Flat top gas grills including cooking engines configured for optimum heat distribution

A grill, comprising:

• a cookbox including a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall, a right sidewall, and a left sidewall, the front wall, the rear wall, the right sidewall, and the left sidewall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and defining an upper rim of the cookbox, the upper rim including at least one recess configured to vent heat generated within the cookbox;
• a griddle disposed on or above the cookbox, the griddle including a flat top cooking surface and an underside located opposite the flat top cooking surface;
• and
• a plurality of burner tubes disposed in the cookbox and located between the bottom wall of the cookbox and the underside of the griddle.

A grill, comprising:

• a cookbox including a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall, a right sidewall, and a left sidewall, the front wall, the rear wall, the right sidewall, and the left sidewall extending upwardly from the bottom wall;
• a griddle disposed on or above the cookbox, the griddle including a flat top cooking surface and an underside located opposite the flat top cooking surface;
• a plurality of burner tubes disposed in the cookbox and located between the bottom wall of the cookbox and the underside of the griddle;
• and
• a temperature sensor assembly coupled to the cookbox, the temperature sensor assembly including a temperature probe configured to contact the underside of the griddle, the temperature probe movable relative to the cookbox between a raised position and a lowered position, the temperature probe biased into the raised position via a spring of the temperature sensor assembly, the temperature sensor assembly further including:
• a crossbar coupled to and extending between the front wall and the rear wall of the cookbox;
• and
• a mounting bracket coupled to the crossbar, the mounting bracket including an upper flange and a lower flange spaced apart from the upper flange, wherein the temperature probe is slidingly received in the mounting bracket via an opening formed in the upper flange and an opening formed in the lower flange, the temperature probe including a retention flange located between the upper flange and the lower flange, wherein the spring is operatively positioned between the retention flange of the temperature probe and the lower flange of the mounting bracket such that the spring biases the retention flange of the temperature probe toward the upper flange of the mounting bracket.

A grill, comprising:

• a cookbox including a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall, a right sidewall, and a left sidewall, the front wall, the rear wall, the right sidewall, and the left sidewall extending upwardly from the bottom wall, the cookbox further including a plurality of air intake openings extending through the bottom wall;
• a heat shield including a panel spaced apart from and located below the bottom wall of the cookbox, the panel extending across the plurality of air intake openings, the heat shield further including a first mounting flange and a second mounting flange respectively configured to couple the heat shield to the bottom wall of the cookbox;
• a griddle disposed on or above the cookbox, the griddle including a flat top cooking surface and an underside located opposite the flat top cooking surface;
• and
• a plurality of burner tubes disposed in the cookbox and located between the bottom wall of the cookbox and the underside of the griddle.