Char-Broil Grill 2 Go Ice Portable Grill

You want to head out to do some tailgating or grill up some burgers at a picnic. You need a grill and a cooler. What if these two bulky items were built into one unit? Well now they are. The Char-Broil Grill 2 Go Ice is a large portable grill, built into an extendable frame with two soft pack coolers in the bottom. With two large wheels and an handle so you can cart it around easily this unit is the answer to the needs of many people who want to hit the road and do some grilling. Unfortunately, this unit is limited by design and construction issues that just might make it more hassle than it is worth.

In 2003 Char-Broil introduced the Grill 2 Go Fire and Ice, more commonly known under the Thermos Brand name this short lived grill was popular and I have continued to get questions about this grill and where someone might find it. The original Fire and Ice was a rigid plastic, 10-gallon cooler with wheels and an extendable frame with a large gas grill on top. The whole unit collapsed down for easy storage and transport. Well, after all these years, Char-Broil has reintroduced this grill in a completely new design. This version has two soft pack coolers and an "infrared" gas grill on top all put together with an extendable frame so you can pull the grill up to full height, making it easy to grill anywhere.

The two soft pack coolers add a lot of convenience to this unit. You can take them in the house to load them up and put them where you need them when you get where you are going. Since there are two of them you can separate meats from everything else for better food safety or you can have hot and cold coolers to keep food at the temperature you need them. On the other hand, the old design gained a lot from that one rigid cooler. It make the unit more stable, less likely to be toppled over and gave the frame the structural support it needed. This new version is top heavy without the coolers loaded and in place and has a flimsy frame that will probably give you trouble.

The frame of this portable gas grill is made with six extendable legs, four for the grill and two for the handle you use to move it around. These are legs and like the collapsible handle on your suitcase. When you want to pull the grill section up to height you grab the handles on either side and lift the unit up until the legs lock into place. Each one locks independently and it's a little awkward to work with. If one of these legs should become damaged or stop locking you will loose the ability to use the grill and if you are under warranty the entire frame will have to be replaced. When extended to full height the unit wobbles and feels unstable.

The grill itself is, like most Char-Broil products these days, an infrared grill. Based on the same technology as the Char-Broil Red, this grill has a single, lightweight, 430 stainless steel, burner running along the bottom. This burner focuses its heat on a thin, porcelain painted, metal tub that then radiates heat at the cooking surface. You get good heat output and have almost no chance of a flare-up, but a couple of uses of this grill and the porcelain coating on this tub will begin to flake off. Metal expands, porcelain does not. This can cause rusting of the tub and once the tub has rusted through the grill is unusable.

While this grill really is a great idea and Char-Broil should be proud of its inventiveness, the design and engineering leave a lot to be desired. I would love to be able to recommend this grill and believe it fits the needs of many people, I just wish Char-Broil had taken more time to make a better product.