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I bought these commercial grade cooking appliances off Craigslist a couple years ago to build into an outdoor kitchen BBQ island. That project has been stalled for financial reasons so I decided that we would set it up so we can use it until we build the island.

Notice that there is no Hood over the char broiler on the left side and no covers on the griddle (middle) and 2 burner range (right).

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When I purchased the unit everything was brand new and un used. It came with 4 gas hoses in boxes. I was very surprised when I opened them to find that they also included elbows, ball valves, and most importantly some really nice and expensive quick connect fittings.

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I had to come up with a basic iron pipe manifold to connect everything to. I used galvanized 3/4" iron pipe and fittings. I made some custom CNC's brackets to mount the manifold to the cart securely.

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08/27/15 7:43:18 AM

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Here you can see the hose and quick connect fitting attached to the pressure regulator on the rear of the 2 burner range unit. If you want to remove the equipment for cleaning etc. it’s just a matter of releasing the quick connect to detach the gas line then you can move the equipment.

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After making all of the gas connections it was time to FIRE it up and make sure it actually worked! Everything just turned on like it was supposed to. I will eventually turn off the pilot lights so they don’t consume gas or worse yet leak gas if the pilot isn’t lit.

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This is the final layout of the gas lines using the minimum bend radius required by the hose manufacturer.

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Here is a shot of the char broiler burners and heat spreaders. I will replace the thin sheet metal heat spreaders with cast iron pieces to help with thermal mass.

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Let there be fire!

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08/28/15 12:04:25 AM

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Here is the main gas valve shutoff and quick dis-connect.

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Here is the main gas valve shutoff and quick dis-connect temporarily installed on the fire pit stub out.

After the first few cookouts, we quickly realized that for the char broiler to really be effective it needed a hood. We also determined that the griddle and range needed covers to protect them from the elements and dirt when not in use. I found a really good shop that builds commercial grade appliances in Azusa CA. Ideal Cooking Products. I took the equipment to his shop and he fabricated a custom hood and covers in a few days for a very reasonable fee.

http://www.idealcookingproducts.com/

IDEAL Cooking Products

Professional Custom Design

IDEAL Cooking Products

216 S Motor Ave, Azusa, CA

Tel: (626) 789-2412

Fax: (626) 812-5858

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09/19/15 6:16:13 PM

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09/19/15 6:16:20 PM

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We had considered having hoods fabricated for the griddle and the range because it would just look nicer but they would tend to be in the way and it’s not recommended to cover the griddle while in use due to the possibility of it over heating.

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09/19/15 6:16:50 PM

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09/19/15 6:19:31 PM

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I picked this stainless steel cart out of the trash (literally dumpster diving in a 40 yard dumpster) a few years ago. After digging it out of storage, its right at home next to the BBQ cart. I will have a piece of cutting board material cut to fit the top.

I was also thinking about enclosing the bottom shelves and adding doors to the front to store the essentials for the grill.

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09/19/15 6:20:12 PM

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The first meal cooked on the char broiler was a chunk of pork belly! I placed the belly skin side up on a bed of onions and apples and poured in 2 beers. After about 3 1/2 hours of cooking at about 325 on indirect heat we had some of the best pork belly ever!

Might have to try one of those wood smoke trays to throw on the grill for a little extra wood smoke flavor.

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09/20/15 7:21:57 PM

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09/20/15 10:00:56 PM

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Here is the video I watched on cooking the pork belly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsAzNuwPFnw

My recipe was not exactly the same but the results were really tasty. As the pit master says in the video "Lord have mercy" and "It's GUUUuuud"

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