Comments on: Notebook portable grill

By: allen

allen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:15:16 +0000

I was given a small GAS grill to use, because of my small condo. It normally lives under the corner-bench for my dining table. Being gas, i don’t have to worry about any ash. and being gas, i don’t have to worry about any dusty charcole. Being gas, it only has the small little tank sitting next to it, under the cabnet.

Don’t get me wrong, i love charcol. But, you add in the extra time it takes to cool, the extra time it takes to heat up, the extra space it all takes (charcol, lighting-fluid/chimney starter, dust-pan), a small portable gas grill makes alot more sense for me right now.

@J: when i want to grill, i carry the thing the one block to the park, or down to the shared grass between my condo’s buildings. I agree: PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE GRILLING INSIDE THIER KITCHENS WITH GRILLS: Use a grill pan if you have to do it inside!

By: Gleb

Gleb — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:07:01 +0000

Although we’ve got a proper BBQ grill for home, I’ve got one of these a few months ago for the days where we’d go meet friends somewhere outdoors – it’s amazingly compact and doesn’t need much trunk space.

The only annoyance compared to a proper grill is that this one needs to be cleaned up right away – unless you get rid of all the charcoal, you obviously can’t fold it back to take home. The fact that it’s usually still hot with some charcoals doesn’t help either.

By: Caro

Caro — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:19:35 +0000

Hmm! Give me one of those little hibachi grills anyday. There small,compact, last for years and work. I don’t want a BBQ that’s too light – not safe and I don’t like the open ends.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:29:53 +0000

Oh, I would like something like that for our camp set. We live in a city – no yard, no grilling on the balcony. But we can grill in parks or by the river or when we go camping.

However, it looks like one those lovely ‘design concept’ products that don’t work very well in real life. Cuz the designer never grills. Or like the little silicon whisk & dustpan I have – I bet that designer never swept up anything in his/her life – cuz that don’t work well either.

These days I stay with classically designed stuff unless I’ve had the opportunity to test the product at a friend’s house. Designer gear just doesn’t cut it, usually.

By: cerrissa

cerrissa — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:33:48 +0000

i actually went to a bbq for the 4th where this grill was used. it seemed to get the job done. and i understand the need for a small portable grill for the summer in the city. lots of people have backyards(i envy them) and you can grill in some of the parks. it fit an entire rack of ribs or about 6-8 burgers i think. if i could grill on my roof i would have one of these in 5 seconds.

By: j

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:19:02 +0000

This seems like a bad idea. If you really live somewhere space-cramped enough that a full size grill isn’t an option, then you probably also live somewhere that you shouldn’t be grilling in the first place, and especially not with charcoal.

Also, as black rabbit notes, are you really going to clean it out enough to store it every time you use it? Where to you store it? And where do you store the grate (which, from the picture, looks kind of flimsy)?

By: Springpeeper

Springpeeper — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:41:24 +0000

Wasn’t sure at first if this was a barbecue or a new type of laptop computer…

By: black rabbit

black rabbit — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:17:39 +0000

Hmmm… I love me some grilling, but if it’s something I’m going to have to clean off to haul inside and store (where? In a kitchen cabinet or something?), then I don’t think it counts as being “uncluttered” any more than any other single-use appliance that looks like a giant pain to use.

I live in an apartment. I have a grill pan that I use a few times a week. For those times when I absolutely *must* use charcoal, there’s a city park a couple of blocks away with free-to-use cast iron grills in the picnic area.

By: PJ Doland

PJ Doland — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:32:30 +0000

In general, you're much better off lighting your charcoal outside the grill in a chimney starter. That way you don't get the taste of lighter-fluid in your food.

By: dancing monkey

dancing monkey — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:20:08 +0000

There was only one review at Amazon UK, but that person said it was difficult to light the charcoals and that flames shot out of the open spaces on the sides of the grill … A few other reviews were more positive though one mentioned the metal warping a bit over time, and getting difficult to put back in the box.

It only costs $48 at this other site: http://aplusrstore.com/product.....mp;pid=290 ($58 with shipping charges) … I’m more willing to take a risk at that price point.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:56:20 +0000

@Marc — Charcoal (or wood briquettes).

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:43:23 +0000

Looks interesting, it doesn’t look like the fuel source is mentioned in on the site. Any idea?