Forget the Rusted-Out Weber Welcome to the $20,000 BBQ

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Firing up the grill at Ani Gross’ Woodland Hills home doesn’t mean throwing some hot dogs on a charcoal-fueled Weber.


Gross cooks up tender chicken kabobs on a 52-inch, built-in stainless steel grill that’s the centerpiece of a backyard center that includes refrigerator, sink and beer tap a particular favorite of her architect husband Jack.


“With our weather, it is very nice to have an outdoor kitchen,” said Gross. “We have a lot of family friends, and we do a lot of barbequing.”


Barbecuing Gross-style doesn’t come cheap.


The grill, a high-end Dacor Inc. model from Woodland Hills Barbecue & Fireplace Shop, costs $3,000 and that’s just the start. There’s also the beer tap at $2,200, the fridge at $1,500, installation and a few additional touches. Final price tag? Try $20,000.


Like many Southern California families, they are relegating Smokey Joes and fancier propane-powered cousins to the ash bins of barbecuing. In their place are barbecue “islands” that were unheard of just a few years ago in all but the most expensive homes.


“They are just becoming fancier and fancier,” said Armond Vartan, manager of Palace Fireplace Inc. in the Pacific Palisades.


Vartan sells an ultra high-end Luxor model that can be paired with an ice chest, bar, beer taps, refrigerators, plasma screen television, Jacuzzi, fireplace and patio heaters. All told, it can cost $70,000. That includes a grill with the latest technology: infrared burners that heat up to 1,800 degrees.


The company that makes Luxor, Glendale-based American Heating Technologies, has found it a challenge to keep up with consumers’ richer tastes, adding insulated ice boxes and warming drawers. “People do so many different things with the island,” said Raymond Vartanian, vice president of American Heating.


Barbecue islands started popping up in backyards about 15 years ago, but sales really began increasing when they were pre-fabricated. (Prior to that, it was hard and expensive to find a contractor who would construct a barbecue island because it’s a relatively small job.)


Pete Arnold, president of Irvine-based Pacific Gas Specialties Corp., which has manufactured its own line of high-end, built-in gas grills for years, estimates that annual sales have increased 15 percent to 20 percent, while sales of low-end grills have remained static.


“Five years ago a typical consumer would spend $800 a grill, and it would be portable,” he said. “Today, that consumer is probably spending $3,000 and putting it in an island. It’s not just the richest people who can build a backyard island. It seems to be across all boundaries.”


Prices for these multi-faceted grills typically range from $2,400 to $5,000. The best barbecues are made out of the highest-grade stainless steel that keeps barbecues rust-free and maintenance demands low.


But, in the end, barbecues are mostly about heat.


Many of the top-end models use infrared technology that can get grill surfaces up to 1,000 degrees and burners up to 1,800 degrees.


It’s the same type of technology that had been almost exclusively used in high-end restaurants such as Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. It was first developed to dry paint on cars, and a South Carolina company, TEC, held the patent on the infrared technology until it expired three years ago.


“We had our products ready to launch as soon as the patent expired,”


Vartanian said. Since the company started manufacturing Luxors three years ago, sales of the high-end barbecues have been doubling annually.


The advantage of infrared is that meat cooks quickly at a very high heat so it doesn’t dry out. A steak takes an average of three to five minutes per side to cook on an infrared barbecue. The same steak will take an average of five to ten minutes per side to cook on a lower-end grill.


“You cook it on high real fast, you sear it and you lock in the juice,” said Gerry Murtagh, owner of Murtagh Construction in Pacific Palisades, who has constructed six barbecue islands in the last two months.


Murtagh should know. He has a Luxor barbecue in his own backyard.

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