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Pros
Price, temperature/smoke control, lots of features
Cons
Low quality materials, wobbly, small grill area, poor grill lines

Read our review of the best charcoal barbecues

First impressions of the VonHaus Compact Charcoal BBQ

Our first impressions were that it’s packed with features, offering a range of functions and extra handy add-ons like side tables. However, every single part feels very thin and flimsy.

How easy is the VonHaus Compact Charcoal BBQ to assemble?

This BBQ is very straightforward to assemble, but if you hate flatpack, steer well clear. Nothing arrived preassembled, so set aside an hour for lots of fiddly tightening of screws.

How easy is the VonHaus Compact Charcoal BBQ to use?

This BBQ is packed with features. It comes with a thermometer so you can monitor the temperature of your charcoal or wood smoke. The two side tables are great for holding ingredients and sauces as you cook. The wheels are handy for moving the BBQ around, though they don’t have locks, and there’s storage underneath for BBQ accessories. The most notable feature is an adjustable firebox, so you can choose the height of your charcoal or smoking wood and adjust the temperature. It also has a front door, so you can easily add more wood while smoking. It offers a surprising amount of features for a BBQ of this price – there’s even a bottle opener so you can enjoy a beer as you grill.

Cooking results

The adjustable firebox offers amazing control that you rarely see on charcoal BBQs, let alone charcoal BBQs of this size. It meant we could precisely choose temperature – nothing was incinerated or underdone and we could cook all our ingredients exactly as we wanted them. We were also impressed with how quickly it heated up, reaching temperature in a relatively quick 25 minutes. However, other features of the BBQ let the cooking down a little. The 45 x 32cm grill is fairly small, and spaces in the grill are quite large, so we lost smaller ingredients like halloumi and cherry tomatoes to the fire.

How sustainable is the VonHaus Compact Charcoal BBQ?

This is not a sustainable product. Its many parts all come wrapped in plastic, and with just a two-year warranty, it’s unlikely to last too long without a cover for winter months.

Conclusion

The VonHaus Compact Charcoal BBQ is an excellent option if you’re on a budget. It’s packed with features and offers great temperature control, but bear in mind that it’s truly compact and budget – the parts are low quality, and it has a small grill area.

Available from:
Vonhaus (£139.99)
Amazon (£149.99)