EVO Mongolian style grill is awesome!!

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Kingdaddy

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
49
Location
Fort Worth
I have always been a cooking enthusiast or “Foodie”, but until recently I was never so into it to the point of discussing it on a forum. What changed all of that was a recent purchase of a Mongolian style flat top grill called the EVO. At first I thought is was just a griddle so I passed it up and continued to mull over getting either a Big Green Egg or the top-O-Line Hasty Bake. But I kept coming back to the EVO even though the salesman didn’t really push it, he was trying to sell me the Hasty Bake and claimed it was the grill of choice by many top 4 and 5 star restaurants because of the ability to control the heat so well from lifting the fire box closer or further away from the cooking surface. He also explained how cooking over a gas grill with direct heat and flame was the worst possible method as he claimed that LP Gas has a lot of water in it and will just boil and grey the meat. Then he said something that rang true from my previous experiences, he claimed that the best way to cook a steak was to pan sear it on a stove top (dry heat) and then finish it in a oven. I’ve tried this method before and had the best lamb rib chops I have ever had so it got me thinking about the EVO grill which was designed to do just that with the help of some metal grates and cooking domes.

Anyway to make a long story short I went for the EVO even though it cost an arm and a leg and thought I would just add a BGE at a later date to complete my outdoor kitchen as the EVO doesn’t slow cook as efficiently as the BGE. However what I didn’t realize is how the EVO changed the way and what I cook, is has been the best large purchase I have ever made to date, I use it 3-4 times a week and for over 2 months haven had or needed to cook inside even once, not even to boil a pot of water since it can be done on the EVO. Best of all, it will do everything from Pizza to Steak to Breakfast and the large cooking area and all around access allows you to do many things at once at many different temperatures. Two heat zones from two independent burners and the use of risers and domes allow you to sear then bake/broil a steak while vegetables and other sides cook directly on the top, you can steam, boil, braze sauté, and stir fry, technically there in nothing you cant do although I will still have a charcoal grill for slow cooking and for other occasions when I need to use both for large gatherings.
 

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OMGosh, that looks awesome! Looks like a propane tank on the bottom? Drat, now I'll have to check it out.

Edit: Wow! You can get this in a cooktop! Hmm, I might have to investigate this more seriously now.
 
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LP or Natural gass, mine is set up for LP so its portable. Many professional caterers and resorts use this for open presentation style cooking, its very populer among its users. This thing will get to 750° in 8 min and sear the heck out of anything, then just push it to the cooler zone for final cooking.
 
There 3K, so dont get too excited. However IMO, its worth every penny even if I will be paying on it for several months.
 

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Am I missing something or is this just an expensive gas fired griddle?

It is similar but with some important differences.

Griddles have their heating elements in a linier fashion so there are a lot of uneven temperatures throughout the plate, the EVO has two Circular burners in a concentric setting for more even heat distribution and better dual zone heat control right to the edge. In addition, the cook top is slightly domed and is made of very thick nickel plated carbon steel so it is very efficient and has better grease runoff. You use the same technique as cooking on a griddle with the possible addition of using the risers and domes though.

Anyway if the proper techniques are used with the riser grates and domes you can do may things at the same time and you can achieve a much better sear then a conventional grated grill that only contacts a portion of the meat surface. It is very easy to achieve the Mallard effect with this type of cook top. Also two to four cooks can work on this at a time which is why they probably use them so much for large groups in the professional industry. I’ve read claims that one EVO 30” cart with one chef can feed 150 people. I did a cookout for 15 people recently and it was the easiest time I have ever had with a moderate group and nearly everyone wanted to be around it while the food was being cooked, I’ve never had many people wanting to stand around my side firebox smoker grill for a cookout.

The best part in my experience so far is the versatility and the taste, Fajitas and Phili cheese-steak sandwiches are so easy and taste better then I have ever had on this thing and it is very east to control and handle the food. I did a seared Ahi tuna steak that was awesome on this thing first try. Pizza is a snap and perfectly cooked with a crispy bottom by putting it in the middle and leaving the center burner on Low and the outer burner on Medium with the big top on. For a smoky flavor just toss some wood chips right on the top next to the food you want to smoke and cover it with a dome, that way the rest of the veggies and bread don’t get the same intense smoky flavor.
 
All I can say is that I want one..... but it is soooo dang hot outside, I can't see myself hovering over this thing at the moment. Dude, I just realized you are in Fort Worth... I'm commin over!
 
What about stuff that isn't flat like a chicken or ribs.



Ribs can cook quite well on a rib rack, but at the prices of LP gas I’m not sure I would want to do anything that takes more then about an hour and a half. As for a whole chicken, you could still do it on a beer can stand but I would use my Weber Kettle to be perfectly honest as lump charcoal is pretty cheep and I prefer to use “Charsear” rub from World Market on the chicken and nearly burn the skin with the bird on the same rack as the coals then move it up to the top and indirect cook it for the rest of the duration. As I said in the opening post, this is not a replacement for a charcoal slow cooker but it will allow you to cook things you would probably never think of trying on a traditional grated grill. To me the perfect outdoor kitchen would include one EVO, an extra large Green Egg and a two burner stove top with a huge wet-bar and refrigerator/ice maker.

And maybe one of those outdoor blender attachments for mango margaritas.

Then there would be nothing you couldnt cook perfectly.:chef:
 
That is awesome!!!!

I was just thinking yesterday that I wanted something similar to cook mogolian BBQ.


Looks like I have something else to save my pennies for, looks exactly what I want!
 
Ribeye, Yellowfin Tuna, Potatoes, Mushrooms. Bread and Broccoli steaming under the dome all at the same time.
 

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Here is a good view of the burners.

Pretty simple configuration. Strange that no one made a circular burner flat top before.
 

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