Operation Sears for Father’s Day was a Huge Success #GrillingIsHappiness

My husband is truly awesome. He works long hours, comes home happy to his adoring children, and puts up with me and my crazy antics, DIY projects, and my refusal to fold laundry. A saint, I tell you.

For this reason, Father’s Day is a big deal at our house. Typically, we make hubby something special and treat him to a family fun day, but this year I wanted to do something BIG as a thank you for all that he does for us all year long.  

It wasn’t hard to think of the perfect Father’s Day present for him this year since he just spent his last two weekends building up a BBQ patio in our backyard. The idea of moving our grill we got at the side of the road with a sign that read “FREE” on top of the new patio just didn’t seem right.

I had already decided we would start looking for a grill that was hubby-worthy, and this Father’s Day I was bound and determined to make that happen. Since hubby is gadget obsessed, I knew I couldn’t find the perfect grill without a little bit of research, so I began to look into what was new in the world of grills to see what kinds of covetable things I should consider. I searched the Sears Online Catalog and Sears Local Ad Deals and then the new Sears Outdoor Catalog.

Right there in the Sears Simply Outdoors catalog I thought I found what I was looking for – Infrared cooking. With a whole page devoted to the newest infrared grills and talking about the many benefits of cooking with this method, I had thought I would likely end up with one of those when I went to buy. It’s new, it’s exciting, and it’s supposedly the grilling of the future – all of which has hubby’s name all over it. 

Keeping the Sears Simply Outdoors Catalog with me, I decided to head down to our local Sears to check them out in person. Of course I took the kiddos with me while shopping, because you can’t buy a Father’s Day gift from your kids without a little bit of input, but I was slightly apprehensive they weren’t going to be up for the same kind of hunt I was. Luckily, I spotted the huge display of grills almost immediately upon walking in the store and was approached by two sales people in the department just seconds later. This is precisely why I love Sears and shop there whenever I can.

I’m not normally one of those people that relies too heavily on sales people since I usually know just what I’m looking for, but since I was doing this as a surprise for hubby and a bit out of my comfort zone, I figured a male’s perspective couldn’t hurt. And, thank goodness I did, because I don’t think I would have had half the experience I did without help. 

I started by asking about infrared and was taken over to the two most affordable options {one was $499 and one was $599} so I could really get a feel for this new type of grilling. While I liked the way both looked upon first inspection, as soon as I opened the top of the grills, I knew these weren’t the grills for us. Instead of regular grates like I’m used to, infrared grills have v shaped grill plates with only tiny holes that cover the entire cooking surface so no flame ever touches your food. 

While infrared may very well be the newest and most exciting thing in grills, I really wasn’t excited about the tiny surface holes of the grill plates that looked like they would clog and be a huge pain to clean. Since grilling is supposed to be laid back and fun, the last thing I wanted to do was make it more complicated than it needed to be. So, infrared was out, which meant I was back to looking at regular gas grills.

Thank goodness there’s some seriously GORGEOUS gas grills at Sears these days, because it certainly didn’t feel like I was settling at all as soon as I started looking into them. I started with the bottom of my price range {$300} and looked at only the ones that had the bare minimum requirements for us {side burner, stainless steel, cabinet storage} and then started working my way up our budget looking at the fun stuff {rotisserie burners, integrated lights, and party-size grill tops}. 

After having eliminated a few based purely on aesthetics {yes, it matters}, on feel {ditto}, and finally, by features, I had finally narrowed it down to two grills that were at the upper end of my price range. I guess this isn’t really surprising when you figure I’m buying a grill for us to grow with, something we keep for a very long time and enjoy in many different facets. From backyard brick oven pizza, feeding a small army of family and friends, and eventually making a sort of outdoor kitchen, the grill being as close to perfect as possible is really important to me.

But, more important than how much I like it, I want a grill that hubby is going to absolutely flip over. I want him to be shocked that his wife, who has never lit up a grill in her life, went out with the kiddos and found him a grill that is lust-worthy. 

After circling the outdoor living department numerous times, comparing looks and features side-by-side, there was just one grill that I really kept coming back to. Even though it was a little more than our initial budget, we all agreed hubby was worth it, and our decision was made. 

