Fuego Element 01 Stainless Steel Gas Grill

About.com Rating 3.5 Star Rating

User Rating 1 Star Rating (1 Review) Write a review

By Derrick Riches, About.com Guide

See More About:

Fuego

Element Grill by Fuego

The Bottom Line

The Fuego Element is a unique grill. Basically a pedestal grill, this grill is as small as you can get in a full height gas grill and still have space to actually cook something. the 21 inch diameter cooking area is actually quite large, so you do have enough space to not only grill up Tuesday nights dinner, but you can entertain with this grill and serve up food for a small party while not using up too much patio space. This 25,000 BTU grill has the power to heat up its cast iron grates and give you great grilling abilities. One thing to keep a close eye on is the bare cast iron which needs special care.

Pros

Small, full height gas grill
Versatile cooking system
Heavy cast iron cooking grate

Cons

Unprotected cast iron needs extra care
Complete side panel has to be removed to access propane tank
Fold out side table is very small
Expensive

Description

24,000 BTU maximum output from two main burners
21-inch diameter cooking are (346 square inches)
Two circular stainless steel tubular burners in an outer-inner ring configuration
Includes a lid for roasting and smoking
Slide out, wooded work table
Electronic (AA-battery) ignition
Propane tank, cover, and other accessories (griddle, pizza stone) sold separately
Made in China by Fuego North America Inc.

Guide Review - Fuego Element 01 Stainless Steel Gas Grill

Fuego started as a design contest, bringing together one of Apple Computer's best innovators with a team of young designers to come up with a new way of looking at the gas grill. Their first design won awards and was recognized as one of the most unique gas grills on the market. Now, with the Element, Fuego has once again reinvented the gas grill. Designed for simplicity this pedestal grill has two burners so you have direct and indirect grilling abilities, a completely removable lid for open grilling or roasting and smoking, and a number of accessories like pizza stones and griddles.

The combined output of the two ring burners in this grill is 25,000 BTUs. That is low for a grill this size, but the use of heavy cast iron cooking grates and the proximity of the burners to the cooking surface give this grill a high heat output. Also, the circular design is simply more efficient than a square box.

There is one important word of warning about this grill. The top section of this grill, including the cooking grate is bare cast iron. While this is the perfect metal for holding and conducting heat, it needs special care to prevent it from rusting. I know that a few people have complained about this, but the cost of cast iron is the care. If you are not going to season and care for this grill you really shouldn't pay the money for it.

This is an expensive grill. The stainless steel version runs around $600USD. There is a gray version (Fuego Element EG02AMG that runs around $500USD and a red version (Fuego Element EG03AMG) for around $450USD.

User Reviews

1 out of 5

Rust & stupid design - Avoid, Member johnnypunk

I was excited to get this grill, lusted after it when it launched and finally got it as a wedding gift because I could not afford to buy such a nice grill. Well, happy wedding to me, not. The grill works great and looks good on my balcony but will be a rusty mess in a matters of a year or two. After 2 weeks of owning the grill rust started to form at the point at which the handle meets the body & where the front cover (which sucks to use) clips in to cover the propane tank. Notified the customer service and they suggested that I ""wipe away the ""surface"" rust."" Clearly they miss why rust forms and the fact that it will get nothing but worse. They are slow to respond and offer little help with lot's of disinterest. On top of that the lid for the grill has an indent for the handle and is constantly full of water. A pretty bad design flaw for such a nicely designed grill.

Write a review

6 out of 8 people found this helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No