Was given a Charbroil 187 sq. inch cookerwhich is a small bottle grill and a hose conversion as a gift and for a cheap unit it has been remarkably good for a couple of people...supplemented by a George Foreman grill. Very small and portable...probably not what I would have bought initially but it does the job well for me...I believe about 30/35 dollars most anywhere...lol..jem
__________________
The Silver Buffalo
Saturn with Blue OX towbar
WBCCI # 14067
Let me add a vote for the Coleman Road Trip grill, which came with one grill and one griddle insert. We bought an extra grill insert, a stove insert, and the carrying case. This was on recommendation from one of my friends in the Winnebago club.
So far, it's replaced the old Char-Broil on the deck at the house. I was surprised to get five 30-40 minute cooking sessions on one little bottle with both burners going on medium.
It has a LOT of heating capacity to go with all that space... I've had the grill loaded up with burgers and brats, and it didn't take any longer than for a few. I'm told that extra heating capacity makes a big difference at higher altitude, where the Thermos Grill-To-Go can take forever.
NOTHING sticks to the grill or griddle. Easy to wipe clean.
It isn't perfect.
The water pan is a great idea, until you try to balance it and keep from spilling water (and nasty grease) when removing it. My friend told me to forget about the water, and just spray the pan with PAM. That's what they do. I tried it and it's GREAT!
The stand is a bit tedious to fold out and "assemble"... more annoying than a problem. But you don't have to use the stand if you have a picnic table. The stand does have adjustable feet for unlevel ground.
It's a fairly large unit, but we have plenty of truck bed, so that isn't an issue.
In summary, it's probably overkill for just two people, but if you like to party with a bunch of others over, it's really hard to beat.
I use the small size (14-1/2" diameter) stainless steel grill by Magma, available at West Marine. It mounts outside my 64 Globe Trotter just aft of the door (under the canopy for rain) and connects to the low pressure side of the large propane tanks on my trailer. In wintertime, I move the socket mount to a table just outside my house back door and hook it up to an old 30 pound propane tank & regulator, then grill. I like the small size and relative portability. It can be seen here:
__________________
Fred Coldwell, WBCCI #1510, AIR #2675
Denver, Colorado - WBCCI Unit 24
Charter Associate Member FCU
Airstream Life "Old Aluminum Adventures"
Back up the thread aways, Brad mentioned the TEC grill listed in the Williams&Sonoma catalog. The price has come down a little to $419!
I've had a fullsize version of the TEC for a number of years and can vouch that it's a great grill. It's a breeze to use thanks to it's innovative design and it gets the job done fast without many flare-ups. I like that in a grill!
Check out the Woodflame. we have had the Delecto model for about 6 years now and couldn't be happier. Heats up fast, under 2 minutes, cooks hot enough to seal in juces, easy temp control and only burns hard wood chunklets for fuel. Packs into a carry bag. It is a forge principle using D cell batteries to run the fan and 2.75" square hardwood blocks for fuel. We use ours regular and get well over a year on four batteries. The grill is made in Canada and was designed orginally for camping. If you call ask for Karen and tell her Royce sent you. She was very helpful when I called in and had a bunch of questions.
The only dificulity I had was learning to light it. The directions are not as clear as they could be. I can now light it with one match and be cooking in less than two minutes. My mehod is one half sheet of news print crumpled in the bottom of the forge pot, hard wood block ready to drop in. Light paper, turn on the fan on high, drop the block and close up the grid.
For years, I have carried a small charcoal grill that I bought at Cabela's in Sidney, Colorado while passing through from South Dakota. I guess the diameter at about 13". It has detachanble legs and a carrying bag and cost me all of about $12 as I recall. The grill is the perfect size for 2 people.
With the grill, I carry a bag of match-light charcoal with mesquite. If kept well sealed, the charcoal retains the match-light ability for a long time. A 10# bag usually lasts over a year.
If you haven't visited a Cabella store,you are in for a treat. It would take a half day to completely cover the store. A new Cabela's is currently slated for Buda, Texas, just 18 miles from my door and a stone's throw from my Airstream dealer. I can't wait.
__________________
John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
Royce, thanks for the post; that grill looks very cool. No prices on the website.... Seems others are really just gas burners which hardly deserve to be called barbeque grills. Does the fan prevent hot spots, and can you maintain low settings or does the unit pretty much operate at v. high temps? Also, how long to the cubes burn and what are they made of? God knows WHAT is in "self-lighting" briquettes.
