9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Cooks great, but not very portable
Date of Review: Sep 18, 2006
The Bottom Line: Good buy if you want a grill that cooks well and doesn't require a lot of cleaning or maintenance. If portability is key, look somewhere else.
I recently purchased the Coleman RoadTrip LXE grill for tailgating at football games. Overall it's got lots of power and cooks very well but it has it's drawbacks.
The good:
The grill is very easy to set up. It came almost fully assembled and all I needed to do was attach the wheels to the legs. To set up the grill simply raise it up until the legs lock into the catch underneath, pull out the side tables, and attach the gas bottle. The built in electronic ignition has never failed, and the burner control is pretty easy to use.
I use Pam for Grilling to spray the grates and cover the inside of the grill with heavy duty foil. It makes cleanup a snap, although the grates still need a good soaking and some light scrubbing before going into the dishwasher. The grates are porcelain coated cast iron and distribute heat nicely.
The bad:
For a portable grill it's not very portable. One of the first things I did was fold it up and wheel it out to the car. There were a few steps along the way and I could not resist the urge to try to lift it a few inches into the air using the sturdy plastic handle (like you might try to lift a small rolling suitcase by the extended handle). Physics immediately took over and the grill separated from the handle and flopped backward onto the concrete, leaving several scratches on the painted lid.
There's also a problem with the latch the secures the lid. The latch closes upward against gravity, so as you roll the grill it tends to work itself loose. Then your nice porcelain coated cast iron grates fall out onto the concrete and get scratched up. This can be solved with a simple bungee cord but it's an annoying design/assembly flaw. (all the photos show it the other way, but mine came seemingly assembled backwards)
Another portability problem is that the side shelves tend to slide out when rolling the grill around. Several times I was rolling the grill out to the car and the shelf slid out and dragged along the ground. This was not only annoying but it damaged the edge of the plastic shelf.
The ugly:
You cannot cook with the lid down or the plastic shelves undeployed. Cooking with the lid down will melt the plastic handle. I knew this before I bought it, so it wasn't a problem. Same goes for not pulling out the plastic shelves. Rumor has it they will overheat and melt.
I've also read some horror stories about the optional griddle. The slots on the side of it dump grease and/or your food down into the burners. I'm not a breakfast person so losing an egg to the fiery inferno has not been an issue for me. But you should consider that before purchasing.
After using the grill twice, the lid seems to want to pop off. The hinges are a little cheap and keep popping out of the slot. I read where another reviewer wanted to take the lid off but couldn't. Maybe we should trade.
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