Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Aluminum Charcoal and Ash Scoop Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Before I bought this for moving charcoal the three feet from the container to the grill, I tried using tongs.The little bits always slipped out, particularly when using lump charcoal instead of briquettes. Took forever, too.Then I tried using a plastic mixing bowl.I couldn't get the charcoal to scoop well because the lip was too thick and the bowl wasn't the right shape. Plus, the plastic is now scratched and seems to be permanently black at the top from the charcoal.Clearly not the best idea I've had lately.

This scoop solved all that.It is large, and seems like it would stop a bullet.It has a nice polish that looks nice, while not collecting charcoal dust.All aluminum means it won't rust when left outside (as mine is).

Surprisingly good quality -- it looks like it cost a hundred dollars at a specialty store.Would make a good gift, especially if you notice that the griller in your life has been scratching up the mixing bowls.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Aluminum Charcoal and Ash Scoop

Product Description:
Grilling authority, Steven Raichlen, host of the popular cooking series Barbecue University and author of the best-selling Barbecue Bible cookbook series, partnered with The Companion Group to create a fabulous line of innovative, versatile barbecue products.Companion to the Charcoal and Ash Can use this cast aluminum scoop to keep your hands clean.

Get 1% OFF

Want to buy Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Aluminum Charcoal and Ash Scoop at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Son of Hibachi Combo with Snuff out Pouch Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this grill because it looked like it had it all, and I must say it really lived up to the expectations. Living in Sweden we have a fairly short summer that really makes you want to be out as often as you can. For me happiness lives in the ability to barbecue. Disposable grills is something that is big here, unfortunately its not very environmentally friendly or very good. So far the Son of Hibachi has been able to replace them with style.

The product description is pretty much on the money. Start-up is easy and fast, I would say the 10 minute mark can swing up and down a little depending on what coals you use. Lump coal is faster, briquettes a little slower - but if you can normally light your coals with fire starters, be it liquids or other you will have no problem here. The chimney effect of the closed up grill is noticeable and works as a charm.

When you notice the top coals are lit, peeking down from the top, you fold it open and the top handles become legs for the grill sides to rest upon. What strikes you at first is the intense heat wave created by the two surfaces - it is hot! Fortunately you can adjust the grilles in four levels to reduce some of that intense first heat.

We have tried cooking some different things now from hot dogs to chicken breasts to hamburgers and so far it has all worked out very well. The heavy duty grilles leave some nice black patterns on the cooking surface, just the way I think it should be.
The whole construction breathes sturdy, everything has that robust feel about it - all packed with coals it weighs in on about 16 pounds (7.5 kilo) which is a little heavy but knowing that nothing about this grill spells flimsy I accept that.

Another real good thing about this combo is the Snuff-out-pouch which really elevates this purchase. Once done grilling you close up the grill again and let that chimney effect clean of your grilles. Then smoking hot you put it down in your fire retardant pouch and zip it up - in litterally less than 10 seconds you are ready to go. Sure the bag heats up a little but considering the heat of the grill its nothing. The instructions state to leave it for at least 30 minutes before putting it in your trunk - an obvious protection against lawsuits. We have found this to be, in our case, unnecessary. As long as it stands up it's not going to damage anything. The bag can let out some smoke initially when packed but this settles pretty fast once oxygen depravation in the bag sets in.

My only gripe about Amazons product description is that the grill ships with a "Grill N Fry cast iron griddle for cooking eggs, pancakes, etc." which is only half true. Part of the grille has a flat surface true, but I don't see how it would be enough for a pancake an egg id probably fine. Luckily you can get a complete frying surface as an accessory if you look around online for a little bit.

All in all this is a marvelous little bbq which is well worth its pretty low price tag (in my opinion). Highly recommended for the excursion barbecuer.

EDIT: I would like to clarify one thing with the snuff-out pouch. I did actually manage to burn a backpack slightly I had crammed against the side of the pouch in my trunk. The sides of the pouch does get very hot after packing so I would avoid putting anything against it for a while. THe front and back however never gets very hot.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Son of Hibachi Combo with Snuff out Pouch

Product Description:
Son of Hibachi is one of the most versatile charcoal barbecuing systems for home and travel. The ingenious blast furnace concept with the chimney effect enables you to be cooking in less than 10 minutes and assures consistent heat under the grills. With 170 sq. in. of cooking surface and a convertible roasting oven, this power house barbecue can cook anything from hamburgers and hot dogs to a Chateaubriand. Whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner, when you are finished cooking this grill folds into a self-cleaning oven and self-extinguishing barbecue. Then simply insert Son of Hibachi into the Snuff Out Pouch. This pouch has a flame-retardant lining, permitting you to pack up the barbecue immediately after eating and take it with you or store it for use at your next meal. On top of that, Son of Hibachi saves the unused charcoal for later use. This saves you time and money.

Get 4% OFF

Want to buy Son of Hibachi Combo with Snuff out Pouch at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Char-Griller 1515 Patio Pro Model Grill Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I love to BBQ and I have had my 22 ?" Weber Charcoal grill for the last 5 years.The issue was for day to day grilling when I did not have any guest over, the Weber was just a waste of charcoal and time for light cooking.

I wanted something way smaller for my deck for only 1-2 people.Requirement had to be charcoal (of course).I searched around the market for a while and found that Weber and several other manufactures had mini charcoal grills.The issue was that most of them were low to the ground.They were all selling for $20-$30 depending on the brand.I then discovered the Char-Griller Patio Pro.After seeing the build material (cast iron) and the sturdiness of the support frame in which the cooking box sat on top of, I knew this was the product that would meet my expectations.

