Getting better at the Wolf's "zones"

So I think I mentioned somewhere my research has shown my Wolf is designed with very deep dimensions (front to back) and to function with warmer zone to the front and cooler to the rear but dead even side to side. I at first thought it was faulty operation but research shows differently. So now I am making good use of this and taking advantage of it's extraordinary size front to back.
Last night was a great test. Decided chicken thighs were in order and as you all know they can truly test your grill with potential flare up and problems. So I decided to do all 6 burners 4 on medium and 2 at the far left as a potential "safe zone" as needed. As you can see I used the rear zone and not one uncontrolled flare up. There was occasional flare like only a second or 2 when fat dripped off but perfectly cooked chicken. No burn nice crispy skin so now I am understanding how this thing is designed and why it is made so deep. (the depth is as much as a Weber Genesis is wide) to give you an idea. Once you get used to how this thing works it's really quite nice to take advantage of it. I never once had to move anything to "safe zone"

If you used GrillGrates you wouldn’t need all that space or safe zones! JUST KIDDING, JUST KIDDING! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Seriously, that is one awesome grill. I am sure it is a lot of fun to be able to put it through all of its paces and enjoy its full potential.

From working in restaurants during my school days years ago, we always used to learn where the "hot part of the grill" was. In our case it was usually flat grills. But once you get used to that kind of thinking it's actually pretty nice. You can move things around according to how hot you want them to get.

Nice GRATES!

Tim

At first I thought it was a defect but the more I have understood it the more I realize just how carefully it was designed like this. It's cooler at the back but dead even left to right. At about the middle (from front to back) is the transition zone but even splitting it down the middle like this there is nearly as much room in each "zone" as a 6 burner Weber Summit! At first I was always wondering "what were they thinking?" but now I understand. Light bulbs went on, Angels sang (LOL) I saw on another thread here that Sam's has begin selling prime grade beef (sirloin I guess). I know what will be next up for dinner on that bad boy LOL

Snap a photo of the whole unit please, would like to see that bad boy

Here ya go ChuckO

That is a nice grill. We have a Wolf range in the kitchen, it rocks. I'll bet that grill is every bit as much a pleasure to use as the range is!

It is quite the appliance. Though in some ways a puzzle. It's obvious the head is designed for commercial service. I have actually seen the head in a commercial and restaurant setting but with no hood or back burner. I think it's why the grease tray is designed the way it is so it can fit flat on either a cart or in a commercial setting. But in heavy use you can easily over flow the small grease tray because it's so shallow. So it does require more attention than say a Weber Summit. Also it is clearly designed to be used with no hood. The give away is the fearsome heat output. Crank all 6 to high and even in the winter you can stay warm out there on the deck LOL. I have also observed the units in use in commercial settings doing steaks and other grilled items. I noticed the cooks take advantage of that hotter front zone and never adjust the heat they simply move the food from front to back. So if the thing is on high (all 6) it is like this. Front of the grill REALLY hot and dead even across. rear more like medium hot dead even across. Set the burners to medium front is medium high rear medium, all on low front medium low rear just low/slow again dead even across. They accomplish it 2 ways. The burners have more and larger ports in the front halves and less/smaller in the rear. I have toyed with the idea of modifying them to get the grill dead even corner to corner but I think I will try living with it as it cooks a lot like an E/W Genesis. Where many times I find myself "zoning" my Genesis grills precisely that way. Full blast in front, medium middle and low/off in back.

That's not a BBQ, that's a Panzer! Nice BBQ, I bet that's fun to cook on

It is. Just did a load of burgers grilled onions and grilled crimini mushrooms last night. Thanks to my Type II diabetes I have sworn off a nice burger in a bun so now I make the burgers INTO a bun lol. I make my burger(s) at 1/4lb (give or take) but thinner than normal. Before they go on I grill up Vidalia onions that were marinated with EVOO, salt and pepper. I use very thin skewers to hold the slices and grill them up nice and brown. Then the burgers go on(it takes 2 for me). I season them with whatever is the seasoning Du jour and when seared on one side they're flipped the grilled onions go on top of one, a slice of quality American Cheese over the onions, the second burger on top of that, more onions on top of the second and another slice of cheese. Just when the cheese is about ready to run and make a mess they come off. Can't pick this up but eaten with knife and fork still quite delicious.
Getting back to the Wolf, one thing I noticed about it more so than a Genesis is the amount of heat and smoke that goes into your face and eyes when you open the lid. First it stands really tall. My wife and daughter both being small (under 5'4") have a difficult time lifting the lid both doe to weight and because the lift is so high. The grill has a non moveable rear "hood" (which houses the rear burner) and the design of that and the high lift of the hood itself heat and smoke hit (me anyway) right in the face.
The Genesis (and even the Summit) have much different hood design and the lid lifts completely away from the grill (more vertical) and with the lower height it's not so much "in your face". But oh well not a big deal LOL

LMichaels said:

Here ya go ChuckO

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This looks very similar to a Crown Verity grill.

Yeah it does but they are pretty different animals. Basically if you look at the "charbroiler" in many restaurants you will find this very same grill but with no hood or back and side panels. More like because they're used indoors under a powerful exhaust hood. If you saw it in person you would be able to see how Wolf simply added on the back panel, sides and hood to turn it into this