the extra accessories that have been provided as an add-on make it worth it.
The Napoleon Built-In Grill LEX 605 Natural Gas Grill is available with natural gas and propane gas.
There’s only a slight difference between the two grills.
The one with the natural gas connection has stainless steel cooking grates, five stainless steel burners, a warming rack, JETFIRE™ ignition, stainless steel griddle/cast iron griddle, sear plates, and an Accu-Probe™ temperature gauge.
Even the grill’s basic features are of great quality and cannot be discounted as average.
Name a small grill that offers you the choice between stainless steel griddle and a cast iron griddle? You wouldn’t find any.
There are some great features too of this grill, which you can read about after the basic features.
JETFIRE™ Ignition
The Napoleon built-in grill does not have an electronic ignition system.
I cannot say if I was disappointed that it lacked this feature or happy they introduced a new one.
I have heard a lot about electronic ignition systems failing due to faulty batteries.
This JETFIRE™ ignition has a direct connection to the gas line. Instead of the standard hose, this grill requires a gas pipe.
This has created a lot of trouble because you cannot just connect to a natural gas tank, which means you need to give the grill a designated place so that a permanent connection can be made.
The JETFIRE™ system gives a burst of fire that light’s each burner individually.
Meaning if one burner is on, you will have to light the other with the ignition button.
Stainless Steel Cooking Grates
The main grilling area of the napoleon built-in grill is 605 square inches, which has five burners.
There’s a warming rack located above the grates that have enough space to keep buns and cooked meat.
You can cook around 21 burger patties in the main and secondary grilling areas.
One disappointing factor was that the cooking grates are of stainless steel.
Stainless steel is a great material but lacks the quality that porcelain-enameled offers.
Since its stainless steel, they are self-cleaning and prevent rusting.
Stainless steel gets hot pretty fast, which is a great benefit in a grill.
The sear plates do the rest of the work.
Sear Plates
The sear plates are more like flavorizer bars.
They help in evaporating the juices and circulate it back to the meat.
This creates a more delicious steak, as there is no loss of flavor.
One other benefit they offer is that they retain heat quite well.
So, you don’t have to worry about losing any smoke.
Stainless Steel Griddle/Cast Iron Griddle
This is an accessory that Napoleon offers and I have no idea, whether I paid for it or got it with the grill.
You can remove the cooking grates and place the griddle either on the primary or secondary grilling area.
A griddle is great for making eggs or any other light meals.
I got the stainless steel griddle, which I haven’t used yet but have heard great reviews about.
Main Stainless Steel Burner
There are five burners in the Napoleon Built-In Grill LEX 605 Natural Gas Grill, four of which are made of stainless steel and are located beneath the primary cooking area.
The total BTU of the five burners is 64,000.
Since you can light each burner individually, you turn on the far corner one and grill the meat indirectly on slow heat.
The sear plates take care of the heat distribution, so you can sit back and relax, while your steak cooks on slow heat.
Accu-Probe™ Temperature Gauge
The grill has a stainless steel body with a double-walled stainless steel lid.
The extra layer in the lid prevents prevent the heat from escaping and maintains the temperature of the grill.
This temperature is measured by the Accu-Probe™ temperature gauge, which gives an accurate reading at all times.
The temperature range is from 0° to 700°F, which includes the ideal searing and smoking range.
Best Features for the Napoleon Built-In LEX 605 Natural Gas Grill has are:
1.Engaging I-GLOW™ Backlit Control Knobs
The burner valves come with a fascinating feature – You can light the burner valves by switching on the button located on the left side of the first burner.
Since it might be difficult to check the temperature on the thermometer, you can easily keep track of the heat through burner valves and its light.
2.Stainless Steel WAVE™ Cooking Grids
The Napoleon Built-In LEX 605 Natural Gas Grill has unique grids called the WAVE™.
The grids have been specially created to provide grill lovers those perfect sear marks, which they crave in a steak.
This is a feature patented by Napoleon and is available in all its grills.
The grids prevent flare-ups and retain heat quite well.
3.Ceramic Rear Infrared Rotisserie Burner
There’s a rotisserie kit included in this grill that has a completely different grilling system.
The rotisserie burner is not just an ordinary burner, it’s a ceramic infrared burner that has a BTU of 15,500, taking the grill’s entire BTU to 79,500.
That’s a lot of heat.
The infrared burner locks and seals the juices and makes the meat tenderer.
The result is a restaurant-quality meal that you can enjoy right at home.
4.Infrared SIZZLE ZONE™ Bottom Burner
So, the secondary grilling area that I was talking about . . . it’s the bottom infrared SIZZLE ZONE™.
You can place your stainless steel griddle here and get a nice sear on your steak.
The bottom infrared zone offers an optimum searing temperature of 1800°F.
5.Charcoal Tray/ Stainless Steel Smoker Tube
With the charcoal tray, this grill offers you three options for grilling.
You can switch from gas to charcoal and get that smoky flavor on the steak.
All you need to do is replace the sear plates with the charcoal tray and you are good to go.
As for the stainless steel smoker tube, the step is a bit different.
Fill the tube with your favorite wood chips and herbs and place it on the left side burner.
Next, place the meat on the right-side burner.
Now, turn on the burner underneath the smoke tube only.
This will cook the meat indirectly and infuse it with the aroma of the wood chips and the herbs.
Here’s a quick tip: when searching for the perfect piece of meat, make sure it is well-marbled for more tenderness.
The beef needs to be evenly sliced so that it cooks the same from all sides.
You can marinate it for 15 minutes in BBQ sauce by adding a splash of vinegar, some chopped chilies, onions and garlic, and a little Worcestershire.
This will allow you to grill a perfect piece of steak, without damaging the grid.
For an aromatic steak, soak spices and dried herbs in water and add them in the smoker tube with the wood chips or in the small section on the charcoal tray after drying.
Grease Management
The grill’s grease management system is quite easy.
With the help of the sear plates, the grease is already minimized so, all you need to do is run off the remaining grease in the tray with warm water and mild soap.
The Grids
Use a brass wire brush after the grids have cooled down.
Once the grease and food residue is visible in a crusty form on the surface, wipe it off with a towel.
If the grids still have some grease left on them, remove them from the grill and wash them with warm water.
Tap it with a cloth to absorb the water and pre-heat the grill on high heat before you start grilling.
Don’t let the water dry on the grill or else the meat will stick on it.
Cleaning Inside the Gas Grill
Use a brass wire brush and scrape off the debris from the sides and corners.
Use a putty knife to clean the sear plates and use a wire brush to sweep everything off the sear plates onto the drip pan.
Wipe all the parts with a cloth.
The only problem is the drip pan. It’s too small and fills up quite fast, you have to constantly check the pan so that it does not overflow or create any flare-ups.
The grease pan can be cleaned with a putty knife too.
Note: Do not use any cleaning agent or a hard brush to clean the interior or the exterior of the grill.
With time, the color of steel fades, so you need to be extra careful while cleaning.
Do not rub or scrape too vigorously.
Warranty
The grill comes with a lifetime warranty with a limited warranty on the smaller stainless steel parts.
It is probably around 2 to 10 years depending on the parts.
I couldn’t find the exact number of years in the manual.
So, there you go. There’s nothing more that I can tell you about this grill.
The Napoleon Built-In Grill LEX 605 Natural Gas is truly a spectacular grill, with the ad-on parts and the accessories that Napoleon offers, you can make your grilling experience more fun.
If you are thinking about buying a grill, then I suggest that you give this one a chance.
