McNapper and Sparky have a new play mate

[glitchy]

Look who landed at my house today, I think I'll call him Rhodey. I had an awful headache this afternoon, so it was all I could handle just to get him out of his box and do a short burn in, but we'll cook something together soon. The Weber Traveler is actually a little bigger than I expected, but folds up pretty nicely. A piece of armor was broken (back rear corner of side table) when he landed, but I'm sure Weber will replace that.

Assembly was just about as easy as it gets, you put the wheels on, insert the grates and slide the grease tray under it and done. I'm not sure I've seen the true max temp yet as I went to lay down for 15-20 mins while the burn off was going and figured I'd probably see what the max was when I went to shut it off. However, I used a partial can and it ran out just a couple minutes before I got back out there and Rhodey was down to about 400 degrees. I had another partial can, so I put that on and fired it back up and let it run for a bit and it got over 600 by the dome thermometer and IR said at the grate some spots were over 550. That's really about all I know at this point, but I'll share more as I learn.

Max Good 's boss needs to quit working him so hard so he can get these reviews out before I get tired of waiting to buy these things :-) Every since he hinted he was testing one, I've been anxiously waiting for his results. I couldn't afford to wait any longer though as my wife, daughter, and I are meeting the in-laws at a rental lake cabin in a couple months and with the uncertainty of things, we wanted a way to grill most of our dinners as we will probably not be dining out. I want to know how this thing works before I get there to know the best foods to plan on and so that I can spend vacation enjoying the company and the fishing and not be distracted learning a new grill or ruining meals.

Anyway, I'm hoping it works as good as it looks. It definitely has a solid feel to it. Especially when compared to the stand you can get for the Q series.

[willxfmr]

Looks like a great road tripper.

[glitchy]

That’s what I’m hoping for. I’ve only used my Q1000 a couple times because it’s so tiny. It’s a well built little grill, but I’m going to struggle cooking for 5-6 on it. This should be able to handle that better and be just big and study enough to want to use it at home too.

[bbqLuv]

I found my thrill, on a Weber Gas Grill
On Weber gas grill

Happy Grill to you and PBR too

[Troutman]

bbqLuv You really need to change that tag line. "You and PBR" are duel subjects of the verb "grill". Since PBR is a liquid and not in solid state, it could be reasoned that PBR doing the grilling would not follow much less be possible in anywhere but some alternate universe. But hey, maybe PBR originated in some BBQ dimension unknown to man?

Might I humbly suggest "Happy Grilling to You and Enjoy a PBR too"

[bbqLuv]

Thank you for your input.
I think you understand what you thought I posted, but I am not sure that what you read is not what I meant.

[jfmorris]

Cool beans. Certainly not a lot of head space in that grill, but you don't need it. Two questions:

1. What am I looking at that is broken? Part of the side table? Will it be easy to replace?
2. Is there any type of shield over the burner, to prevent stuff from dripping directly on the flames, like there is with the bigger Weber gas grills? There are no photos of what the inside really looks like on the Weber web site...

Looks nice and I like the way it folds and latches the lid all with one hand, and you drag it along on its wheels.

The last portable gas grill I had was a something from Walmart or Target that looked like the Weber Go-Anywhere gas grill, but I think it was an off brand, as the entire exterior turned to rust sitting in the shed in my backyard. I think if it had been Weber, the finish would have been porcelain rather than paint, and it wouldn't have rusted up. I used it on the boat for grilling lunches while beached on the side of a lake or river, and that was 10 years ago.

[glitchy]

I need to measure and or see what fits, but there's actually more head space in this guy than it first appears. I'm not sure if a whole chicken would fit and a beer can chicken is definitely out of the question. I'll try to get a measurement sometime.

[glitchy]

Cool beans. Certainly not a lot of head space in that grill, but you don't need it. Two questions:

1. What am I looking at that is broken? Part of the side table? Will it be easy to replace?
2. Is there any type of shield over the burner, to prevent stuff from dripping directly on the flames, like there is with the bigger Weber gas grills? There are no photos of what the inside really looks like on the Weber web site...

Looks nice and I like the way it folds and latches the lid all with one hand, and you drag it along on its wheels.

The last portable gas grill I had was a something from Walmart or Target that looked like the Weber Go-Anywhere gas grill, but I think it was an off brand, as the entire exterior turned to rust sitting in the shed in my backyard. I think if it had been Weber, the finish would have been porcelain rather than paint, and it wouldn't have rusted up. I used it on the boat for grilling lunches while beached on the side of a lake or river, and that was 10 years ago.

1. The broken part is the side table on the back right corner. The table is still attached well and with the timing of things and only one retailer that seems to have these so far, I decided to roll forward with confidence Weber will replace the table and it will not be super difficult to do.

2. Nope, the 2nd picture is what the grates go over. No deflectors or flavorizer bars. I am a little worried that it will be a flare up machine, which is part of why I want to know it before we travel with it. It's designed a lot like the Q series where it has the grates that are solid over the burner though. The grates are also surprisingly heavy for the size of the grill.

[jfmorris]

Ok - I had speculated about the grates being solid over the burner, based on the photos on the Weber site. That ought to help prevent flareups, as in theory, nothing will drip straight down onto the flames.

