Grillstream BBQ - anyone got one?

kenmc

Howdy, I'm in the market for a new gas BBQ to replace my 7 year old Dunnes Stores special - cost 70 quid or so at the time. Going gas cos I love being able to cook outdoors at the flick of a switch, especially when get home from work and the toddler needs dinner pronto.

Anyway, none of the current gas ones seem to have lavarock any more, the one that is catching my eye is a GrillStream classic 3 burner in woodies for 299 euro. Not really looking to even spend that but the lower cost ones seem to be very flimsy - one even boasts a "no tools needed to assemble" - that one has my suspicions as to how it will last. Most of the rest are more expensive, e.g. weber, outback etc

The grillstream has flame deflectors which the more expensive entry level Weber doesn't have - just has bare gas pipe with holes in it - I find that hard to believe that it will cook evenly and won't get grease clogging the holes - seems a really odd design.

Anyway - has anyone experience of the grillstream technology or is it all marketing hype? I like the idea of little in the way of cleanup, but wonder if it's a reality. Very few reviews on amazon, and some of them only talk about issues during assembly, so hard to get a good idea as to the effectiveness of the grills.

Otherwise, I'm all ears for a suggestion on alternative options sub 300euro

Thanks
K

paddyh117

Hi

I bought this BBQ last week and got to use it on Saturday for the first time...I was also skeptical about the technology and to be honest makes little difference - some of the fat runs off but very little - still needs to be cleaned afterward with usual brush and water.

I know it states that it will safely cook chicken, but i didn't chance it and pre-cooked the chicken in the oven and just finished it on the BBQ

at the price-point though it's a Nice BBQ - cooked everything well - heat at the back of the grill (rear 50%) much hotter than the front so had to juggle stuff around - maybe that's normal - gas is new to me.

it's a s Solid BBQ though - takes a bit of assembly - least an hour and another person would be great help.

considering the same size (3 burner) Weber is €699, this was a no-brainer for me - I'm hoping to get lots of use out of it over the summer.

kenmc

Thanks for that, kind of my idea too, it's a no-brainer in the price point and does seem solid. Additionally my darling pensioner mother will be buying it for me on a thursday, so will be getting 10% off that price

with regards to the chicken, I always just do it on the bbq, never precook anything. It just goes on first and usually use indirect heat initially to get it fully cooked inside before charring it. Breasts I usually butterfly or flatten before marinating, thighs/drumsticks go on first, breasts next, then sausages and burgers, finally fish and steak. Potatos wrapped in foil go around the edges from more or less spark up and they're ready to go whenever. I've never had a grill with a griddle though, so that should be nice for more delicate stuff and veg that tends to fall through the grill.

Does it run on propane or butane btw? I've got 2 yellow cylinders - butane I think...

paddyh117

about falling through the grill - the 3 grills don't fully cover the gap and there is some space - not a lot but i thought it unusual and wondered if it was a design flaw or error, but Saturday arrived and made no difference - the griddle was good though.

it uses Propane

are Woodies still doing the 10%?I thought they weren't and didn't bother but if they are happy days - Thursdays didn't suit me to nab a pensioner!

kenmc

paddyh117 wrote: »

are Woodies still doing the 10%?I thought they weren't and didn't bother but if they are happy days - Thursdays didn't suit me to nab a pensioner!

Yep, I even asked if that covers BBQs, as the sign says "10% off almost everything" with a little * saying power tools and some other stuff.

What's the approx dimensions of the box it comes in? (i.e. which car do I need to send )
thanks
K

paddyh117

it's a big box! wouldn't fit in my large saloon car boot - luckily my wife was there also with her hatchback so got it in there with the seats down.

don't empty it there - lots and lots of bits!

livingthedream

Hi,

I got one of these about a month or so ago and have used it about half a dozen times since.

I thought it would be a pain to put together but the whole top section of burners/hood etc come as one piece. Most of the assembly was related to the trolley base and side shelves. I did it myself but another pair of hands would have resulted in fewer curse words!

As someone else mentioned I have found that there is more heat towards the back of the grill that the front. Yes some of the grease does appear to run to the front etc, not sure how well this works but I haven't cooked anything terribly fatty on it yet tbh.

The griddle plate is flat on one side or you can flip it over to have a traditional griddle plate with raised grooves. This was one of the attractions for me as it is handy to do some onions or asparagus etc to go with a steak/burger etc..

Having two shelves, one either side is handy too, I had kinda hoped to get one with a side burner but now I have the 2 shelves I'm glad I didn't.
It's just outside the kitchen doors to our decking anyway so I can use a pan on the cooker if I really need to... I believe the side burner is the "most requested, least used" feature on most bbqs..

It appears to be quite sturdy too compared to some similarly sized ones I had seen elsewhere which is why I was willing to splash the cash a bit, though I did my negotiations with the store manager who passed on his discretionary 10% discount which then got spent on a decent cover!

So far, I'm pretty happy with it, but it needs a lot more mileage before I'll sign off on it fully so bring on some sunshine please!!!

~LTD

kenmc

yeah I'm not bothered with the side burner, worst comes to worst I'll take out one of the camping stoves if I really need to, but I can't imagine anything i'd need to cook on it that I can't do on the BBQ; put it this way, in 20 years of BBQing I've never thought "jaysus if only I had a cooker here as well".

Interesting that both of you mention the warmer back sections, as the only half decent review (http://www.foodepedia.co.uk/articles/2012/may/leisuregrow_grillstream_barbecue_test.htm) said the same thing.

And I've just now seen the comments on that same review (last time was on the phone and they didn't show) and it has turned me 180 degrees again, was going to go and get one. Now I'm back on the fence. feckit.

Talula_d

We bought the grill stream about a year ago now and we love it! It has been outside all year just with a cover on it as we hadn't the room to store it! It does need a bit of cleaning but it's easily cleaned, in fact I took to it with the garden hose and it worked a treat, it heats up quickly and we found it cooked food evenly! I cooked marinated chicken skewers from scratch on it and they went down a treat with everyone! So all in all we found it was a worthwhile price for what we got its very hard wearing and sturdy and is easy to cook on!

Also it is quite big so have the car prepared and a storage space!

kenmc

just to complete the circle, i actually went with one from argos, the 4 burner premium (http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2876847.htm) which is currently "half price" or so they claim - either way it's 70 quid cheaper than with the OAP discount I could've got on the grillstream in woodies - 2 fills of gas!

Same size cooking area as the grillstream but with 4 burners so I figure it should be slightly more evenly heated. Only used it twice so far, bit early to tell but seems to be good. Using up my supplies of butane before switching to propane. Even has a useless side burner, which, so far, is still unused.

Thanks for all the replies on the grillstream though
K