Crossray eXtreme Electric Infrared Portable BBQ

Good for an electric BBQ, but with some trade-offs – It heats up well, the digital panel is fairly intuitive and easy to use. The convenience of an electric bbq is fantastic - just plug it into a regular power outlet and it just works! No more gas bottles! Cons: While it heats up well, it tends to lose heat quite quickly when the lid is opened and does not recover the heat when the lid is kept open… Read more

or is opened regularly. This means that you get an amazing sizzle the first time you put a steak on after pre-heating, but when you turn the steak on the same spot after a few mins, it doesn’t sizzle anymore because the plate is no longer at temp. This means the bbq is great for roasts or anything where the lid can be kept closed most of the time, but not so great for items that need to be ‘managed’ often like chicken giblets or a whole grill full of sausages. Its less of an issue if you are only cooking on one half of the grill as flipping onto the unused part of the grill still works, but this means you can really only cook for 1 or 2 families. I’ve really felt the impact of this coming from a large gas bbq where I can use the whole grill to this one 2/3rd that size where I can only effectively use half, so 1/3rd of the gas bbq’s grill space. I've tried to use the integrated temperature probe a few times, but have not managed to work it in an effective way and have just reverted back to using a regular probe. Also worth noting that the door of the BBQ cabinet did not close properly and Crossray have needed to ship me another one. In addition the top of the BBQ obstructs the doors of the cabinet. Crossray have said this was something overlooked in the design and they are producing a different top of the BBQ cabinet which will address this. They assured me I would have it by the end of June, but as of time of writing this review at the end of July I have not received it yet.