Even Backcountry Skiers Have To Eat – Compact Barbecue Review

Tailgate burgers and brats have become SOP for many of us. In our case, we’ve hauled a variety of gas and charcoal grills over the years, with recent change to a more compact unit that’ll be easier to pack in downsize SUVs and trucks we see in our future. When it comes to stuff like this we don’t like spending much money. We’d rather it was something we could leave in the pickup bed and not worry about it getting stolen. To that end, a recent trip to Wally World yielded this little Taiwanese number. It works surprisingly well, which begs the question: Do they barbecue much in Taiwan?

The unit has a flame spreader which takes the place of rocks. Surprisingly, it works, and is even somewhat wind resistant. The push button igniter functions nicely as well, though I’d imagine it’ll wear out fast as many of these do. Lid latches on for transport, and the legs even fold up in a way that belies the cheap price.

Spy shot from the evil empire. They sell a variety of these things, but this looked like the best shape for basic grilling.

Trick is to add an extension hose for a regular propane tank. Fifteen bucks gets you there, then you need a small tank (which will end up being the most pricy part of setting up such a system). We got a nice little 10 pounder a while ago.