DCS BE1-36RCI-N Review

First Impressions of the DCS BE1-36RCI-N

Nothing about the delivery is casual. The install takes at least two pairs of hands, by DCS’s own instruction. That appears as a safety warning, not as advice.

The carton sits on a pallet under eight screws. Inside sit radiant trays, ceramic rods, grates and a charcoal insert. The rotisserie rod, its forks and a multi-tool come too. One item ships only on this build, a sear grate.

That grate is the tell. Its front legs are shorter than the charcoal grate’s. It hooks in over the left bay. Before anything is cooked, the grill names the third that is spoken for.

Stand in front and the layout reads itself. There is a light button, then dials for sear, rotisserie and two grill burners. The rotisserie safety valve hides between the last two.

Press a dial in, hold two seconds, turn to SEAR. Nothing clicks. Hot surface ignition works without the spark noise most people wait for. The first time, it is genuinely unsettling.

Then the first cook makes its case. A ribeye over the infrared bay browns fast and evenly. It then slides right to finish on gentler heat. The crust is good enough to stop the arithmetic.

Key Features of the DCS BE1-36RCI-N

Premium grill feature lists usually blur together. This one reads more easily once you accept one thing. The headline feature is a replacement, not an addition. Almost everything else follows from the space it takes.

• Two U-burners at 25,000 BTU each. They cover the right-hand two thirds of the grate. Both dials carry a SEAR position above HI, so full-surface searing remains available.
• The left bay holds a 24,000 BTU infrared sear burner. It is why the model exists, and why a third U-burner is not there. Its dial tops out at MAX rather than SEAR.
• A rotisserie on its own 14,000 BTU burner. Ten seconds of thumb on the safety valve button, or it goes out. Rated load is 50 lb. The rod stows under the drip tray handle.
• A motor that mounts either side. DCS lets the mount and motor go right or left. That matters when the island has a wall on one end.
• A charcoal insert that cannot sit over the sear burner. DCS forbids it outright. The charcoal tray therefore has to displace one of the two gas burners.
• Double-sided grates on two bars. One side is a W profile, cutting bar marks and shedding fat. Turn them over and a rounded profile takes delicate fish. The high bar angles them, the low bar lays them flat.
• An illuminated cooking surface. 12-volt lighting covers the grate when the hood lifts. Dial bezels glow white when the lights are on, orange once gas flows.
• Electric hot surface ignition. There is no spark, no click, and no battery to replace. A transformer ships in the box and lives inside the cabinet.
• 304 grade stainless steel. DCS puts the alloy number in its own specification table. At this money, a printed alloy grade beats an unprinted one.
• 534 sq in of secondary cooking above. Two levels of rack plus a tray, carrying up to 20 lb. They come out whenever the rotisserie goes in.
• A cover, a cart and a jacket, none included. The brand page lists ACBI-36E for the cover and CAD-36E as the cart mount. A timber enclosure also needs BGA36-IJS.

Heat and cooking performance

Judged on its best move alone, this grill is superb. The infrared bay browns harder and faster than the U-burners can. It also browns evenly, rather than in stripes. DCS quotes precise control from 300°F to 1100°F on the U-burners.

That is a wide working band by any measure. The trouble is what surrounds it. Two burners across 630 sq in gives two conventional zones. The sear bay is a third that does one thing.

Lose one U-burner to a charcoal insert and a single gas zone remains. Worse, the sear burner borrows its neighbour. DCS asks owners to light the adjacent burner and set it to SEAR. The infrared bay then preheats for ten minutes.

Only afterwards may that neighbour be switched off. One of your two gas zones is busy warming up another. The rotisserie goes further and takes everything. Grill burners must stay off while it burns, so a roast owns the cooker.

Build, handling and durability

The metal is not where this grill gives anything up. 304 grade stainless carries the finish and the dials are metal. The hood holds its own temperature gauge. Burner box cover runs for the first owner’s lifetime.

Handling is a single event you will remember. Two people lower it into the cavity. After that it never moves again.

What catches buyers is the counter. The control panel spans 35 15/16 in. Bolt the motor on and DCS’s own data sheet says 42 1/16 in.

The motor is 6 1/8 in deep. It hangs outside the cabinet, on whichever end you chose. A 36-inch grill is not a 36-inch commitment for whoever pours the island.

Running costs, upkeep and value

Upkeep is close to free, and DCS engineered it that way. Run the sear burner ten to twenty minutes and it cleans itself. The rotisserie burner does the same.

Heavily soiled radiant trays burn off on HI. Rotate the ceramic rods inside them and clean surface comes round again. The drip tray insert and the secondary racks are dishwasher safe.

One part breaks the pattern. The sear burner must never meet water. DCS says water damages it and hurts its performance. It may be vacuumed, but never brushed.

Get it wet and it comes out. It rests upside down to drain, then dries fully. That is an odd instruction for something installed outdoors. The cover, naturally, is a separate purchase.

Value is where the substitution finally gets paid for. Three hundred dollars above the BE1-36RC-N buys one fewer grill burner. It also buys 1,000 BTU less on the rating plate. The grate, secondary area and cabinet are identical.

The warranty repeats the point in writing. Grill burners, burner box, grates and racks carry lifetime material cover. The sear burner carries five years, and its mesh is excluded by name. The burner you gave up held the longer promise.

For scale, look at the 48-inch BE1-48RCI-N at $9,799. It carries the same sear burner, three U-burners and 855 sq in. Fourteen hundred dollars more, and no trade to make.

Possible DCS BE1-36RCI-N Complaints

• The sear bay eats into a cookbox that was never large. One of three burner positions does a single job. Lighting it conscripts a second for the whole preheat. On a 48-inch this arithmetic never bites.
• The part you paid extra for has the shorter warranty. Five years material on the sear burner, lifetime on the U-burners. The mesh is excluded outright. Labor is billable once two years are up.