George Foreman 48cm kettle charcoal barbecue review

The parts feel thin and cheap, and our testers had to hammer one of the legs into place for it to stand. However, once assembled, we love how light and compact this barbecue is. Thanks to its wheels, it’s easy to move around as needed.

How easy is it to use?

We dislike how low this barbecue is. Because its cooking surface is just 65cm from the ground, our testers had to stoop to use it, which is uncomfortable. The materials are low quality. It suffers from the weakness shared by all kettle barbecues: the lid is not attached, so when cooking, it can be annoying to find a safe place to rest it.

Because of its round shape and poor ventilation, this barbecue is a little tricky to light. When it does light, it takes more than 40 minutes to really get going. It has quite a small cooking surface – one spatchcocked chicken takes up most of the space on the grill.

However, the heat guards on the handles give great peace of mind. The ash catcher at the bottom of this barbecue makes cleaning up a breeze and the thermometer makes it simple to judge when the coals are hot enough.

Cooking results

It cooks well, charring and sealing food with beautiful, crisp grill lines. Food stays moist despite the heat, and this is especially evident in our chargrilled courgette test, producing delicious slices.

The spatchcock chicken is gently but thoroughly cooked, with an even char and rich, crisp skin. However, the grill lines are quite wide – when cooking thick-cut potato chips, some do fall through. It also has poor heat coverage. The temperature is perfect in the centre of the grill, but much too cool at the edges.

Conclusion

This is quite average value for money. It is a great size for small spaces and can produce fantastic results when cooking. However, it is uncomfortable to use and is made from quite poor-quality materials. Its one-year warranty is also average, so overall, £70 for this model is a little too steep.

Specifications

RRP: £70
Dimensions: 90 H x 60 W x 71cm D
Cooking area: 48 x 48cm

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This review was last updated in April 2021. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.