Char-Broil Grill2Go gas barbecue review
4.0
Read our expert review of the Char-Broil Grill2Go, a compact but effective barbecue for home or on the go
Pros
- Compact, lightweight for moving round the garden (9.7kg), good cooking results, easy to set up and use, comes with useful scraper
Cons
- Some flare-ups despite manufacturer claims, tricky to cook slower dishes like the aubergine, cool spot in whole front of BBQ, noticeably hotter on right side, no extra tools/storage
Char-Broil Grill2Go review summary
A single-burner table top gas barbecue, the Char-Broil Grill2Go is a compact grill that’s perfect for small gardens and cooking on the go.
- Available from Amazon (£148.99), Appliances Direct (£143) and BBQ World (£177.99)
- Read our full review of the best gas barbecues
How easy is the Char-Broil Grill2Go to assemble?
It’s almost ready to go from the box – you just need to plug in the regulator and add gas. However, unless you shell out for a gas adaptor it only runs on threaded EN417 gas bottles, like this Coleman 440g gas bottle. Though the instructions are clear, they're spread across two different manuals, which is a little frustrating.
How easy is the Char-Broil Grill2Go to use?
This barbecue is very easy to use. Just open the gas, click the ignition, and it gets going. We found that it gets to temperature in under five minutes, and it’s easy to tell when it’s ready thanks to a handy thermometer in the lid. However, the temperature control could be a little smoother, and it doesn’t react very quickly.
You also can’t see how full your gas bottle is, but this is a problem of all table-top barbecues running on camping gas.
Though the overall compactness of the barbecue is useful, it also means that this barbecue doesn’t have any storage or extra functions. It’s small and lightweight, so though it has a relatively large 44 x 28cm cooking area it’s easy to move around the garden. We think it would be a great companion while camping. It also comes with a scraper for cleaning after use.
We found this barbecue very easy to store. It’s the smallest barbecue in this round of tests, so would neatly fit in a car boot. You could easily bring it on a camping trip or take it round to a friend’s house for a quick barbecue.
Cooking results
We loved this barbecue’s well-defined grill lines, achieving lovely striped char lines every time. The Grill2Go is also remarkably good at retaining moisture, which can be tricky on a barbecue. Vegetable kebabs came off the grill with crisp, charred outsides and succulent insides.
However, Char-Broil makes a big claim that this barbecue prevents flare-ups with infrared cooking. While we found fewer flare-ups than some of the other barbecues we tested, there were still a few.
To be really nitpicky, this barbecue slightly suffers from the success of its char-lines, which can quickly blacken food even when cooking at lower temperatures. This makes it difficult to cook through larger ingredients. It’s also easy to lose small bits of food (such as halloumi) into the grooves of the grill, which are tricky to fish out.
The right half of the grill is also much hotter than the left, with a noticeable cool spot along the front of the barbecue. That said, we actually found this quite useful while cooking, as you can use the left side or front to keep cooked items warm as you start other burgers on the hotter right side.
How sustainable is the Char-Broil Grill2Go?
This barbecue comes wrapped in a little plastic, but this isn’t excessive. You should note though that the warranty is only two years long. If it breaks after that time and you need to buy another it isn’t very sustainable.
Conclusion
We think this grill is excellent for couples and small families, offering good, everyday grilling at a reasonable price. However, don’t get stung by the short warranty of just two years.
Char-Broil Grill2Go specifications
Brand: Char-Broil
Model: Grill2Go
RRP: £199.99
Dimensions (cm): H: 34.5 x W: 60.2 x D: 39.9
Materials: Stainless steel
Warranty: Two years
Gas needed: Propane/butane mix
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If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.
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