Customer Reviews

Ducane 31741101 Affinity 4100 Propane Grill, Black

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hi,

I had been eyeing the Weber Genesis but was reluctant to pull the trigger as I did not like the control valves taking up shelf space and I wasn't crazy to spend $650. The Ducane 4100 Affinity was the closest grill I could find to come close to the Weber in terms of quality and cooking prowess based on reviews from several sites that have been very positive. I really wanted to see it before I bought it online but no one in my area had one on display.

I ordered it from Amazon and received the grill in 2 days with the Prime membership, assembled it Saturday and used it Saturday and Sunday nights.

What I like:
Assembly was fairly simple. This is a heavy grill. I assembled it myself but could have used a helper to lift the grill top onto the frame (as the manual suggests :) )

Fast Heating - as others have said the grill gets hot very fast. 10 minutes with all burners on high with the lid closed and it is at 600 degrees.

Even heating - as others have said the burners are good quality and heat is evenly dispersed.

Parts fit together nicely. Nicely engineered and machined. Gas hose is away from the heat (as much as it can be while under the grill) and has plenty of length.

The shelves and control panel are made from some material that is very easy to clean. At first I thought it looked a bit cheap (my last grill was stainless) but I have to say this cleans up in a snap.

Ignitor for each burner. I like this a lot - each burner can be lit separately and quickly.

Porcelain burner covers. Steep angle tenting over the burners - nice design.

Cooking space: Had plenty of room for 4 large steaks, 1 lb of asparagus and red potatoes on 4 skewers. 2 burners were on high and 2 on medium so I could move stuff around.

What I don't like:

Stainless steel cooking grates (although I prefer the two to one large one.) The grill was advertised with a porcelain enamel cooking grate but came with a stainless one much to my dismay. The stainless has already discolored, which I knew would happen. Amazon has told me they will adjust the description on their site.

Warming rack. Ironically the warming rack is porcelain BUT, it sits on a couple of thin pieces of metal protruding from the sides of the grill and is not attached to anything. Since I use a lot of the grill space I was hitting it and moving it up and almost off its seating. It does have 2 holes on each end so I ended up using a screw, nut and large washer to attach it to the metal seats - this solved the problem with it moving. Maybe others don't care about this but I don't like the unfastened warming rack design at all.

Cheaper grade of metal. As others have said the quality of the hood and doors is not the same as the Weber, (after all it is $120 less) but it is not so thin that one would call it cheap.

With all things considered so far I am happy with the grill. I looked at all of the options from Lowes, Home Depot and Ace Hardware. If you have the $$$ I'd say consider the Weber (if he %#@$ placement of the control knobs doesn't bother you.) However if you want good quality and a little cheaper price, consider the Ducane.

Ducane has been making notable grills for decades. A few years ago, the company was bought by Weber. For a mid-priced grill, this is the one to go with. Burners and grates are Weber standard. Outside, thinner steel and a few minor short-cuts bring the price point down, but still far superior to a Char-Broil or Brinkman class grill. Heat is even. Porcelain coated grates. For about $300 less, you get the heart of a Weber. And for those of you who hate cleaning stainless steel, another plus.

Ducane grill is a great grill for the money. Two things they should improve though. 1st, The magnets that hold the doors closed for the storage area are very weak. The doors blow open very easily. 2nd, The back of the storage area is open on the top by about 10" which alows rain to get into the grease catcher pan, very messy. I blocked it off with a piece of flat stock aluminum which did the trick.

Over all a great grill with lots of cooking area and a lot of control with 4 burners.

Got this grill to replace a cheap-o char-broil grill and I'm glad I did. The size is enough to handle big events and friendly enough to quickly cook a couple burgers. Temperature control can be well managed and it cleans up nicely. The better quality really holds up compared to the cheap brands. This is a perfect compromise between low-end and high-end grills.

The delivery process worked out well and good directions make assembly not difficult.

I give it 4 stars because the metal is a little on the thin side (but not thin enough to call it cheap) and it doesn't come with a cover. If you buy this grill, which you should, you need to get the cover as well.

My husband wanted a new grill for around two years now. I did a ton of research and ended up ordering the Ducane through Amazon. It was delivered within a week in perfect condition. The directions were not hard to follow and it was put together relatively quickly.

