TEST KITCHEN; Sizzling, And Sputtering, And No Charcoal - small charcoal grill

Amanda hesserjune 1999 this is written to the most hated people in the world, that is, every one who finds the rough little charcoal grill so dirty that in countless other ways they can spoil any holiday weekend, slow and inconvenient.
There is also a choice: micro gas grill.
They are relatively primitive.
They have little energy compared to their charcoal brothers.
But by definition, they are not as good as a completesize gas grill;
Even a small charcoal grill gets hot.
Can you bake well on it?
How do different brands compare?
It turns out that while there are a lot of small charcoal versions, there are actually only two micro-gas models: Coleman Powermax Grill and Weber Go-
Gas Grill anywhere.
I borrowed the neighbor's patio for an afternoon to test them.
Both grills are easy to install.
Coleman opens like a suitcase, with wings on it, and the lid supports it as a wind guard.
The gas tank must be purchased exclusively for this Grill, just screw into the back and it is OK.
Webb needs a small rally.
It is more of a standard grill that rises from the ground with a lid and wooden handle.
It requires a small propane tank that can be purchased at the hardware store.
An advertisement for a barbecue in New York City.
It is illegal to bring a pound of gas tanks into a building in the city. (
Both grills use pots that weigh less than a pound. )
The grill must also be placed at least 10 feet from any combustible surface and must have a hose or 16-connected to the water source-
There is a bucket of water nearby.
While little Webb has an automatic launcher, I have to light it up with my hands.
It seems to get very hot, very fast.
After heating on the grill for 15 minutes, I did the first experiment: Spicy poultry sausage.
Nothing happened.
I checked the heating.
It is indeed as high as it will go.
I bent my waist near the grill.
If I listen very, very carefully, I can hear the faint splash sound, which is the advice of cooking.
There is no smoke.
After the sausage was baked, I had another string of scallops.
I brushed some with olive oil and wrapped some with bacon.
When I put them on the grill, I heard my first hissing sound.
I realize that fat is essential for getting anything like a grill --like sear.
This would be an outdoor toaster oven without it.
I put the lid on the grill and soon there was more iron plates and smoke.
When the bacon is cooked, it drops the fat and scallop juice onto the so-called seasoning stick ---
The hood above the gas flame was invented to replace lava.
When fat and juice hit the seasoning stick, they cook immediately and send out the fragrance and smoke inside the grill.
I'm looking for a place.
Scallops wrapped in bacon cooked best, with a slight brown on the edge, the sausage eventually cooked, but never formed the deep grill marks and blistering I wanted.
A slate of verdalia onions with brown oil on the edge and slowly softened-
The use of a hot grill is not easy to achieve pleasant results.
The ad burger is made of grated barbecue slices, not very thin slices, dripping and hissing like lamb chops brushed with olive oil.
But because the lid of the lamb chops was covered and it was baked too slowly.
They bake Brown outside, but Cook far more than I thought.
Verdict: The Grill was successful. Kind of.
The food is brown, with rigging.
But it's not impressive.
I called Webb.
Stephen products, a grill manufacturer, to see what it thinks about performance.
Unfortunately, its ambitions seem to be limited.
"It's like comparing a grape to a whole grape --
Betty Hughes, the company's director of Consumer Affairs, said of the miniature grill relative to the larger backyard grill, a ripe fruit.
"There's just no comparison.
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My hopes for the Coleman Powermax grill stove have diminished, and it looks more like a convenience for camping than a serious chef appliance.
I heated the grill to a high position and put a fat round onion on it.
In less than a minute, dark, noticeable grill stripes appeared on it.
I really need to turn off the heating!
There is no seasoning bar in Coleman's grill.
The grill is closer to the heating element and the base than Weber, so any drops of water will be cooked on the base, and the food cooked up will emit smoke and taste.
There is also a temperature change on the grill.
The perimeter is cooler and the center is hotter, so when baking onions, I first bake them in the center and then move them outside to finish cooking.
There is also an additional feature for the Coolman: a gas burner.
This is great for any task if you are camping: boiling water, cooking hot grains, heating canned soup.
It is also helpful for BBQ on the terrace.
You can heat the sauce or keep the temperature of the marinade when you grill the meat.
The sausage is next.
Their casing is bubbling and colored and the meat is heated in a few minutes.
The grill is striped on scallops and is not dried or overcooked.
There is no cover for the grill and no cover is required.
Advertising, but when I cook burgers and lamb chops, the real evidence that this grill can work like any miniature charcoal stove is.
As soon as they got to the grill, the crack snapped up.
Deep mahogany marks on both sides of the burger, completely pink in the middle.
The fat on the edge of the lamb chops is twisted and curled at high temperatures, and the lamb chops are crunched beautifully outside, but rarely inside.
The grill is designed for grilled food.
As these two grills show, some are better than others.
The two grills run in 10,000 British heat units. B. T. U.
However, this does not measure the efficiency of a particular grill or the speed of Sears food.
This is what design means.
On Weber, the heat source is further away from the surface of the barbecue than on Coleman, making it harder to get as hot as it is needed.
The Coleman also has another advantage: the bottom under the gas source is close to it and tilted upwards so that the heat is reflected in the direction of the surface of the barbecue, thus improving efficiency.
Outdoor barbecue is not the same as outdoor toast.
The price of the Coleman Powermax grill is $139.
867 Broadway Paragon sporting goods company 99 (18th Street); (212)255-8036.
The fuel for Coleman Powermax is $4.
$50, $5 an ounce. 50 for 10. 6 ounces. The Weber Go-
The price of Anywhere is $54.
No. 98, Zabar's, 2245 Broadway (80th Street); (212)787-2000.
Propane fuel is available in the hardware store.
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A version of this article was printed on page F00001 of the National edition on June 30, 1999 with the title: Test Kitchen;
Hiss, splashes, no charcoal.