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My wife and I wanted a new grill for tailgating at Miami Dolphins games this year. I am somewhat of a home gourmet and I am extremely particular of my cooking accouterments. After reading countless reviews on many different sites we narrowed it down to the Weber Q and the Coleman Roadtrip LXE. We went to Outdoor World here in Fort Lauderdale and actually looked at both as they had floor models available. We chose the Roadtrip based on it's modular ease of set-up and take down (I've never seen anything easier), the high 20,000 BTU output and the dual burner set-up, none of which the Weber Q had unless you purchased the top of the line Weber which was more than double the price in order to get dual burners and the higher BTU's. The Weber Q stand seemed much flimsier also.
After deciding on this grill we ordered it from Amazon for $159.00 and we chose the free shipping as we were not in any hurry since football season pre-games don' start until August. Amazon had the lowest price we could find. We were surprised to see this grill show up on our door step just 4 days later when the free shipping option told us it would take almost 2 weeks.
I opened the box and set it up immediately and I was pleasantly surprised that it came out of the box nearly complete. Just put the wheels on, attach the handle and the regulator and you're good to go. About 15 minutes in all as compared to hours I have spent assemblying other new grills.
Next came the cook test and the clean up test. After reading other reviewers saying that they lined the inside with foil for easier cleanup, I thought this was a good idea and did the same. I laid foil across the entire insides and with a steak knife cut around the 2 burners and a hole so any drippings could fall into the drip pan. I have read that the instructions for some of these roadtrip grills say to place water in the bottom for easier clean-up. NOT this model. The instructions say nothing of the sort. From reading many reviews, I summize that is on the standard Roadtrip model Model No. 9941-768 not this LXE model so the foil is a good idea.
I chose a beautiful 28 day aged NY Stip steak and my wife a 2 1/2" barrel cut filet. I preheated the grill for 5 minutes with the lid open on medium, wiped one side of the grill with vegetable oil and the other side with Pam for grilling(handles higher heats). I wanted to see right from the beginning which worked better on these porcelain coated cast iron grills. I can tell you I saw absoultely no difference between the two and will continue to use the Pam.
This grill gets HOT! I have to say that I was concerned about the fact that these grill surfaces do have the center area as solid cast iron(no open grill) so no flame gets through over the top of the burners. My concern was no flame hitting the meat = less flavor. The purpose for this is so that grease does not fall directly onto the 2 burners themselves. Let me clarify, there is open grill area...just not directly over the burners. I can report that this concern turned out to be competely unfounded. I rubbed the steaks with olive oil and salt & peppered them and placed each one directly over each burner on the unopened flame area. From the very first second I knew that the searing was going to be awesome and it was. It sizzled like nothing I have ever heard before except on commercial kitchen grills. The grill marks were perfect, the taste and flavor was perfect. I can't say enough about this grill. So far I love it but what about clean up.
The grills cooled down very quickly. I soaked the two porcelain coated cast iron grills in soapy hot water in my kitchen sink over night, as they fit no problem. I honestly don't think I needed to because I ran my finger accoss to see how "baked" on the residue was. It semed to come off pretty easily but I was full on a 16 oz NY strip and several glasses of Cabernet so they could wait until morning. The next morning the grills cleaned up so easily with a soapy wet sponge and I removed the foil lining and wiped the whole inside down with a soapy wet sponge and wiped it out with a dry towel. There was no difference in ease of clean up between the vegetable oil side or the Pam side. Both were easy. The porcelain coated cast iron grills do not need "seasoning" as un-coated cast iron grills do and if something does get baked on you can use a brass grill brush to clean them. Just make sure the brush is brass. It's softer and won't damage the procelain coating.
Folks, forget about any of the horror stories you hear about this grill...it's awesome. It gets so hot you don't need to close the lid so don't let that be a deterrent unlesss you smoke your food. The only reason I give this grill a 4 and not a 5 is because of the fact you can't cook with the lid closed. Although I said don't let it be a deterrent, it would be nice to smoke food. Also worth noting is that this new version comes with two grill surfaces. The older version came with one grill and one griddle and you were forced to buy an additional grill surface. Also with this new version the grill does NOT come off of the stand to be placed on a table top and the lid does not come off. I have read the opposite from other reviewers. Perhaps those things were true with older models. I know this was a long review, but these were all things I was concerned about and that I read conflicting stories on. I hope my review is helpful to you!
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I am a died in the wool griller and Weber guy. We currently have three grills around the house; a horizontal smoker/charcoal grill, a Weber gas Silver C gas grill (10 years old, the best!!) and the Coleman Roadtrip. I bought this grill because I get stuck doing the cooking at other friends and relatives and always had to load up the Weber. This Roadtrip is the cat's meow for this type of grilling road show.I was going to get a Weber Q but it doesn't have the cart, at least not at a sub $200 pricepoint. This grill does the job and then some. I used the grill five times in the last two weeks, trying different approaches and methods, and have come up with a few tips and tricks to make the grill work it's best. Please note that this grill is one of the best I have ever used and certainly better than the majority of gas grills I have used. It's no Weber, but then, it ain't 500 bucks either. So, on with the tips.
