How do you grill when camping?

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hey gang,

I am wondering how you grill out when camping.

For me, I carry a little Smokey Joe charcoal grill and use Match Light charcoal. But when I can, I like to use the grill section of the campsite's fire ring when present. I clean it off, then place my Smokey Joe cooking grate on it.

Sometimes I setup one of those tripod cooking grates. Mine is one of the larger/taller ones (only one I could find) and it is a real pain to setup and to store.

I am seriously considering a small portable gas grill. Maybe one of those Weber Mini Qs.

What works well for you?

Jim
 

mowmoney

Member
We have a small gas grill. I think it's a chefmate or something like that we got at camping world. The legs are detachable so it stores nicely and you can get a bag to carry it in also. It's just like your grill at home only a little smaller.

We tried the grill that is a solid top rather than a grate but didn't like it because it didn't give the burgers and steaks that same flavor you know?

Good luck and happy grilling. :)
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
mowmoney,

I hear ya on the flavor. I am looking at the Weber Baby Q and one thing I want to look at is how the heat is conveyed to the food. If there is a flame that heats a solid metal cooking slab, then I won't want it Sounds barbaric but I want that "flame on flesh" flavor.

I did see a small retangular Sunbeam model at WalMart yesterday. It had folding legs and a warming rack above the cooking grid. The gas valve assembly seemed a little hokey though. Only $23!

Thanks for the input - the search continues...

Jim
 

bajaron

Bajaron
Jim

I went through the same problem when trying to deceide what grill to get. I went with the Weber Q grill with folding stand. it cost more than i wanted to spend for a camping grill but O'well. I think it work great. I just follow the instructions in the book that came with it and it's cook's just great.:)
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Ron,

Thanks for the feedback. I went out to Ace Hardware today and looked at both the Q and Baby Q. It's usually just the wife and I so I am favoring the Baby Q. It gives me more room than the Smokey Joe and appears to be real sturdily built.

I priced the Baby Q, Rolling Duffle and Vinyl Cover on Buy.com and Amazon.com today too. I think I just got a coupon in the mail for 10% off at Ace. If so, I'll get it there.

Jim
 

Tom of Ypsi

Well-known member
I have the Coleman Road Trip Grill and love it, in fact there are now 6 members of our camping club that have it. With the interchangeable grills I can do eggs, hamburgers, steaks or whatever by just changing the grills. I hardly ever cook in doors.
 

Dusty

Well-known member
I use a coleman road trip gril, its great, especially when there is more than two of you, a couple of dislikes, the grill plates, have a solid center and dont really cook even, and they are a real pain to clean up. other than that, I love it.



Dusty
 

BluegrassMan

Well-known member
Type of Grill ?

Hey Guy's:

Nothing fancy or expensive here, a Sunbeam table top gas grill that used the green bottles of gas from the Wal-mart - Sam's. I may get a little Snobish and buy a stainless steel table top model. Just my $.02 worth.:p
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Thanks everyone for all the input.

Check-out this thread on RV.NET about the Weber Baby Q and the Coleman RoadTrip models.

One of the posts in that RV.NET thread reminded me to check Consumer Reports. I did but the Coleman RoadTrip models were not reviewed. The Weber Baby Q was though. They rated it 60 out of 100 or Good. In their words "unexceptional". I don't know, I still think I like it best.

Found that Ace coupon too - $15 off. I just may pull the trigger on it tomorrow.

Jim
 

Cheryl

Well-known member
My husband wants to take his parents' full sized Kenmore gas grill. He says it would only take a few minutes to assemble/disassemble. It is like new and they can no longer use it.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Cheryl,

That's more work than I want to do but I can't blame our husband for wanting a nice grill on the road. I'd love to have my full-size, yet small Ducane grill from home for the road.

While my storage basement on the Landmark is huge, I sure am filling it up fast. I'll be taking up a bit more when I replace the Smokey Joe with the Weber Baby Q (or whatever I end up with).

