A new grill design & the new cooker itch

[JGo37]

I'm thinking most have seen the ads for this:


and I'm wondering about the pros and cons at $ 900.00. It looks like it can double as a portable fire pit.

Is this all terrain portable charcoal grill built to last?
Is it hard to empty / clean?
It's 18". I wish it were 22.5" and compatible with kettle grates.

For those interested, from BBQ Guys:

https://youtu.be/ATXhdeZnxHU?list=PLoyg_64t2Rjf-99894aqYTL5vxxzOxNWc

[Skip]

I've seen the ads and videos. It looks good. If it would work for you I vote YES!

[Uncle Bob]

The local Ace had one on display. Seems well built, but the lift ring engagement was kinda clunky for getting all of the lugs to hook up at the same time.

[captainlee]

Honestly I don't get it. Looks like a grill with wider legs and not conveniently portable. Maybe somebody can enlighten me.

[Mosca]

It doesn’t look right for me, but I could see where a hunting/fishing/camping/hiking enthusiast would go for it. The design looks like it favors portability over utility.

[captainlee]

Yes. Hunting and fishing would probably just use a tripod over a campfire. That's the way we did it. Hey, whatever works best for you.

[DavidNorcross]

I actually like the looks of this.

[Bbqmikeg]

Mad Scientist BBQ did a review on this grill. He seemed to like it. It does look fun.

[bmillin]

Solid no here. CI pot with a tripod is already in the mix. I don’t get what I am missing.

[Oak Smoke]

My days of needing portability are few and far between now. Years ago I might have been interested. These days a small hibachi would take care of all my portable needs.

[Troutman]

Like someone mentioned the Mad Scientist barbecue guy did a pretty extensive review of it. Seems kind of gimmicky to me I would think cleaning would be a little bit of a problem, but hey go for it let us know what you think.

[bbqLuv]

Word of caution, it is not a pellet grill. LOL
🙈🙉🙊

[Max Good]

We like it: https://amazingribs.com/ratings-revi...-burch-barrel/

[tedhogan]

I just got mine delivered. It's well built, very solid and stable. It's easy to set up and adjust on rough terrain. You can move it and it's not difficult, but it would be like disassembling a large weber kettle and lugging it around which is not ideal.

I haven't cooked on it yet. What attracted me to it was that you can cook santa maria style with wood in addition to smoking and regular grilling. Regular gaucho style grills that allow santa maria cooking can run into the thousands, so this is smaller and cheaper to try out.

I think it's a brilliant design, nothing gimmicky about it. It allows for raising and lowering the food without requiring a much more expensive design. The tripod put me off at first, but it makes sense when you think about it. You can also adjust the charcoal pan itself along 12" of height in addition to lid and pan vents, so you have a great deal of flexibility with this thing. Raising and lowering the top works very well and hooking it to secure the grate prior to raising is good, it's just not buttery smooth like some might like. Wriggle it a bit and it works just fine.

I'm excited to see what I can do with this thing because it's giving me the wood fired santa maria option that I didn't have before. It's also interesting that when doing santa maria style, it has the cover which will trap the rising smoke. That's something I haven't seen before.

[tedhogan]

I've cooked a bit on it now. Made some fantastic tri-tip, chicken, and steak. I love how I can adjust the height. It makes it very easy to keep high for smoke and lower for sear quickly unlike grills that don't adjust or a Kamado Joe that makes it cumbersome by requiring you to manually move grates. I like that the grate is enclosed and covered when in the air, seems like it helps capture smoke and might make it a bit easier to lock in a consistent temp.

It requires a lot of hands-on work, checking and adjusting during the cook. The air gap makes it unpredictable with the weather. I find wood fires to be tricky to cook over, but I like the taste best. The fat dripping down into the fire makes for better flavor as well due to your food being directly over it.

The really cool thing is being able to hold something like chicken in the air over wood and then quickly dip it down to crisp it up.

Only real downsides I see with it is it's too bulky to put on a porch and it requires checking in on it over the cook due to the temperature fluctuations when elevated. I suppose the latter could be eliminated by not elevating, but then where would the fun be? Loading this thing up with wood and cooking over open flame while controlling the distance to your food is the funnest experience I've had cooking outdoors. It's a level of cool that is the polar opposite extreme of the boredom of a gas grill.