[Bkhuna]

If you can't fix it with JB Weld, it isn't worth fixing.

[Old Glory]

Cool looks a fun little grill!

[Max Good]

We've been busy over here. You'll see what we've been working on soon. Liking Traveler all in all. Head room/space is 5 inches. Many portable gassers don't have heat shields. Instead they use a cast iron grate with a solid area over the burner to protect it from drippings.

[Attjack]

Single burner?

[glitchy]

Yes, single burner. Might be a concern for someone wanting this as an everyday grill. For me will be a steak searing device and hot n fast type cooks (burgers, brats, dogs, maybe some chicken breasts).

[Attjack]

That's good that you don't require that. But I think Weber made a mistake by not making it a 2 zone grill. That's the reason I will be getting rid of my Q.

[glitchy]

It's definitely wide enough it could have been split. That would have made it even more appealing to a wider audience. I guess they felt they needed to give the Napoleon TravelQ an advantage somewhere :-)

[glitchy]

Well, it does cook food, so off to a great start. Cooked some thin little 8oz NY strips they had on sale at the store this week in about 7-8 mins.

Also, registered the grill last night and sent support an email about the cracked table with a picture, they had an order in the system for a replacement this afternoon.

[DavidNorcross]

Looks alot like the Coleman Road Trip but looks to be better built. Interested on how it goes for you. One thing with the Road Trip you could remove the grate and add an insert to for burners so you can cook with a cast iron pan or pot. Anything like that with the Weber? Would also be curious how it would stack up to the Camp Chef stove systems.

[glitchy]

I haven’t seen any accessories available yet and the only one I’ve stumbled across planned is a little cutting board custom fit to side table. I’m not really a camper, so don’t have any hands on with camp stoves or other portable grills. In the past when we traveled on vacations, I took a vacation from cooking and we ate out whole trip. With COVID don’t want to this year and saw some home use for this too, so justified the cost with vacation dining costs saved.

[glitchy]

Weber seems to wait a few months after release for accessories, so we’ll have to keep an eye out. I was kinda hoping a griddle grate would launch with it. Also, in their promo shots they show using their little round cast iron round griddle for the gourmet system being used on top of the grates.

[Jfrosty27]

How is the temperature regulation? Can you actually adjust the temp up or down? My Charbroil Grill2Go X200 has just two temps: Blazing hot, and REALLY blazing hot. Would love to have a actual range of Temps.

[glitchy]

I haven’t made it that far yet. I think it does have some range, but my suspicion is that it might be medium hot to pretty hot. It doesn’t seem to have anything near blazing hot. I was hoping Max would see this thread snd post his review knowing the grill was in the wild now :-) I honestly want to be playing with the MAK more than this.

[glitchy]

Yesterday while fajitas were going on the WSCG, I did a bread test on the Traveler so I could see heat distribution.

[Jfrosty27]

Again, how was the temp regulation?

[glitchy]

Jfrosty27 I'm not really into hardcore testing on the Traveler at this time. I'm still focusing my intimacy on McNapper right now learning her abilities. I've cooked 4-5 times on the traveler, but all on full blast to for searing. Only goal I have at this time is to know it just well enough to cook a few easy meals on a fishing trip in a couple months. Hopefully, Max will have his review up soon providing details...which I'm anxiously waiting for to so I have less I have to learn myself.

[glitchy]

I did the bread to have a personal quick reference to heat distribution versus setting up 6 probes on the Fireboard wasting more propane watching it for a couple hours.

[glitchy]

My Q1000 GrillGrates on the Traveler for size comparison.

[glitchy]

Just a quick update on this. The more I use the Traveler the more I like it. I've been using it quite a bit just learning it before vacation and really think it cooks as well as the Spirit E-330 I had. I've cooked steaks and chops both hot and fast as well as reverse seared with the MAK smoking and the Traveler searing. I've also grilled burgers, sausages, etc. I've had fewer flare ups than my Spirit and Silver A got, which equates to really pretty much none except on a ribeye.

Unfortunately, I haven't been doing a good job taking pictures of food on and from it, since it's just simple gas grilled food. However, I did a bunch of burgers on straight 'medium' on the dial and pulled off some of the most beautiful looking burgers I've ever made from store pre made patties. The ended up cross hatched like a SCA ribeye. They tasted good, but still missed the extra flavor the pellet grill or charcoal gives them. I do need to try the chips in a foil pouch thing to see if I can find the right place to get it smoking right. A little kiss of smoke might up the fishing trip cuisine a notch. The one photo I do have is the reverse seared pork chops that were smoked on the MAK finished on the Traveler.

I'm not sure where the Traveler will fall into the cooking rotation long term, but I do see it getting some use. I doubt that it will cook a lot more meals at home start to finish now that I feel I have a decent grasp on how it will perform when taken on the road. I'd rather use the MAK or WSCG for better flavor, but I could see it being a regular compliment to the MAK's reverse searing process unless I move more to the MAK Griddle or cast iron. I could definitely see it being an option for front yard grilling when the wind is too strong to use the MAK or WSCG on the back patio.

[Rob Johnston]

That looks nice.