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Notes -
The grilling went great. The brats especially benefited a lot from the smoky flavor imparted by the charcoal. Maybe it's just because I didn't cook them as hard as I usually do, but they seemed a lot juicier as well. I had recently cooked the same kind of brats in the oven, using the broiler to char at the end, and it really was a world of difference. Chicken thighs also turned out really well. Pork loin was good, but I don't know if it was better than in the air fryer.
The grill itself is kind of horrible. There are no bottom vents, so if you want to put the lid on, you start smothering the fire (I did it anyway to get some indirect heat after searing). Some ways through the cooking, one of two points the handle was attached by detached. And of course, the darn thing is horribly small, meaning you can only cook a few things at a time, meaning the cook took kind of a long time. Two-zone charcoal seemed to work, despite its size, and despite my not really being able to get an even amount of charcoal on an entire side. Maybe should have left it in the chimney for a little while longer, because some of the charcoal wasn't really lit if it was away from the hot corner.
I like that I can throw random sticks I find in my yard into the fire. I don't know the consequences of this behavior, other than making it get a lot hotter for a minute or so. If I had a larger grill, I'd definitely be doing fajitas on it. Or longer cooking time things like potatoes or chicken leg quarters.
Also I swear that that tiny grill is still way better than the propane three-burner Expert Grill from Walmart we've got. Burners so far apart, I doubt the thing keeps heat very well, and I feel like I can barely sear on it at all. Maybe I should give it another try sometime, maybe I'm wrong. It certainly can keep a lot more food on it.
I have genuinely never seen a grill in any price class (except one time use ones) without bottom vents. Its Not like this is some expensive innovation requiring precision engineering. You just need holes in the bottom.
Even my mini portable grill bought from the supermarket for like 20$ has bottom vents.
I don't know what to tell you, man. My mini portable grill that I dug out of the garage of a relative that they let me have for free doesn't have bottom vents. It's Char-Broil and it looks like this, though it doesn't have any ash tray or anything on the bottom, just solid on the bottom. Your comment makes me paranoid enough to check extra carefully that it's entirely closed on the bottom once I get home.
Just because i haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Maybe it's a American thing related to regulations or something.
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