Delivery:
I ordered the product from Amazon and received it within ~ 4 days.The correct package arrived on time and undamaged, so the ordering experience was perfect.I arrived from work around 7 pm and saw the package at my doorstep and I was excited to grill that night.However, I had read the review of other customers who ordered this grill and I knew assembly was going to be a nightmare.Sure enough, assembling the grill was absolute HELL!!Needless to say, I was not able to grill the day the product arrived.

Assembly:
The grill will arrive with all the pieces for it within the actual grill box.Everything is sticky as it has been coated with oil from the factory, so make sure you assemble your grill in the proper location.The grill has numerous screws and mini pieces which are not clearly identified at all in the instruction manual.The instruction manual is absolutely worthless as its measurements for the pieces are inaccurate and in my particular case, I had less pieces that what the manual said I needed, yet I still assembled the grill without running out of pieces.I will spare you the agonizing details of my assembly experience and summarize it as:Assembling the grill is going to be the ONLY bad experience in owning this product.

USAGE:
With that said, the actual functionality of this grill is EXCELLENT.It is PERFECT for its intended cause...cooking for 1-2 hungry men, or 1-4 average people.The grate is made out of cast iron and requires to be initially coated in vegetable oil over 300 degree fire for 2 hrs (according to the manual).I recommend doing what I did to get the grill ready for use...in order to burn off all the factory oils and "crap," I just filled it to the rim with charcoal and left it to burn...when I came back, all the oil's, crap, and "new stink" disappeared and the cast iron grates were seasoned and ready for use.

The first time I grilled was excellent.The air ventilation system allows for even heat distribution so you can control your fire.Another excellent feature of this product is the cast iron grates...they get so hot and leave an awesome grill mark on your meat...something I could never get with the grate on my Weber.

In addition, the little tray on the side is a HUGE convenience factor when cooking.You can actually put pretty heavy things on it without worrying it will break.During assembly, when I felt the wood material that was used for the tray, I was extremely concerned because I thought when the grill would get hot, they would burn away.So far, this has not been the case, however, time will tell how long they last.But at the present moment, they are perfect.Not shown in Amazon's picture for this product is three little hooks that you have to manually screw into your tray, which will allow you to hang your cooking tools...another cool convenience factor.

Cleaning:
Cleaning is pretty easy too as the charcoal tray box easily slides out and you just dump the ashes into a trash bag.

Overall quality is excellent and I am pleased that the grill does not wobble.In my opinion, aside from the assembly experience, you will not find a better mini charcoal grill with all the features that this grill has [...].

Click Here to see more reviews about: Char-Griller 1515 Patio Pro Model Grill

Product Description:
250 Inch Grill Area, Large drawer for easy refueling and clean-up, Cast Iron Cooking Grates, Side Shelf

Get 10% OFF

Want to buy Char-Griller 1515 Patio Pro Model Grill at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Weber 751001 22.5-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill, Black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)You're probalby thinking that there's no reason to update the 10-year-old Weber you've got in your back yard.Well, turns out Weber has made some smart improvements over the years-- the new "gold" model is worth the upgrade.
The ash-catcher is super, the one-touch vent system is abig improvement (no more knocking each vent with a trowel), the plastichandles stay cooler... you get the idea.Nothing dramatic, but goodprogress.
But here's the clincher: setting one of these up (takes about20 minutes, even if you make a mistake or two) just makes you feel likeyou're in heaven. It's summer embodied.People rhapsodize about the newcar small... well, fughettaboutit.The look of a shiny new grill thatyou've assembled yourself is about as good as it gets.
Highlyrecommended accessory: the charcoal companion.Put your lighter fluid (oryour MatchLight) away and use this instead-- it works flawlessly, and it'sbetter for theenvironment.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Weber 751001 22.5 Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill, Black

Product Description:
Heavy-guage porcelain-enameled lid and bowl, factory-assembled stainless steel One-Touch cleaning system, sweeper system, rust-resistant aluminum legs, removable high-capacity ash catcher, glass-reinforced nylon handles, hinged cooking grate.Available in 18 1/2" and 22 1/2" diameter models with a limited 10-year warranty.

Get 6% OFF

Want to buy Weber 751001 22.5 Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill, Black at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:

Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm a big food Network fan and my favorite guy is Alton. What I saw on one of his shows was the most awesome advice for this device. Take ONE, that's right, ONE piece of newspaper and sprinkle a few drops of vegetable oil on it; then put it under your chimney starter (outdoors, please, eggman if you're reading this) and fire it up with a full can of any kind of charcoal. You won't believe how well this works. One more thing; DO NOT set a chimney starter on a gravel driveway when you start it. For some reason, the heat transfers much easier through gravel than concrete. Just put the thing on your grill grate and wait for 20 minutes. You'll have smokin' hot coals that will be almost too hot for smokin' food. I even saw Alton searing tuna on top of one of these things.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter

Product Description:
Weber's chimney starter makes starting your charcoal a snap.It also cuts down the amount of time it takes for the coals to get ready.Just load up our extra large cannister full of coals, light up a fire starter or crinkled up newspaper, and set the cannister over the flame.In a matter of minutes the coals will be red hot.Who ever thought it could be so easy?

Want to buy Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below: