Son of Hibachi - Unboxing

[BBQFanatic]

I have been eyeing these little portable grills since they were released. I had actually seen this unit at the gadget show at Earls Court a few years ago and have since lusted after it. Whilst not a Weber or other portable and there is no lid feature, I primarily wanted this to do the odd banger/burger/steak when the family are out and about. There are a number of really cool features that drew me to this grill-
- Chimney starting built in
- Self cleaning grates
- Snuff out pouch
- The Name "Son of Hibachi" - AWESOME!

The box arrived, from Amazon (actually delivered from Kohl in Germany, next day delivery - Thank you Amazon Prime!) as a Refurb unit - the tidy sum of £50, which is alot cheaper than the current going price of £90 - £115. However, I discovered that it had never been opened before, the shrink wrap was still on the box. Wicked!


IMG_1133 by OktaneUK, on Flickr


IMG_1138 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

The back of the box, gives a run down on how it works, basically you close the 2 halves with charcoal in each half, light a firelighter under the base, and its shape creates a chimney effect, which we all so know and love, 7-10 minutes later, you open the grill, the grates are clean and the charcoal is hot. I havent tested it yet, but thats the theory in any case!


IMG_1136 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

On unboxing,the first thing that came out was the Snuff out pouch, this is a zippered bag, with a glass fibre based internal weave, to take the heat of the SoH which can be fully lit when you place it in the bag. Word of warning, there are some fine glass fibre's on the bag, which itch like hell, so best to brush them off outside. (A quick tip, if you ever get that itch and Im not talking down below - but I like the way you think! put some masking tape over the skin infected, rub the tape on nice and firm and then pull it off, throw the used piece of tape away, repeat a few times... Lesson learned - the hard way!)


IMG_1140 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

On retrieving the pouch, I could pull out the grill, which is encased in polystyrene. Keep it safe!


IMG_1142 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

Unveiled!


IMG_1144 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

On removing the plastic, I noticed some nice detailing, you can also see the really thick gauge steel this uses. This is really heavy - a hefty 12kg for its very diminutive size.


IMG_1149 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

All the components still safely wrapped up


IMG_1150 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

I noticed the grates are covered by a wax, as they are cast iron (and heavy for their size), I think they have waxed it to prevent rusting and complaints from customers. The first burn will sort that out. Notice the 3 levels to place the grates, to be honest, doubt that is going to matter too much as the food is pretty much on top of the charcoal!


IMG_1153 by OktaneUK, on Flickr


IMG_1154 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

There are some steel legs that attach to the unit so it sits off the ground, its about the same height as the Weber Go Anywhere of the floor, so I think there is the risk of grass/items below it catch fire. However, you can open the snuff out pouch and place the grill on this to prevent fires. Clever!


IMG_1156 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

There are 2 additional items, the snuff out handle and the grill base. They are both crafted in some heavy grade steel - Nice! They serve 3 purposes:
- Shut the unit up and the base slides onto the bottom, preventing hot ash from escaping, the Top handle slides onto the top to lock the unit shut, and allows you to carry it whilst its hot
- Start the unit up, the base is where you place the firelighter, and the handle at the top, allows you to control the flow of oxygen
- When its running and the grill is open the base is a drip pan and you can place tatties on this to roast them


IMG_1158 by OktaneUK, on Flickr


IMG_1160 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

Living in the snuff out pouch and now ready for transport and its first usage


IMG_1161 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

[och29]

That looks incredible...I want it! Would love to see how well the built in chimney starter works.

[BBQFanatic]

I am going to give it a test run tonight, assuming I can get a break in the rain! Will post some pics if I do

[keith157]

Good Luck with the weather, I doubt you'll need it with the cooking.

[Neil]

That looks awesome mate let us know how it cooks

[BBQFanatic]

Finally after 2 days, there was a break in the weather, the stars aligned and a quiet dinner for the family was on the cards, it was time to fire up the Son of Hibachi.

I loaded the unit with charcoal, so much so that I needed to remove most of the charcoal, the grates need to be placed on the bottom rest so that you can close the unit and get the chimney starter effect.


IMG_1164 by OktaneUK, on Flickr


IMG_1167 by OktaneUK, on Flickr


As you can see I used a single firelighter placed on the drip tray which I slipped into the unit. As the charcoal slowly fired up, there was an incredible billowing smoke and a liquid that dripped out of the bottom of the unit. When the liquid burst into flames I realised it was the wax that had been placed on the grates to stop them from rusting.


IMG_1172 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

The SoH took about 15minutes to be fully lit and there was a good flame coming out of the top, it was ready to cook! I raised the grates to the top holder and cleaned them. The charcoal was very hot and well lit. As some of the charcoal had burnt, they all seemed to collect to one side of each grate, which gives some space to move the food off the heat if its too hot. The design lends itself to briquettes, but it seemed to operate very well with lumpwood.


IMG_1175 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

I decided to do some 350g rib eyes steak and corn on the cob. I got a really good sear on the steaks and the cast iron grates give a great colouring (very similar to my WSM cast iron grates)


IMG_1178 by OktaneUK, on Flickr


IMG_1183 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

The lumpwood held its heat very well and comfortably had heat to carry on going, so I reckon you could easily cook for 4 on this unit, which is exactly what I need it to do.


IMG_1188 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

Once I finished cooking I closed up the SoH and the remainder of the charcoal heated up rapidly again and burnt most of the residue off the grates. This also meant my charcoal was burnt out pretty quickly so I could pop it in the Snuff out Bag


IMG_1191 by OktaneUK, on Flickr

All in all, Im well chuffed, the perfect portable grilling companion, this will start to live in the car from now on.

[bencops]

Just back from hols and adventures with the lge, this looks very cool congratulations on the new addition to the family!

[Neil]

Least you'll always have a bbq if it snows and your stuck . Looks a good portable thing

[keith157]

By the looks of your "Faithfull Companion" in the pics if SoH were any cooler you'ld be a vegetarian for the day

[Big_Fat_Dan]

Looks good, may have to get one of these bad boys.