25Jun/105
Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Rectangular Grilling Basket with 4 Compartments
charcoal grill accessories
- Four separate compartments allows you to cook a whole meal at once
- Non-stick for easy clean up
- Handle detaches so you can close the grill lid and for storage.
- Wire mesh keeps small foods from falling between grill bars.
- Model number: SR8021
Product Description
Grilling authority, Steven Raichlen, host of the popular cooking series Barbecue University and author of the best-selling Barbecue Bible cookbook series, partnered with The Companion Group to create a fabulous line of innovative, versatile barbecue products. Cook a whole meal with the versatile non-stick grill basket. Four separate compartments, each the right size for holding whole trout, fish fillets, polenta, vegetable, etc. The wire mesh keeps small foods fr... More >>
Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Rectangular Grilling Basket with 4 Compartments
grill accessories
June 25th, 2010 - 21:37
I bought this grill basket for my husband for Father's Day. According to the description, it had everything we were looking for: detachable handle, separate sections for separate cooking, grilled veggies won't fall through, etc. Unfortunately, the basket is so poorly made that the baskets don't open (without a crowbar!) and the handle neither attaches or detatches without a whole lot of muscle. My husband had to get out his tools and try to rebend the whole thing to get it to function. What an over-priced dissappointment!
Rating: 1 / 5
June 26th, 2010 - 00:31
The Companion Group works to create new and innovative barbecue accessories that exceed expectations. Being the first to produce the compartmentalized grill basket means we have a learning curve to balance out before attaining perfection. We have identified improvements including a simple insertion mechanism for the detachable handle, and have stream lined the compartment lids for easy opening and shutting. These adjustments have made for superior functionality making this a product we are proud to call part of the Steven Raichlen line. We sincerely apologize and would encourage anyone who received the unsatisfactory product to call our customer service manager (800-521-0505, ext 3512) and we will replace the item at no additional charge.
Rating: 5 / 5
June 26th, 2010 - 00:52
What would make it perfect? For one, each compartment should be adjustable in height. Second, it should be stainless. Third, the walls between the compartments should be removable so you can use it for wider items.
I can do without stainless, but one con that this item has as opposed to most other grill baskets is that the hight cannot be changed. This means that if you have a piece of tilapia or other small piece of fish in there, it cooks great on the first side, but when you flip it, it may have a tendency to stick to the first side, so it just kind of hangs upside down and may tear the fish if it falls down to the other side. It would be nice to really be able to clamp it down on whatever is in there.
That said, this is the only grill basket, that I know of, that has a removable handle. That alone puts it ahead of every other one, as far as I'm concerned. Imagine that... being able to actually CLOSE the lid of your grill! ..and being able to use it with BBQ pits that have inset slats, like the Big Green Egg!
I also wish the compartment walls could be removed to make larger compartments. This is fairly minor, but if it could do this, it would be more versatile, for cooking things like burgers, chicken breasts and larger cuts of fish like salmon and tuna.
I feel as though my review has been mostly negative, but let's face it.. there are no truly great grill baskets out there. This one is pretty good and it's the best I've ever used or even seen.
Rating: 4 / 5
June 26th, 2010 - 01:45
First off, I want to make it clear that although I've been grilling for 25 years, I've never bought or used a grill basket before. I've never really been attracted to trying one and bought this one pretty much on a whim. So I guess I would say I had low expectations of this product, and the product pretty much lived up to my expectations. On the plus side, I will say the detachable handle worked fine, although I found I had to hold the basket in place with tongs or push the basket against the side of my grill to get enough leverage to pop the handle off. But it works. I found it pretty easy to use my tongs to squeeze the clamps that open and close the lid, which was great when I needed to open the basket to rescue some baby carrots that were quickly becoming charcoal while the zucchini next to them seemed completely unaffected by the fire. This points out one problem, which is that things don't cook at the same rate, especially over charcoal. So the idea of cooking a meal in one basket seems pretty much impossible, and I didn't really expect it to work for that.
I thought I'd give the basket a try as a method of cooking vegetables without putting them on skewers or directly on the grill, methods that actually work fine for me and I will return to again. Well, I also cut the veggies into pieces as I have read others have done in other reviews, and put them in the basket. None of the pieces was smaller than I would normally do for skewers, really they were even larger. Certainly they were smaller than the grid of the basket. So imagine my surprise when I turned the basket and, sure enough, I had veggies scattered across my grill. Closer examination of the basket revealed that for some reason I have yet to understand, the lid side of the basket has a gap at one end on the hinge side... the wire grid doesn't cover 100%. So of course food comes tumbling out!
I would guess the basket would work fine if you grilled whole trout or some similar food in it. It would probably be very handy for that sort of thing if you were using it on a campground grill that was less than ideal. But, that is not of interest to me. I was going to toss it in the trash, but have decided to keep it for this grilling season and see if some situation comes up where I can get some use out of it. I guess this experience has confirmed my instinct that I'm not a basket griller.
When I consider this product's usefulness to me it pretty much rates a zero. I'm giving it two stars only because the handle does detach and the basket does open as is advertised.
Rating: 2 / 5
June 26th, 2010 - 03:01
After reading the mixed reviews, I decided to roll the dice and buy this item because the manufacturer claimed to have fixed the design flaws. I have no regrets whatsoever. It is perfect for grilling assorted vegetables, which is probably all I will ever use it for. And the removable handle, which is a breeze, is a huge plus since this feature allows you to actually close your grill lid if you need to. The handle also fits inside any of the compartments so the whole unit takes up less space when you store it. The negative reviews that cite design flaws are outdated.
Rating: 5 / 5