My largest pan fits easily on the burner
On edit: See my updated Thumbs Down review of the Coleman Stove Grill. After using it for a while, I am really disappointed with it.
This was my initial review:
I really like the new Coleman Stove Grill — for the most part.
This is my solution for keeping the grill mess off the rest of the stove.
I love the powerful burner that gets hot enough for stir fry, very fast boils, and easily adjusts down to the slowest simmer. Since I only cook greasy or aromatic dishes outside, the one burner is sufficient. I usually cook low-mess foods inside on the Casita’s 5000 BTU burners anyway.
My main reason for wanting the Coleman unit was because our Weber Baby-Q gets so greasy and nasty and is too hard to clean while we are out camping. Also I liked the idea of not having to carry both a camp stove and a grill.
The stove and grill pan are still clean after grilling chicken, hamburger and pork chops. There is a little burned-on grease on the grill burner and on the grill rack, but not much.
So when I use the Coleman grill, I cover the pan underneath the grill and the surrounding area with cheap aluminum foil (with a hole punched it it to allow grease to drain into the drip pan). All that foil is probably overkill, but it’s worth it to me. All it takes to clean the stove and keep it sparkling is a quick wipe down with Windex.
The grill itself is another matter. Even though it is teflon coated, it still gets the typical burned on greasy food deposits. I tried soaking it for an hour in hot soapy water after using it, and alternatively, just generously spraying it with Windex and letting it set for a half hour or so. Both methods seemed to have about equal results. It still takes scrubbing with a nylon pad to get the mess off — most of it anyway.
But at least I end up with a grill that is pretty clean instead of the mess I had with the Weber.
The burner unit is a lot closer to the grate on the Coleman than it is on the Weber, so there’s a learning curve involved in getting the heat right. Also, I used to close the lid on the Weber when I grilled on it, and I don’t with the Coleman because I don’t want the inside of the lid getting crusted on grease, so that’s another difference that I’m having to get used to.
The first time I grilled chicken, one side was charcoal because the heat was too high. I did chicken again tonight and set the heat too low. It got done, but didn’t have the crispy brown outside that I like. So the next time, hopefully I’ll get it right.
I like grilling on the Weber better, but I like camping with the Coleman better. So I’ll use the Weber on the deck at home and carry the Coleman when we go places.
I’ll close with dog pictures. 🙂
Campground rules on keeping pets confined or leashed are hard on dogs. Here Sheba, bored to tears, entertains herself by pushing gravel into her food bowl, covering up the food — then continuing to completely bury the bowl!
The only time Sunny barks or tries to leave the campsite is when someone walks by our site. Since we’re down a long drive, no one comes close enough to bother him, so we bend the rules about keeping him tied up or penned.
Tinycamper's Blog 
Gene Masse
/ October 17, 2012You might want to look into trying an item called The Grill Daddy. I got one for my Treager wood pellet grill & I like it. You put water in the handle and turn on the valve. The water dripples out onto the hot grill while you brush it. You can clean the grill right after you take the meat off. It comes in more than one size. Lots of places carry them. Do a Google search.
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/grill-daddy-bbq-brush-cleaner-gb91061.html#.UH9wtobF0UQ
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tinycamper
/ October 18, 2012Thanks, Gene. The only thing is the grill is teflon coated and I think the steel brushes would damage it. But if the teflon starts flaking off, then it would work.
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Lynne
/ October 18, 2012We also have difficulty keeping the grill clean while camping. One of the things that we do is spray the area with nonstick cooking spray before we start. Also we try to wipe much of the grill down with a paper towel while it is still hot….kinda hard to do when one is real hungry!
David cooks everything on low…..I am way too impatient, usually burn something when I cook.
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tinycamper
/ October 18, 2012Lynne, I’ll try both the cooking spray and the paper towels. I think I am going to have to cook most things on low on this grill to keep from turning it to cinders!
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cozygirl
/ October 18, 2012Love the foil idea. We were gifted a Coleman Roadtrip. Comes with griddle and an attachment that you can use a frying pan with. Jerry made bacon and eggs on it last weekend as trying to figure it out as we have always been Weber charcoal cookers. The cleaning…never easy. Once our charcoal grate was so dirty someone said spray with Grease Lightening and put in a garbage bag overnight. But for easy, fast, immediate clean up I’m still stumped.
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tinycamper
/ October 18, 2012The foil really helps. I use the cheapest kind I can find as heavy duty foil can get expensive.
I think the bottom line is, if you grill, you pay with a mess!
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Marcia
/ October 18, 2012Thanks for the info about the Coleman stove/grill. Very helpful esp. the part about cleaning it.
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tinycamper
/ October 18, 2012Well, Marcia, it’s the best I can do right now, but I sure do wish there was some kind of little laser thing I could just zap the burned off stuff off with! 🙂
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ArtInThePark
/ October 31, 2012When we would transfer from one duty station to another it meant deep cleaning everything. I learned from an old Chief’s wife to put oven shelves, stove burners, etc., into a black garbage bag along with a dish of ammonia. Set the whole thing out in the sun for the afternoon. Stuff practically slides off by itself. That trick saved me more than a couple of times when checking out of Navy housing.
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tinycamper
/ October 31, 2012Thanks so much! I knew about soaking in ammonia to get the baked on grease off stove drip pans, but never made the connection to barbeque grills!
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Bradford Harris
/ April 17, 2013I just bought one of the little stove / grills, too. I love it (for the most part) but find that I do most of the grilling in the center because it is the hottest there. The biggest annoyance (which I don’t mind that much) is that 90% of the knob’s movement does nothing. The propane is modulated with a tiny little adustment. Oh well… It’s less work than building a fire!
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tinycamper
/ April 17, 2013Brad, I meant to update this review a long time ago. Sorry I didn’t, but have just put a link to my new review after using it for a while.
I hope you end up liking yours a lot better than I did mine! 🙂
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