I have yet to figure out the best way to organize all my stuff so it works best for me. By the end of my first full camping season with it, I should have a better sense of it (end of season trailer project!).

Jim
 

mowmoney

Member
I asked the other half and this is what we use.

I wasn't sure on the earlier post.

The legs come off and it all fits into a bag you can get. We got ours at Camping World.

We had the table top models but they didn't seem to cook as quickly, then we tried the grill 2 go but it didn't taste the same, finally we decided on this one, it breaks down small only takes a minute to set up and cooks just like your full size model at home or whatever. It's called Broil King Porta Chef. I don't know how to get the link on here but if you go to www.campingworld.com and you can find it easily. Good luck and of course let us know what you decide for sure.
 

Phil Smith

Retired South Carolina Chapter Leader
I bought the Baby Q a few weeks ago. I have used the Olympic from Camping World for years but after the great success on my home Weber I decided to break out the folding money and get the Baby Q. It works great but does run a little hot. Also requires the taller propane bottles which tend to run a bit more expensive than the more common short fat ones. Guess you can't have it all!

Phil
 

phranc

Well-known member
What Phil said..........does run a little hot ,on high setting . so I use a lower setting or open lid from time to time . Actually low setting is not that low. The Baby Q is nicely finished and I would assume because it is a weber parts would be available.. Now the gas bottle trick,, I wrote weber and called to find out if there was a replacement for the ring that holds gas bottle in place . They said to me to just source gas bottle(long type) Hardware store in welding dept. I said " It's a camping grill and I would think I could buy propane gas at Dick's or Camping World or Where ever. Ok solutin for holder ring is to take off the lower screw that holds it in place and bend the ring to fit larger ,shorter bottles. Or ,what I did was to take holder ring off altogether and support bottle end with an appro[iate sized jar or can top. Fits nicely in front compartment of present Jayco..I assume it would fit in front compartment of Bighorn or L'Mark..
BTW.. I am going to Syracuse this AM to look at a Bighorn ..
 

Cheryl

Well-known member
While my storage basement on the Landmark is huge, I sure am filling it up fast. I'll be taking up a bit more when I replace the Smokey Joe with the Weber Baby Q (or whatever I end up with).

I have yet to figure out the best way to organize all my stuff so it works best for me. By the end of my first full camping season with it, I should have a better sense of it (end of season trailer project!).

Jim
Nelson plans on adding a shelf to have 2 levels for storage. I believe he is going to put it all the way across the main (largest) compartment, but not the very front.
 

nemo45

Well-known member
We have a Coleman Road Trip and I have to tell you that is one great grill. It is a little hard to clean up because you put water in the bottom for grilling, but it really does a great job and is big enough to grill steaks for six people at once. I use a small refillable bottle (about 5 lb.) that fits really well in the basement with the grill. I took it to Canada with me on our fishing trip and cooked 5 T-bones and a rib-eye on it at one time.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Got the Weber Baby Q Grill

nemo45, Cheryl, phranc, Phil Smith, mowmoney, BluegrassMan and Dusty,

Thank you all for your input. It really did help me decide.

I ended up going with the Weber Baby Q. I also got the vinyl cover, the rolling duffle and the large LP tank adapter/hose.

I plan to look for and purchase one of those small 5 gallon LP tanks. I carry 1 or 2 of the long LP (soldering type) cylinders with for my campfire starting torch so I will always have some backup gas for the grill with me.

Planning to innaugurate the grill at my office/warehouse tomorrow by grilling chicken and skirt steak for a small potluck we're having. Nice to get used to using it before I take it camping.

While I did read a lot of posts on RV.NET about these grills yesterday as well, I got lots of fast, current and relevant feedback here on the Heartland Owners forum - thanks a lot gang!

Jim
 

cableman

Well-known member
Re: Type of Grill ?

We use a kenmore stainless grill from sears. The most important thing is the grate. Get something that cleans up easy and you will be so much happier in the long run.
 
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