Coleman - Perfectflow Instastart Grill - Review

Anybody who has headed out camping in a small car knows space is an issue. You’re loading up and ultimately you realise your out of room and something has to stay behind. After years of camping in an RV I found that one of the easiest things to leave behind was the grill, it takes up a lot of room, it’s dirty, and you can always grill on the fire right? Well that works out until you end up somewhere under a fire ban, or simply without a fire pit. Then you end up eating out of a can or frying everything, and it sucks. Missing my BBQ I had to find another option. I needed something that:

·Could provide an all-in-one cooking appliance.
·Will take up no more room than my current two burner camp stove.
·Will be easy to clean. No smelly, greasy leftovers going into the car.

It was blatantly obvious that I wasn’t going to get a BBQ with 2 burners attached that was going to meet any of the criteria above, so I needed to find a compromise. I decided on a grill/stove combo unit, specifically the Coleman Perfectflow Instastart Grill.

The unit itself is about 2/3 grill with a burner on the side, both are spec’d at 10000btu and that is more than enough, I find I usually end up with both on the lowest settings most of the time anyways. Build quality is about what you would expect, good but nothing spectacular, basically the same formula that’s been in use for 30+ years, and from the looks of things it will probably last for years if taken care of. Most of the unit is aluminum with plastic controls, the grill is cast aluminum and the stove is nickel chrome. The grill is coated with some type of Teflon-ish coating that is fairly easy to scratch with metal utensils, so I would definitely recommend plastic tools.

The unit functions very well. The starter hasn’t failed me yet, and the unit produces plenty of heat when you need it. The grill does heat fairly evenly although a little hotter directly above the burner but not enough to matter. The stove works very well, but the wind shield is far too close to the burner, meaning you will need to have it down to put anything larger than a small pot or kettle on it. That being said I have yet to use it in a wind strong enough to cause any problems, and routinely leave it down and store utensils on it. One issue some people may have with this type of set up is in a situation where 2 stove burners are needed, as you cannot put a pot on top of the grill, it will damage the grill and void your warranty. This has not proved to be a huge issue but definitely something to think about when making your purchase.

Cleaning the unit is fairly simple the grills are easily lifted off and the undersides of the burners are smooth and easily wiped clean, with no sharp edges to speak of. I have found that some things will cook onto the aluminum and be very difficult to clean up, like the manual says this can be easily remedied by lining the base with tinfoil, and punching a hole in it where the drip tray sits. What they don’t tell you is that lining it with tinfoil will render the starter useless, as the spark will arc to the foil, and not to the burner.

I also picked up a griddle that can be used instead of the grill, as well as a carrying case. The griddle is essentially the same material as the grill, and has a grease trough and drain holes on one side that work well, as long as the grill is level where you’re using it. The carrying case is very handy to keep all the components together and protected during travel and storage. It also allows two propane cylinders to be carried with the stove. While the case is supposed to be compatible with this stove it is a VERY tight fit. You will have to stretch the edge of the case over the controls to get it in, but once it’s in it works very well.

Overall this grill has been excellent. I have owned it for 3+ years and have not had one problem with it. If you are looking for a compact stove/grill combo this is definitely a good way to go. While it has some minor issues, there is nothing that cannot be worked around without any extra effort. At times it would be nice to have an extra burner, but for the few times it necessary I would rather not carry anything bigger, or any other unit.

My Rating: