It’s big enough to grill a single chicken, grill several large steaks at once, or fit on about six 12-inch skewers. But if you’re making meat and vegetables for a family of four, you’ll be cooking in batches. In fact, this is not so bad. Most meats need a break anyway after they’re done cooking, giving you time to make your veggies. In my testing, the Mini Big Green Egg has excellent heat control and, like the larger version, is extremely fuel efficient.
You can Find a local store that has MiniMax here.
The best grill to charge your device
The FirePit+ is a sleek, portable mesh box with detachable legs, hibachi-style grill, and ash bin. It uses a Bluetooth-compatible app to precisely control the airflow, thereby controlling the temperature of your cooking. Be sure to read through my colleague Adrienne So’s full review of the original model for more details, but I specifically set out to see how it bakes and the answer is: very good.
The main drawback to using the FirePit as a grill is its size. It’s big enough to cook for four, but it’s long and narrow, making some things awkward (I suggest you do not try a whole chicken). It is best suited for baking kabobs and the like. Think “food on a stick.”
Perhaps the best thing about the FirePit is that when dinner is over, you can lower the price of fuel and turn it into a fire pit. And of course it can recharge your devices, but there’s something nebulous about sitting around a fire to charge your phone.
Test method
Terms Cooking meat and outdoor barbecue are often used interchangeably, which is fine, but if you’re serious about cooking over an open flame, you’ll want to learn the distinction. Grilling usually means cooking directly over high heat, while barbecue usually refers to cooking over indirect heat for a longer time: You grill the steak. You grill the ribs.
I’ve used both methods to test, grilling everything from steak and salmon to corn and even kale. (This recipe for grilled kale was my aim to test how difficult it is to clean a grill. It’s delicious but incredibly messy.)
As for the charcoal options, I also smoke the ribs, pork and brisket, If you’re going to smoke I highly recommend investing in some sort of thermometer system. At home, I like SmartFire’s BBQ Controller ($375 AUD .)). It has adapters based on your grill and offers one temperature probe and three food probes. There’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, so you can keep an eye on your cooking from anywhere. It even has a handy storage box for everything.
That said, most of the time when I’m on the road, I grab Weber’s Connect Smart Hub ($100). It’s not as complicated as the SmartFire, but it’s more portable and the two probes are generally all I need on mini ovens. I also never cook without my trust Thermopen One ($105).
Stop using the bottle of Propane
The ubiquitous, disposable, ubiquitous green propane bottle is convenient, but it is a huge source of pollution. It’s illegal in many jurisdictions to throw them in the trash, though that doesn’t stop many people, given how many of these end up in landfills each year. Don’t be that person.
I use this 11-pound refillable propane tank instead (Amazon, $89). Cooking outdoors on both stove and oven, three meals a day, an 11-pound bin lasted me about two weeks. It’s small and light enough that it shouldn’t be more difficult to transport than the four to six 1-pound bottles it replaces.
You can also buy an adapter ($15) to refill your smaller boxes, although this may be neither legal nor advisable, depending on where you live and your usual level, as you can easily fill or do valve failure. If you live in California, you can also bring 1 pound box for free refills or exchange empty boxes for full boxes.
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