We used one of the cheapie $20 propane grills for years, and just carried it around in a cardboard box. When it got really nasty and rusty (usually two summers of hard use), we threw it away and bought another.
Last summer, after looking at the Colemans and the other brands of 'tailgater' grills for around $140, my wife found a "George" propane grill at the famous French retailer Tar-get' for $39. It's got it's own stand and wheels. It'll do either the stand or a picnic table. but folds down reasonably compactly for storage in the Excursion. The cook top is teflon and huge. I thought initially that I'd not like it, as the flames heat the bottom of the grill, and the fats run off into a cup so the 'smoked' flavor wouldn't be there, but I confess that I actually like the thing, and food prepared on it is superb! Cleanup is a snap, and there's no burned-on grease to get messy. All for $39. I am impressed with it in spite of myself!
Roger
__________________ AIR 2053 “A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” Robert Heinlein 1994 Airstream B190 & 2006 Bigfoot 25B25RQ
Haven't seen this one in person yet, but it has potential http://store.yahoo.com/infomercialshowcase/q-grill.html
They have been running the informercials on it on late night television. It is also in the Skymall catalog that you find on those long boring flights.
As I recal I paid about $175 for the grill. It burns hardwood chunklets for fuel. If you buy from Woodflame they will be unfinished hard wood flooring cut offs 2.75"x2.75"x0.75" Almost any kiln dried North American hardwood will work. I build custom furniture and so have plenty of fuel available as scrap left over from the build process. Should be easy to find someone local to supply you with their scraps. It uses 3-4 of the cut offs to grill one load of burgers or steaks. About 6-8 for chicken or small roast. The temp is easy to control by the variable speed fan. I tyically start off with three of the blocks in the burner and fan on high for 1-2 minutes per side then turn to medium setting for the balance of the cook. Eight burgers can be done at a time if you are careful and three blocks (one load) will be enough. If you want a more smokey flavor just toss in a fresh chunklet on the coals and turn off the fan for a couple of minutes. There is almost no ash created as the system burns completly. Just under the grill is a flame disfuser that makes the system pretty even temp all over the grill surface. If you are grilling in the wind it will be a llittle cooler on the windward side.
Royce
__________________
Royce (KORKK) and Karen AIR# 3913 '77' Minuet 6 Metre TV: '94' Wrangler, 4.0L inline 6, Ford 8.8 rear, NV4500 tranny, Old Man Emu suspension, 30x9.5 tires
I have and love the Thermos Grill 2 Go. It is real similar to the Coleman grill.
It runs about $130.00. I have used it for one season and it is a great grill. Cooks my breakfast as well because half the grilling surface is a gridle. The folding legs can be a bit wobbly if close attention is not paid to placement of the legs during setup. Other than that it is a great grill. Light, easy to use, folds up and stashes away fast and easy.
Besides that, it looks better than the Coleman. Everyone knows that a red grill cooks best.
__________________
Van
2005 F-150 FX4, SC, 4X4, 5.4 V8
former '78 Argosy 20' Minuet owner
former '77 23' Safari owner
current 25' Fun Finder X-250BHS SOB owner
i use the good old weber smokey joe. with charcoal of course.
costs about 30 bucks last time i checked. if it gets damaged or rusted through i doesn't owe me anything!
i actually have two, one was given to me by fellow campers at sturgis, they bought it to use and couldn't (and didn't plan to) take it home with them. they were on bikes and said even with the cost of the grill it was cheaper than eating out a couple of nights at the rally! bonus for me! (i did give them a couple of cold miller highlifes in trade)
transporting the smokey joe can be difficult because it is top heavy and wants to tip over. i found that it fits nicely into a standard milk crate and with a couple of bungees to keep the lid in place it rides in the back of my pickup very well. small bbq tools and lighter fluid fit in the bottom of the milk crate as well.
i also have a propane king cooker with a large aluminum pot for boiling sweet corn or seafood. it runs on a standard 20 lb propane bottle. the bottle fits into a milk crate as well, allowing it to be safely stowed in the pickup.
the king cooker doubles as a water heater for washing dishes when we have a large group and i don't want to fill the grey tank.
john
__________________
you call them ferrets, i call them weasels.
Quick Links
George Foreman propane grill 
Linear Mode
