SANTOS Free S-510 PRO All Black

What the Free S-510 PRO is and where you can get it

The Free S-510 PRO is a gas grill without a base. Santos supplies the grill body with control panel, lid and mounting brackets, and you provide the rest: a masonry, concrete or modular outdoor kitchen into whose worktop it is set. It has no wheels, side shelves or compartment for the gas cylinder.

Manufacturer and seller is Santos Grills GmbH from Cologne, Hafenstraße 1. According to its own company page, the company has sold the SANTOS house brand since 2005, and according to the operating instructions it is manufactured in China. We do not list it on Amazon; in our price box it is at Santos Grills with approx. €899. It comes in All Black and in stainless steel, both versions at this price; how they differ is explained below in the questions. In the package are the grill, hose and pressure regulator as well as assembly and operating instructions. It is delivered by freight forwarder.

The only other model in the Free S series is the smaller Free S-410 PRO. Among our gas grills, we therefore compare the S-510 mainly with freestanding five-burner models, because that is the alternative you actually weigh up when planning an outdoor kitchen.

Burners, grates, lid: the construction

Under the lid are five stainless steel main burners with 3 kW each, 15 kW in total. Each has its own piezo ignition, so you can fire up one on its own. The burner housing is made of cast aluminium with extended side panels, the grill tray of stainless steel. Over the burners are covers made of solid stainless steel. The parts list in the assembly instructions also counts five flame tamers that sit centrally above the main burners, with air slots to the front, plus four flame bridges and five heat shields.

At the back of the chamber sits the stainless steel rear burner with 4 kW. Its stainless steel cover is removable and, according to the product page, may stay in place even while the rear burner is running.

Grilling is done on five cast iron grates, 4,037.5 cm² of main cooking area in total at 42.5 x 95 cm. The grates can be turned over: on top, V-shaped, tapering bars, below, a blunt side with grooves. Above hangs a three-part stainless steel warming rack, 96.5 cm wide and extendable in two stages. Pushed in it is 13.8 cm deep (1,332 cm²), fully extended 33.5 cm (3,232 cm²). The product description gives 24 cm as the intermediate stage and 14 instead of 13.8 cm for the pushed-in rack. You can remove individual elements.

The lid is tall, double-walled and has a thermometer. Santos advertises that extended cast aluminium side panels and a smaller rear lid gap reduce temperature loss; the manufacturer has not published a measured figure for this.

The control panel is made of stainless steel, black powder-coated. The control knobs light up when you switch on the illumination with the light button: blue means the burner is off and no gas is flowing, red means the gas supply is open. According to the instructions, the illumination does not check whether a flame is burning; you check that yourself. You pull the grease tray out towards the front. In total the grill weighs approx. 57 kg.

Does the Free S-510 PRO really have 19 kW?

As a sum yes, but you can never use it all at once. The 19 kW is made up of 15 kW of main burners and the 4 kW rear burner, and according to the operating instructions the rear burner must not run together with the main burners. So at the grate there is either 15 kW or 4 kW.

The instructions also give both values as consumption: 19 kW total heat input corresponds there to 1,382 g/h, a main burner is at approx. 218 g/h, the rear burner at 291 g/h. The nozzles are of different sizes, 0.73 mm on the main burners, 0.85 mm on the rear burner.

With the rotisserie spit, the rear burner radiates onto the meat from behind while the main burners stay off. According to the instructions, the warming rack must be removed before use. To light it, you press the control and hold it pressed for at least 5 seconds after the click; for the main burners it is 2 seconds, starting on the left. You buy the spit separately; Santos has a magnetic rotisserie spit for the S-518 and the Free S-510 in its range for €79.90.

Our reading: the 19 kW describes what the gas supply would have to provide if all burners ran at once. For comparison with other grills, we calculate with the 15 kW of the main burners.

In detail: five zones on 95 centimetres

If you divide the 15,000 W of the main burners by the main cooking area, you get around 3.7 W per square centimetre. The smaller Free S-410 PRO, which according to Santos delivers 12 kW on 3,208.75 cm², is also at around 3.7 W. The Broil King Regal 590 has, according to the manufacturer, 16 kW on 4,032 cm², so around 4.0 W. The figure is only indirectly related to the temperature at the grate. How hot it gets there is also decided by how tightly the lid and chamber close and how much heat the cast iron stores.

For practical use, the five matters more. With zones of equal width, each burner accounts for 19 cm of grate width on paper. For indirect grilling, according to the instructions the outer burners run low, the lid stays closed, and the temperature should not exceed 160 °C. If only the two outer ones burn, 57 cm in the middle is left on paper without a flame underneath. In our assessment, that is enough for two roasts side by side. How the two zones work together is explained by our guide to direct and indirect heat.

