[leadin]Search for “briefcase grill” online and you get dozens of results, a barrage of foldable cooking apparatuses that support the burning of charcoal or gas to prepare food over flame.[/leadin]
The Elevate Grill is a luxury-end contender in the category, a $250 gas grill that melds ample cooking real estate with a packable design. The company calls it the “largest, most portable gas grill ever.”
On its cast-iron grates you get 286 sq. inches of grilling space, or enough to cook for a small crew. I brought it into the outdoors for camping trips and on picnics, and the unit easily fed my family of six.
Sleek Grill Design
You pay the big bucks for the Elevate Grill’s industrial design, which is an efficient, low-profile accomplishment of the aforementioned “briefcase” type. The whole unit clamshells shut, and the support legs hinge up to offer carrying handles.
A compartment on one end opens as a storage space. The propane cylinder squeezes in, along with a grill tool and a gas connector valve.
Grab the briefcase handles and go, you have an all-in-one cooker to take on hot dogs and corn cobs, shish kabobs, and hamburger patties. No matches are required, either, as the Elevate ignites with a sparker built-in.
Flame is controlled via two dials on front. A simmering blue ring of fire sprouts from the burners, a hum of flame under cast iron that can simmer or crank up to a maximum scorch of 14,000 BTUs.
Two Grills In One
Dual surfaces give camp chefs varying grilling platforms. You can cook meat on one side, veggies on the other. Or, set the right panel to high if needed, and leave the left one low just to keep a foiled bit of food warm.
Packed up, the Elevate measures in at a briefcase size of about 6 x 19 x 13 inches. It weighs around 25 pounds, which is a bit of heft but forgivable as a portable grill that functions as well as most kitchen stoves.