1. The burner has a "low" to "high" settings. The high settings are ONLY and I mean ONLY for using the burner attachment or griddle attachment. There is no need to use 20,000BTU's of heat on a grill this small. These guys that are melting handles and such are also ruining food with entirely too much heat. They ought to put this in the book, but they don't. So you read it hear first, been grilling for over 25 years, do NOT use the high setting for grilling...PERIOD! Think about it...my Weber, which is almost twice as big and has enough clearance built into the cover for a turkey or upright chicken, only has 40,000BTU. So 20,000 for a grill with a three inch clearance cover and burners less than an inch away from the food is way too much. NO HIGH!!! PERIOD...there, now I feel better.
2. Properly preheat the grill. Fire up the grill, set it to "MED", no higher (READ # 1!!!), close the cover, and let it run for 10 minutes. This will get the grates properly heated as well as everything else. This will allow for even heat for cooking.
NOTE: The cover for this grill (I am referring to the lid that covers the grill during cooking) is durable as long as you (say it with me, folks!) DON'T USE THE HIGH SETTING FOR GRILLING!! Now given that, even on the lowest of heat setting the lid will "warp" when heated. I would bet that even a good dose of sunlight would do this. It's no worries, but it does cause a potential issue. This happens to most grills but it's so little you never notice it. But on this grill, the lid lock pin slides down into a slot that only has about a 1/16" clearance. The cover then heats up, moving the lock very VERY slightly but just enough, causing the grill not to open easily because of the pin catching on the slot. TO avoid this, after unlocking and opening the grill cover, just turn the lever to the "lock" position prior to preheating. ADVANCED FIX: I think utilizing a bit of backyard engineering IE tinsnips to open up the slot for more clearance while still being able to lock the lid may do the trick. IN the interim, just flipping to lock will still allow the lid to close, but the lock pin won't slide into the slot. As far as the highly reported melting lid handle, I have made attempts to get the handle hot enough to melt with the grill on medium and have determined that it simply won't happen. No concern, as long as you FOLLOW RULE#1!!
3. Once preheated, do what you would do with a normal gas grill heat control utilizing the "Coleman Roadtrip Medium" setting as "HIGH." Most folks go to Medium on a gas grill, so that would be half way between MED and LOW on this grill. Make sense? Good. I usually cook a tick above halfway.
4. Now just use like a normal gas grill, keeping the cover closed at all times. I will state that even at these supposedly low heat settings, this grill does cook faster than my big Weber, so keep an eye out the first few times you use it.
5. Foil for cleanup of the drip pan? I don't like that idea. The shiny drip pan cleans up so easily it's not required. Also, there is a problem if the foil is wrinkled at all you won't have proper draining of the grease, resulting in flair up and fire. I use hot, soapy water and let the excess water go to the drip pan. It cleanse up very easily.
That's all I got. If you follow my rules, you will love this grill.
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I've actually owned the Coleman Road Trip LXE Grill for several months and have had it stored in my travel trailer, just waiting for the opportunity to use it while traveling. However, my daughter and her husband had the idea to "rough it" camp at Edison Lake in the high Sierras of California.Our experience was limited to two days and nights of varied cooking. The first experience was grilling polish dogs for lunch. The dogs fit perfectly in the grill's grooves and were cooked very evenly through and through with the lid closed. That evening I cooked two tri-tip roasts. The grills had been pretreated with Pam barbecue spray, making cleanup very easy. After some basic seasoning, the roasts turned out perfectly cooked, crisp on the outside and full of natural juices on the inside. Day two was an instant replay of the first day with hamburgers as the main course.
I had purchased the gridle and a grate accessories for the LXE grill and can report that this was money wisely invested. My wife used the grate to brew the morning coffee and, later, whipped up a tasty mixture of hash browns, onions, and cheese. The LXE's variable heat and grate sturdiness made the preparation of this and other large pan dishes a snap. The gridle made cooking pancakes a breeze. Even with no Pam or cooking oil, the pancakes were light and fluffy and did not stick to the gridle.
If you're a barbecue enthusiast and use the Coleman LXE extensively, consider using a large propane container like I did. I bought a CharBroil propane hose/adapter at Lowe's for $16 and connected it to the LXE. Since I already owned the 5 gallon propane tank, my only expense was filling the tank with propane. Why go into so much detail about this, you might ask. If you've priced those little propane bottles to fuel small barbecues and lanterns, the money spent on the larger quantity of propane and the hose adapter will pay for itself rapidly over a summer's worth of use.
Clean up of LXE was certainly effortless. The recommendation of using foil to line the area surrounding the burners is certainly worth considering as well as the drip tray beneath the LXE. I soaked the cooking grates in OxyClean for about 15 minutes and whatever residue remained from two days of cooking was easily removed.
