Bull Angus 4-Burner Gas Grill Review

Bull Outdoor Products manufactures three top of the line barbecue grills: the Angus, Brahma and the Diablo. We tested the 30-inch 4-burner Angus 44001. This grill is constructed with a 304 grade, 14-gauge stainless steel outer housing. The heavy-duty cooking grates and the removable warming rack are constructed of the same grade of stainless steel. The four cast stainless steel burners each deliver 15,000 BTUs and the textured round burner control knobs are easy to grip and turn, even with greasy fingers.

The rear of the unit features a horizontal infrared backburner that also pushes out 15,000 BTUs, and the grill comes with a rotisserie kit consisting of an easily-mounted motor, a 38” stainless spit rod, two four-prong spit forks, and a counter balance, all of which handles up to 20 lbs. of food on the spit.

The two halogen lights installed inside the hood make twilight cooking a breeze, and the Piezo ignition system is reliable and completely battery free. (Note: Piezo ignition uses the principle of piezoelectricity which, simply put, is the electric charge that accumulates in some materials in response to high pressure. These igniters include a small, spring-loaded hammer which, when activated, hits a crystal of quartz or PZT [for you scientists: lead zirconate titanate], both of which create a voltage when struck or deformed. This sudden forceful deformation produces an electrical discharge which ignites the gas. Bye, bye battery-operated igniters.)

The Angus provides a 30” by 19” cooking surface (600 sq. in. on the grill grates, with the warming rack adding another 210 sq. in.), for a total heating area of 810 sq. in. As on most grills, an oversize bimetal dial thermometer is mounted in the hood. Bull is quick to point out that it is basically an oven thermometer, so buyers shouldn’t think that it measures the temperature of the cooking surface or the food itself. It is pretty common knowledge that hood-mounted thermometers can register 20˚ to 30˚ degrees lower than the temperature near the grates. That’s why AmazingRibs.com always recommends using a quality meat thermometer, such as a rapid-read digital one, to accurately determine the temperature of that steak, pork butt or chicken breast. Click here to learn more about digital thermometers.

The patented ReliaBULL system involves a system of smaller holes in the rear of the burners, then larger holes toward the front of the burners where the gas comes in under the highest pressure. The different sized holes help to equalize gas pressure and flames more evenly along the length of the burners. The steel flame tamers also have smaller holes at the back of the plates and larger holes upfront (shown below).

This unique design helps even out the heat distribution and temperature across the entire grill, reducing hot and cold spots while vaporizing drippings into flavorful smoke as the drippings hit the hot metal. According to Bull, this system allows only a 7% difference in gas pressure (and flame strength) between the front and back of each burner.

Speaking of drippings, there is a full-width grease drawer, and they cleverly sell aluminum drip pans that perfectly fit in the drawer to make cleanup easier.

Bull offers accessories such as a full-sized stainless-steel griddle and a combination vegetable tray and plank holder (so wood planks don’t burn and can be re-used). See the combo veggie tray and plank holder below.

The burners also feature a unique lip on both top sides of the burner tubes to protect the burner ports from being clogged by dripping grease, a common complaint about gas grills.

Although the Angus arrived in two large boxes (one for the hood, and the other for the cart) it was quite easy to assemble solo. The only time we needed assistance was when lifting the grill head onto the cart. The grill head assembly sits on a stainless cart with double doors, which hide the propane tank and offer out-of-the-way storage for accessories like the grill grates, griddles, and rotisserie kit.

Assembled, the entire grill and cart weigh in at 253 lbs. and the dimensions are 56 1/2” W x  48 5/8” H x 25” D. All four wheels are heavy duty and two of them come with wheel locks. Bull grills have multiple warranties and those for the Angus include: lifetime on the stainless steel frame, cooking grids, and burners; 3 years on the flame tamers; and 1 year on both the gas valves and igniter system.

First, we cooked a 12 lb. pork loin on the rotisserie. We’ve had bad experiences with meat slipping on gas grill rotisseries, and wanted to see how this one performed. This time, the meat held, didn’t flop around, and turned continually, cooking perfectly with the combination of indirect and infrared heat. We had removed the two center cooking grates to make room for our large roast, and put an aluminum drip pan directly on the flame tamers to catch the juices. With the two outside burners and the infrared backburner both on high, the loin was cooked to 145˚F internal doneness in about 24 minutes. The rotisserie motor is very quiet and hummed along with no need for interruption other than an occasional stab into the meat with our Thermapen. We had no hassles, and everything worked as expected.

Two days later, we cooked an 8.5 lb. bone-in pork butt by first searing it over the two middle burners, which were set to medium high heat, then turning off those burners and turning the two outside burners to medium. The ambient temperature quickly stabilized to about 300˚F and stayed there (within 5˚ to 7˚F) for the full 5 hr. and 40-min. cooking time. We turned the butt three times, misting it occasionally with an olive oil, cola and bourbon spray. Then we removed the meat, wrapped it in aluminum foil and let it rest on the warming rack for about 20 minutes. While the pork was kept warm and juicy, we arranged some asparagus in the grill’s vegetable tray, drizzled on olive oil and grilled it over medium heat.

When we removed the foil and dropped the steaming pork butt on a large cutting board, the bone popped right out. We proceeded to pull the meat, dribbled on some sauce and served the pulled pork in buns alongside the grilled asparagus. Guests were thankful and deliciously impressed. The Angus grill made it an incredibly easy meal to come up with.

Finally, we tested the even temperature claims of the reliaBULL heating system. We placed slices of cheap white bread across the entire grilling surface and turned on all four burners at the same time. In less than 2 minutes, we could smell the bread was on the verge of burning. We turned off all the burners and flipped the bread. The even grill marks were a fairly good indication of how the reliaBULL heating system helps reduce hot and cold spots. All in all, the unique design of the burners and flame tamers (and resultant even heating), the Piezo ignition system, the interior halogen lights, a well-designed rotisserie system, the protective lips on the burners to prevent grease drips, the heavy-duty quality of the stainless steel used in much of the grill, and the overall design and user-friendliness of the grill’s features easily qualify the Bull Angus as a Gold Medal grill.

We thank Bull for providing an Angus for our tests.