For full output, Santos sets a limit: in the highest burner position with the lid closed, the grill must never run longer than 15 minutes. According to the instructions, you preheat the grates for at most 5 minutes on the highest setting, for thin meat, fish and vegetables 2 to 3 minutes.

Pans and steak plate are permitted, with conditions. These include never covering the entire cooking area, operating the burner under the pan or plate only in the lowest position and keeping at least 2 cm distance from all side walls. If a steak plate is in place, at least one cooking grate stays in the grill. On the product page, Santos links a plancha insert pan for the S series and S series PRO for €99.90, in cast iron for €105.90.

Installation: cut-out, body, gas cylinder

Santos gives the installation dimension as 101 x 31 x 54 cm (width, height, depth). More precise is the installation drawing in the assembly instructions: grill width 1,002 mm, cut-out at least 1,010 mm wide and 540 mm deep, 310 mm height. With fixing brackets the grill measures 105.8 x 59.5 x 67 cm. The drawing labels the body as a “non-combustible structure”. A wooden base cabinet is therefore ruled out by our reading; stone, concrete or metal come into question.

Two ways of installing are provided. You stand the grill on a fireproof surface, for which it has height-adjustable, heat-resistant and non-slip feet. Or you hang it into the opening by the side rails. A left, a right and a rear mounting bracket are fitted, and as a tool the instructions name a Phillips or flat-head screwdriver. Transport and assembly take at least two people, and you lift the body out of the box by the sides, not by the handle. The box measures 65.5 x 103.5 x 65 cm.

For the gas cylinder, you plan a space in the body. The instructions permit cylinders of 5, 8 or 11 kg, with heights of 505, 465 and 600 mm and diameters of 229, 300 and 300 mm. The hose may be at most 1.5 m long. Before you light it, no combustible or heat-sensitive items may stand in the cabinet under the grill housing. After every use, the cylinder is disconnected from the appliance.

What Santos does not state about installation and the grill, at a glance: minimum distances to combustible materials are required by the operating instructions and safety sheet, but centimetre values appear in none of the documents, not even in the assembly instructions to which the safety sheet refers. There is no text on ventilation of the body; the drawing shows an opening of 120 x 80 mm and dimensions of 70, 130 and 170 mm without explanation. Also open are the overhang above the worktop, maximum temperature, heat-up time, measuring range of the lid thermometer, cooking chamber height, stainless steel grade, material thickness of grates and covers, the year of market launch and a running time per gas cylinder. Nothing about balconies can be found in the instructions.

We would clarify the cut-out, ventilation opening and gas routing with Santos customer service before building, or commission a specialist firm for outdoor kitchens.

Gas, warranty and spare parts

The grill has gas category I3B/P(50) and runs at 50 mbar. As the gas type, the operating instructions name butane, propane or a mixture of the two, the data sheet in the shop propane with 11 kg. A 50 mbar pressure regulator and a hose are included, a gas cylinder is not. If you replace the parts, Santos requires a low-pressure regulator to EN 16129 with 50 mbar and 1.5 kg/h as well as an approved hose line up to 1.5 m. The regulator is thereby above the consumption value that the instructions give for the 19 kW (see above). Which cylinder suits what is explained in the guide gas cylinder for the grill.

How long a cylinder lasts, we have calculated ourselves from the nominal values: if all five main burners run at full, that is 1,090 g/h, and an 11 kg cylinder would be empty after around 10 hours, a 5 kg cylinder after around 4.6 hours. The rear burner alone would manage around 38 hours with 11 kg. Because full load with the lid closed is limited to 15 minutes anyway and lower settings draw less gas, the cylinder lasts longer in practice. How much longer cannot be derived from the documents.

There is a gap in the warranty. By its wording, the warranty page of the Pro series applies to “SANTOS PRO gas grills” and the “SANTOS BBQ Carts PRO”; it does not explicitly name the Free built-in grills. If it applies, Santos tiers it by component: hood made of stainless steel or porcelain-enamelled 15 years, stainless steel cooking grates 15 years, stainless steel tube burners and flame guard inserts 5 years, all other parts 2 years. Cast iron grates are not listed separately. The 15 years require registration with email address, name and device number, apply only to the first buyer and only in the EU and Switzerland. Important for installation: the installation must follow the supplied instructions and the regional and national building and fire protection regulations. Santos does not cover transport, labour and installation costs, and the warranty expires with spare parts from other manufacturers. Independently of this, the statutory warranty of 2 years applies.

For an extra charge, Santos sells a warranty extension of 3 years for a one-off €99.99. This is an insurance policy, and the risk carrier is RheinLand Versicherungs AG. It promises free spare parts, no excess and a value voucher if the grill becomes unusable; it does not cover self-inflicted damage.

