We've started doing some new "reviews" of some of our favourite barbecue lineups that we offer. We decided to make our first of the year about one of our go to units, the Prestige 500 series from Napoleon.
Napoleon is a leader in the grilling industry, making some of the best barbecues and accessories available. The Prestige series is one of their highlights, and made around the corner from a few of our stores up in Barrie, Ontario.
We'll start you off with the model titles of the barbecue, because there's a lot of letters and numbers in there that can get a little confusing. With the Prestige series, you'll see some variation of P500PSS, P500RSIBNK and so on. What letters are included in the title indicate what series and features are included on the barbecue.
From These images, we can see that the beginning of the series is pretty much set with the Prestige 500 series, this will change as you move into the 665 series or the PRO series. Moving from there we get into the goods, with the RSIB units you can see that it includes the rear & side infrared burners, and after that you get your gas indication and colour combination. If the model you're looking at doesn't have that RSIB, it won't include those accessory burners. Sometimes with exclusive dealers (Like yours truly), you'll see an AMB at the end of the title, indicating it is a special "ambiance edition" not seen in standard box stores.
Looking at it from the exterior, it's a total beauty, swoon worthy BBQ. The stainless steel is #304 grade (the good stuff), which prevents rust in the long run. The 4 heavy duty locking casters ensure it doesn't run away on you, while there's plenty of space in the cart when you open the doors to store your BBQ tool essentials. Coloured lid and doors are made of porcelain enameled steel, and grey galvanized steel cart panels make for one heck of a build.
The cookbox itself is a magnificent design, dual-walled cast-aluminum makes heat retention a breeze in the winter months (almost like they're made in Canada, for Canadians), while the self-collapsing lid design limits heat loss when you open the lid to flip those burgs.
Lastly, the grill exterior features fold down side shelves to squeeze into those smaller areas, an accuprobe thermometer lets you accurately monitor temperatures, and Nightlight™ Knobs with Safetyglow. This means your control knobs are lit blue when they are off, but change to red to indicate the burner is currently running. A great feature, especially with little ones running around who like to fiddle with knobs.
Moving onto the good stuff, what's inside the cookbox. This unit comes equipped with stainless steel burners, stainless steel flavorwaves, and - you guessed it - 7.5mm stainless steel grill grids (all #304 grade stainless steel). To start this bad boy up, you have instant jetfire ignition. This means each individual burner has it's own (non-battery) ignition system, with a cross-over tube at the back for extra ease. The flavorwave's are also arranged in a dual-level wave pattern, which helps regulate the heat for an even cook. The 4 main burners each have a 12'000 BTU output, which gives you 48'000 total over a 500 square inch cook box.
Now, if you're lucky enough to be graced with a prestige 500RSIB edition, you'll come fully equipped with an infrared side burner and rear burner to fully maximize your grilling potential. The infrared side burner gets up to 800°F in 30 seconds, for ultimate searing capabilities, while the rotisserie burner is optimized for both high heat and slow spit roasting. (Be sure to remove your warming rack before you turn that bad boy on)
Now last, but certainly not least, is the warranty with the prestige 500 series. It now features a full lifetime warranty on all major components, and 15 years for the rest of the parts. Its absolutely jaw dropping. Who ever heard of a lifetime warranty on tube-burners and stainless steel grills, not to mention things like the hood and aluminum castings.
Overall, its a stunning machine, build in Canada, and designed for Canadians inside and out. If you have any more questions about the Prestige 500 series, you can talk to one of our BBQ experts for the full run down. Available online and in-store at any of our 5 locations. Two are located in Alberta with our Calgary North and Calgary South locations. Our other three are located throughout the GTA in Burlington, Oakville & Etobicoke, Ontario.