We finally decided on a Kenmore brand 5 burner grill {model# S3218ANB, on sale for $599} with enough cook space to feed that small army. Some of the features that stood out were that all the cooking surfaces and heat plates are made of stainless steel, which makes them gorgeous and dishwasher safe. It also comes with a ceramic rotisserie burner in the back of the grill, as well as a ceramic searing burner on the side. All of which are features unheard of in our old “road side special” BBQ. 

Once the grill selection was done we moved over to the accessory section where we quickly found some more items we couldn’t live without. After all, if you’ve got a new grill, you should do it up right. We found a rotisserie motor for less than I would have guessed {$40}, as well as some cedar planks for grilling up fish, some hickory wood chips, and all sorts of tongs, spatulas and scrapers. All-in-all, I spent more than I was figuring I would, but I also knew that we would get a whole lot of use out of everything I was buying, and it was going to be a Father’s Day that no one would ever forget.

Of course, I used my Shop Your Way rewards card for our purchase to earn points on everything we were buying, and while I was at the register I made sure that my email was on the contact info {don’t want emails ruining our surprise!} and then selected an emailed receipt.  If you haven’t already signed up for the Shop Your Way rewards program, I highly recommend you do so. Not only can you get points for every purchase, you can also get exclusive discounts on some of their most popular items. Can’t beat that!

Since our grill was not currently in stock at the location we were purchasing, our salesman gave us a few options for picking up, having one delivered, having it pre-assembled for free as part of their June promotion, or for waiting until they got one back in stock. I was eager to get our grill that night because it was hard enough coming up with a reasonable explanation for our mall trip, so I opted to pick one up at the North Seattle location instead, and we hurried back out on our #GrillingIsHappiness adventure. It luckily just fit in the car with the stroller completely taken apart, because I literally had no plan B for how we were going to get a grill this massive home safely. High five!

Once we were home with the grill, I called in a few favors and had some help assembling it in the backyard covertly. While they were doing the tough stuff, I was helping the kiddos make a special card and dessert to go along with our surprise and only came out a few times to help with assembly that needed a few extra hands, like placing the pre-assembled grill top on the pedestal base. A few hours later and I was all ready to surprise hubby with his early Father’s Day present and treat our “help” and our neighbors to a feast on the new grill. 

Needless to say, hubby was speechless when he realized we had all gone out and found him a brand new grill to replace our old, worn out freebie. While the note inside the card let him know that he was getting a new grill, he certainly didn’t expect this to be waiting for him on his brand-new BBQ patio. 

The look on his face was priceless when he saw that we had not merely upgraded our BBQ, we had gotten him a gorgeous Kenmore party grill that was something all the guys were going to be jealous of. And, oh boy, were they jealous. Every person who has seen the new grill just has to touch it, check it all out, and beg to be invited to our next BBQ. And, with how much our family loves BBQ, I’m not sure we’re going to be cooking in our kitchen at all this summer.

Just look at this feast we had our first night with our Kenmore 5 burner gas grill with ceramic searing and rotisserie burners.  

And, of course, Pinterest-inspired BBQ grill cupcakes for dessert.

If you are thinking of surprising a dad in your life with a grill or grill accessory, I would definitely check out Sears to see their huge selection and to get personalized help to find your perfect match. Not only do they have amazing customer service, they are also having some huge sales starting today that make Sears Destination Dad this Father's Day. 

Like freebies? If you buy the Hamilton Beach 3-burner Pedestal gas grill, you can get a free 2-piece grill tool set at Sears right now. Also, be sure and enter to win their #GrillingIsHappiness Facebook sweepstakes thru 7/7/2012 as well and you could get the Ultimate Summer Package for free. Grand prize is a trip for 4 to any baseball game of your choice and not just any grill, but the same exact Kenmore grill I surprised hubby with. Let me tell you, the grill itself is a grand prize, with or without the baseball game!

Follow and like Sears on Twitter and Facebook, Sears Shop Your Way Rewards on Twitter, and Grilling is Happiness on Twitter and via the #GrillingIsHappiness website.

Check out our whole experience buying the brand new Kenmore 5 burner grill here.

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Sears. #CBias #SocialFabric