Spare parts are given with numbers in the parts list, including main burner 233521, rear burner 968762, flame tamer 964474, grease tray 960773 and warming rack 964467. Prices and a commitment on how long they remain available are not stated there.

Operation, cleaning and safety according to the instructions

On intended use, the operating instructions say: “The appliance is designed exclusively for grilling and for the preparation of food that can be grilled.” It is said to be “intended for private use or for household-like use”, and any other use counts as not intended.

On installation, these sentences, among others, appear there: “Use the appliance exclusively outdoors in a well-ventilated place. The appliance must never be operated in enclosed spaces.” “Do not use the appliance in a hollow, as escaping gas can collect there.” “Do not operate the appliance in rain or strong wind.” “Always place the appliance on firm and level ground.” “Only build in the appliance according to the specifications.”

Before every use, Santos requires a complete gas leak test. For this the appliance must be fully assembled and the cylinder full. You mix soapy water from one part washing-up liquid and one part water or use leak detection spray, set all controls to OFF, open the cylinder valve slowly and spray all the connections. Bubbles indicate a leak; you tighten and repeat until none form. If a gas leak cannot be fixed, the grill stays off and you contact customer service. In the original wording: “Do not smoke during the leak test.” “Never check for leaks with an open flame.” You should always keep a suitable fire extinguisher ready.

When lighting, the lid is open, otherwise, according to the instructions, there is a risk of explosion. Lighters and accelerants are excluded; if you light with matches, you need extra-long ones and wait approx. 3 seconds after opening the gas. Before first use and after every use, the grill burns off for 15 minutes with all main burners on the highest setting and the lid closed. You never line the bottom of the grill tray with aluminium foil, sand or a fat-absorbing substance, and lava stones and briquettes do not belong in it.

It is cleaned after every use, because old fat can cause corrosion through its fatty acids, the grease tray particularly thoroughly. Beforehand you let the grill cool down completely, switch it off, close the gas valve and remove the cylinder. Dishwasher, water hose and pressure washer are taboo, as are chlorine-containing cleaners as well as steel wool and wire brushes on stainless steel. According to the instructions, you clean enamelled parts with a cotton cloth, hot water and a little household washing-up liquid. For care products, Santos restricts: cleaning should be carried out exclusively with SANTOS care and cleaning products, and the manufacturer excludes liability for damage caused by other agents.

In one place the instructions contradict themselves. In general it says not to use “brushes with metal or nylon bristles”, but for the grates “exclusively brass or silicone brushes”. Brass is a metal. We read the grate rule as an exception and would use the brass brush only on the cast iron. You check the burner nozzles at least once a year and replace damaged ones.

These three alternatives are worth a look

The prices are guide values from our price boxes and can change. The rating is an editorial assessment from manufacturer data; we have not measured anything.

When the Free S-510 PRO fits and when another grill does

The first question is the outdoor kitchen. If you do not have one and do not want to build one, the S-518 PRO is the obvious route: it is in our price box at approx. €999, the S-510 PRO at approx. €899, but it stands ready with base cabinet and four wheels and additionally has a 4.5 kW infrared side burner. With the built-in grill, the body made of non-combustible material comes on top. In our assessment it is therefore only worthwhile if the outdoor kitchen is being built anyway.

Then the width. If your body only has around 82 cm, the Free S-410 PRO fits with 81.4 cm installation width. According to our price box it costs approx. €749, weighs 50 instead of 57 kg according to Santos and has four instead of five main burners. The output per area is the same, so you give up area, not power density.

The number of people rarely speaks against the S-510. Santos states that it serves up to 20 people. We would plan more cautiously with that, because the warming rack is suited to keeping warm and finishing, not as a second cooking area, and the figure does not say how much per head lies on the grate.

With the rotisserie spit, it gets more expensive than the price suggests. Add to the grill the cover for the Free S-510 (€79.90) and the rotisserie spit (€79.90), and you are at approx. €1,058.80, without gas cylinder and without body. The Broil King Regal 590 is in our price box at approx. €1,649, the S-510 at approx. €899, but it has the rotisserie set with motor in the scope of delivery and a 2.7 kW side cooktop. It is freestanding, so not a direct alternative for installation.

If you need a cooking zone next to the grate for a pot or pan, the S-510 lacks one. Then there is no way around a freestanding model or a separate hob in the outdoor kitchen module.

The Free S-510 PRO is the wrong choice for anyone who rents or wants to move in the next few years. A built-in grill does not simply move with you, and the manufacturer’s warranty, if it applies at all, does not pass to a buyer of the outdoor kitchen. If you are still unsure about size, the grill finder helps.