grills stoves and cookware

First of all, despite some comments here that would lead you to believe otherwise, this is NOT a gas grill. The dead giveaway is the word "charcoal" in the product title.

Even though this is designed to be a travel grill (with folding legs that secure the cover in place), I use it as my primary grill. I like to grill at all times of the year so I leave it on the patio all year round and sometimes have to dig through a snowdrift to find it. I'm surprised it hasn't rusted out yet since it has been sitting outside for more than five years. The wood parts are weathered, but still no sign of metal corrosion. When this one eventually goes I'll probably get small round Weber since I really don't need the travel feature.

I bought this nifty little grill for tailgaiting and to use on the cramped deck of my apartment in the city. For those purposes, it's great -- it folds up into a secure, compact little unit that goes anywhere without a fuss. It's also well constructed and has held together through several years of rough use.

Be aware though that it's definitely not a good choice if you're doing a lot of grilling in one place -- it never quite gets hot enough to work well as a primary grill, even if you leave the cover on and let it preheat before adding your meat. Any wind at all strips the heat right out of it, even with the lid on.

Make sure you stock up on the little gas cylinders or get the tank adapter -- nothing worse than running out of fuel in the middle of a batch of food.

It does the job, but as one reviewer said, it doesn't get very, very hot. Hot enough to cook meat well - yes, but the hamburgers don't have a terrific taste, just an average + ordinary taste. This would all be fine if I only paid $24.99 for it, but I paid $49.99. It is well made of good materials, but honestly, I don't see where it's much different from what they're selling at Wal-Mart for thirtysomething dollars or less.