Like many other users, I recommend the LXE for its ease of use and versatility.
Honest reviews on Coleman 9949-750 Road Trip Grill LXE
We purchased the Coleman 9949-750 Road Trip Grill LXE locally, not through Amazon. This grill is amazing. Our fourth of July barbeque (yesterday) was a great success thanks to the Coleman RoadTrip. Our previous grills have been either charcoal or large propane tank grills, neither of which were very portable.The Coleman RoadTrip Grill has a large plastic handle that extends outward. While the grill is collapsed and flat, you place your foot on the large plastic handle and grab the metal side handle and pull up and towards you. A metal hook underneath attaches to the top of one of the legs, securing the entire grill. Taking it down is just as easy.
Once the grill is up, two plastic side tables slide out from underneath both sides of the grill. These HAVE to be extended while cooking. Otherwise, you may have a melted or warped plastc mess!
A can of propane from WalMart was about $1.00 and lasts about 2 hours. Connecting the can to the grill was very easy as was lighting the grill. (Although if it's windy, you may have to use a match)
The grill heats up quickly and becomes very hot. You can easily cook on low heat and it still remains hot enough to cook and sizzle your food. Despite what many reviews say, you CAN cook with the lid down Just NOT on high heat and not for long periods of time. I'd say 5 minutes closed before re-opening.
CLEAN UP: It can get a bit messy inside the RoadTrip Grill. If you don't want to spend a lot of time on clean up, line the base of the grill, under the grates and around the burners with aluminum foil. Also place a small piece of aluminum foil in the slide out drip pan. Be careful not to block the burner openings. When the cooking is all done, wait for the grill to cool and remove the aluminum foil. Easy!
The grill grates can be soaked in hot soapy water for a few hours and even the most burnt on food will wash away. You can also place the grill grates in your dishwasher, although for me, it took a couple of washes to get off everything without having to scrub it off manually.
SUMMARY: This is an excellent grill that'll get a lot of comments from on-lookers. Everyone thinks it's cool! It cooks great and it looks great! I'd highly recommend getting this grill and the Wheeled Carry Case (sold seperately) because the grill lid lock is rather flimsy and when you're pulling the grill, the grill grates fall against the lid and tumble out onto the ground. The carry case also makes it easier for two people to lift it into and out of the trunk of a car or back of a pickup. (And it'll keep it from getting scratched!)
Happy Grilling!
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I spent hours researching portable gas grills looking for good heat, features, ease of use, and portability. Then I gave my wife the link and told her that's what I wanted for Christmas. Good wife that she was, she ordered it for me. Wow! Coleman did a really good job designing this grill. It's a heavy and large portable grill, that folds down into a cart, so you can wheel it around. When ready, just lift it up and the handle and wheels become it's stand.It comes with 2 grill grates, but can accept interchangeable surfaces, so you can grill with grates, fry with a griddle, or use pots and pans with a stove grate. Since there are two, you can mix and match. Want breakfast? Use the griddle to cook up some bacon and eggs, and the stove grate to brew up a pot of coffee. Lunch? Use the griddle and make up some cheesesteaks or fajitas. Dinner? Fire up the grill and cook up a nice steak.
The grill uses standard portable propane cylinders of either type available anywhere. It even comes with two table surfaces that slide out from either side, and hooks to hang your tools on.
The Roadtrip Grill comes with 2 separate burners, each with it's own control. The grill ignites the burners with a push of a button and the burners themselves generate a lot of heat. I usually end up cooking on medium, because cooking on high results in very charred foods. High praise for a portable grill that runs from a small propane cylinder. The grill surfaces are intelligently designed, so they cover the burner so grease and drippings don't clog the burner, but there's still plenty of area around it for the raw heat to come out. The grease and drippings do go down to the bottom, but it's a pretty easy clean up. If there's a lot, it will drip down into a little drawer underneath that just slides out for dumping.
Many have commented about it not being safe to cook with the lid down, as the handle may melt. Indeed the warning label warns you not to do so. I was very aware of this, and experimented. In my case I was able to cook just fine with the lid down with the heat on medium. I will continue to cook with the lid down where appropriate, but I will be very mindful of it and check the handle temp often.
This is really intelligently designed for a portable grill. I am already envisioning wheeling this thing everywhere. And why not? It's so easy. I can't imagine why people are paying $40 or more for the Weber Q, with hardly any of the features.
UPDATE July 17, 2011 4 years later and I'm still using this. I still love it. It now does double duty as a portable grill and my primary patio grill. The only defect is that the paint on the lower portion has faded. It now looks more pink than red. But the paint on the hood remains bright red.
Also, one tip. Get some wide aluminum foil and use it to line the bottom. Just push it down, use a knife and cut holes for the burners, then line the bottom. Remember to cut a hole where the drain hole is. Then when it gets really dirty, just lift it out and replace with new foil.
I still heartily recommend this grill.
