It’s hard to reinvent the gas grill, but with removable grill inserts, STOK (Special Technology in Outdoor Kitchens) has taken a new turn in grilling and produced a product that has lots of mass appeal and can actually make grilling more fun. How, you ask? Well, with its unique removable grill insert system, the main feature of the STOK Quattro 4-Burner Gas Grill, it lets you do things with a grill that will put new life into your cooking. Some would say the STOK Grill redefines what a grill can be.
We took the Quattro for a spin and, while it may sound more like a new close-shaving razor than a gas grill, the new premier product from STOK proved to be a lot more than a slick name. STOK is also positioning it as a high volume product, pricing it in line with other mass-market grills and ensuring that consumer interest is “stoked” by the new features… sorry, I couldn’t resist.
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STOK Quattro 4-Burner Gas Grill Features
Some grills offer maximum build quality. Others offer the most volume. Still others will brag about their quantity of burners or BTUs. With the STOK Quattro, I truly believe the main attraction is in the grill inserts. The grill is well-rounded for the price, but the grill inserts are clearly its most grab-you-from-across-the-floor feature. And if you are married to a Pampered Chef-lovin’ spouse like I am, you might even see her eyes light up at the possibilities an integrated pizza stone will give you that aren’t typically available on a traditional model. Of course, if you want to keep everyone away from your propane-guzzling man-tool, then you might want to pick this one up outside the purview of your significant other, lest she be tempted by its wiles and drawn into the intrigue as we were.
So back to the grill inserts. The main grill is a cast-iron structure with a thin porcelain-coating that has two circular cutouts pre-filled with removable cast-iron grill grates. Take them out with the included removal tool, however, and you are treated to three additional grill inserts. These include a Pizza Stone, a shallow porcelain-coated Griddle, and a porcelain-coated perforated Vegetable Tray. The griddle and vegetable tray are dishwasher-safe, so they are easily cleaned once they cool down after use.
The neat thing about the STOK Quattro, however, is that they don’t stop there. There are other grill inserts you can purchase to offer even more flexibility, like the Wok and Kabob and Rib Rack.
The Wok is similar to the Griddle, except deeper and it allows you to get a lot more surface area for frying up things like Chinese food or other meat and vegetable dishes. The Kabob and Rib Rack are brilliant in that they offer a perforated tray that holds your ribs vertically, with the aid of chromed steel dividers. It also comes with kabobs that you can insert into the included rest pieces to serve up your favorite combinations of steak, chicken, shrimp, or other creations. There is a lot to like about the features of the STOK Quattro grill, but let’s talk about the build quality as well.
STOK Quattro 4-Burner Gas Grill Build Quality
The STOK Quattro 4-burner gas grill comes in an oversized package that safely protects each component within. We didn’t find any pieces missing or damaged and everything seemed to be really well laid out in the instructions. While the entire unit, like most grills, had to be assembled piece by piece, the process was sensible and the instructions were clear. Starting from bottom to top we placed the four casters onto the base plate. Two of the casters are of the locking variety, but all four are very durable and look like they can easily handle the weight of the grill, its accessories and a full tank of propane. The sides, which are made out of silver powder coated steel sheet metal, then attach to the base, and angle bracing plus some strategic from and rear cross-members secure everything in place. All pieces are fastened together with painted machine screws.
Once the sides are on, the main grill body sets in place and then you can fasten the side shelves to the grill and add in the front doors. It all made sense and, when it was done, the grill seemed like it could be manhandled into position and didn’t require much delicacy when moving it about. One thing we noted was that the rear of the grill is wide open – an odd design choice, given that the accessories are meant to store within. Users of the STOK Quattro grill will want to immediately get a 55″ cover to protect the unit from the elements.
The four burners are stainless steel, but primarily made of a sheet metal composition, which is actually common. They are held in place by small cotter pins, and each has an electric starter attached, so the firing order is only to ensure that sufficient gas works its way across the burners. Keeping them clean and checking them periodically should ensure a long life-span. The 10-year limited warranty for the burners is impressive.
We had our unit out in the elements for a couple days before getting a cover and noticed a couple of very minor rust spots forming – mostly along the sheet metal edges and rivet points on the rear of the grill lid. While none of this affected the main sections of the grill or the use or stability of the STOK Quattro, recognize that this is indeed a $299 grill, not a massively overbuilt product that is cast from aircraft-quality billet aluminum (does that even exist, and if so, where can I get one???). The STOK Quattro is a relatively inexpensive grilling solution, priced right inline with other mid-grade grilling products – but with some compelling features that make it really stand out in the crowd. Given the two-year grill warranty and 10-year burner warranty, I’d say the Quattro is a safe bet for consumers, and a tremendous value considering its versatility.
It’s also pretty cool-looking. For a grill, it really stands out in the crowd. Primarily, chrome, gray, and orange, the STOK Quattro doesn’t look much like any other grill we’ve seen. It’s more like something you’d be proud to pull out at a NASCAR event. If I was going to mod a grill, it would have to look something like this – at least in terms of the color scheme (plus, it goes great with our website!)
Testing and Use
We found the STOK Quattro grill to be very simple to light and use. Starting with the closest burner, we fired it up and pushed the ignition. The burners light up immediately and subsequent burners picked up the flame across the grill until everything was running smoothly and heating up. The controls are beautiful and it’s actually pretty easy to set and maintain temperature since, with four burners, you have a lot of room to play with various settings and configurations.
We cooked all sorts of dishes on the STOK Quattro grill, from bacon and eggs to excellent ribeye steak. Steak was easy to grill as the temperature was simple to regulate, and we could get the grill pretty hot – searing the meat to seal in the juices. We even baked cookies – yes cookies. How could we not, when it came with a baking stone! To fire up the cookies, we grabbed the ingredients and quickly mixed up a batch of our favorite chocolate chip recipe. We pre-heated the oven to 375 – which we found easy enough to do by getting the heat up fast and then turning off the two burners directly underneath the stone and setting the others to Low. Then, our favorite part aside from actually eating the cookies, we placed spoonfuls of the dough mixture onto the baking stone.
Now, the baking stone does get extremely hot, but the indirect heating method helped regulate the temperature and keep the bottoms from burning (it took us a couple attempts to realize this). You may also need to experiment with cooking at even lower temperatures to get your recipes just right. We’re not saying we’ve got it all figured out – but when was the last time you found you could have this much fun with a grill? Check out some of the other great things we cooked on the STOK Quattro, and this is just a few of the meals we prepared (we also did lots and lots of bacon!):
Conclusion
STOK has something with its new Quattro Grill. It’s a new product with lots of appeal. It takes grilling and makes it fun – you can experiment, and all of the new and various ways to cook are included right there, so you’re not bringing out your kitchen products and trying to fit them on the grill surface – STOK’s interchangeable grill inserts are made to fit already. If we had one request, it would be for STOK to add a rear panel to the grill to cover it up against wind and rain. And with regard to their grills, we’d love to see a “Cadillac” version with more robust parts and a hinged cooling rack. We don’t want them to lose their current $299 price point, but a higher priced heavy duty model may appeal to those who look for the ultimate build quality in their grills. Coupled with a fantastic warranty and easy availability through Home Depot, and you have a real winning combination. The $299 STOK Quattro 4-burner gas grill impressed us overall and for that it garnered an above-average 6/10 rating. Its price is right inline with what we’d want to see for a value product that has feature appeal and a compelling look and feel, so our Value rating was even higher at 7/10. We think those who buy the STOK Quattro will be impressed with its versatility and enjoy experimenting with creative grilling techniques.