We broke it in with a picnic of about 4o people and my husband was extremely happy with it.

It has a large cooking area, came with drip pans, the bottom cabinet is totally enclosed. The side tables are large and there are hooks to hang utensils on.

I almost fell for the cheap $200 BBQ-Pro or Charbroil grills that look all shiny in the big box stores, but all the reviews I read said those are just made to look pretty and just fall apart. My last grill was one of those and just the process of trying to build it was a pain, and then it never really heated up right, and did not last very long. This grill on the other hand was super easy to build, and you can just feel the quality. It heats up crazy fast and has very even heat.

It may not look as fancy and shiny as the cheap no name brands but when you use it it is night and day different.

Also shipped way sooner than I thought it would.

Here is an honest review. Amazing grill.
Our old one broke so we needed one fast. Not wanting to spend the money for a Weber right now (even though we know how great they are), we went to Sears and got a Kenmore Grill originally priced at $249 but on sale for $199. It was already assembled and brought it home and -A LEMON! would not go past 300 degrees. Upon return I learned that all Kenmore is is other companies who make them with their name on it- THe salesman told me ours was from Charbroil (cheap!). Brought it back for a return (Sears was great about this) and went into PC Richard- saw many Webers and 1 DUCANE. DId not know about it but came home and read these reviews.

Went back and we bought an already ASSEMBLED model for just $339, and we hooked it up and went to 550 degrees in like 7 minutes- cooked burgers and steak tonight and they were great-

Grill is amazing for just about $300 and I would say get one of these or go higher for a Weber.
LOVE it so far!!!
Happy grilling.

This is the 3rd grill we received - the first two were damaged during shipment. It was nearly a month before we got an undamaged one and we nearly gave up and cancelled the order - and we are VERY glad we didn't cancel. This is an excellent grill. It replaces another brand we had for 10 years that was about the same price, and this is far superior in every way. Some reviews have mentioned disappointment with the stainless steel grates, but our other grill had porcelain covered cast iron grates and burners and this was the reason it had to be replaced - the porcelain wore off and the cast iron rusted - completely through! The high cost of replacing these components made no sense. Assembly on this grill was easy. The burners light quickly and the grill heats up in 10 minutes. The burners are completely enclosed in the back so they don't burn out if it's breezy - our other grill was open and having to relight constantly on breezy days was no fun, not to mention unsafe with the gas seeping out unburned. It is easy to clean and looks sharp. Highly recommended!

Overall, it's not a bad grill. I purchased this grill on March 11, 2009 from Amazon. It gets crazy Hot so searing meat is NO Problem! Cleans up easy as the warm up with all burners on High, turns any residual grease to ash prior to each meal. Pretty even heat, but mine does have a Hot Spot over the middle right burner. Ample grilling real estate and 4 burner versatility, makes for nice sized cookouts without having to cook in cycles, most of the time anyway. Now for the let downs... Hands down BIGGEST problem is the inside of the lid is constantly shedding paint! Layers of it! Did this since the first month that I owned it. I'm not an idiot, I KNOW the difference between Paint and cooked on grease! This my friends is PAINT, and a lot of it! I HATE it because whenever I scrape it off the flakes are so light they fly everywhere... The thought of it landing on food makes me crazy, so I have to scrape it, blow it, vacuum it, and pick it off me until I Know it's safe... only to have to repeat it in a week or two. Another thing is the this ceramic coating quickly deteriorates on the Flavor Bars and they begin to rot. What appears to be stainless steel in online pictures is really very cheap looking gray painted textured steel with little black specks in it. Other than that, it's a good performing grill, that runs pretty Hot (example: Medium/Low is more like Med -> Med/high about 375-400deg F.). Would I buy it over again? No, I would go with a real Weber, even if it is smaller... it's indestructible!

This Ducane 4100 grill (made by Weber) arrived in one big box... Assembly required.. Cooking with this grill is great, which is why I rate it 5 stars.. It has a one piece stainless steel rack, really nice. The four heating units are fantastic, and very quiet. The grill heats uniformly, and on high this unit is HOT. Believe the dials, and the built in thermometer, and if you want slower cooking put it on LOW, or right at the line between low and medium. I like the design of this grill much better than the Weber grill!!!