Outdoorchef Ascona 570G

Best BBQ I've ever owned – After going from 4 burner to 6 burner BBQ's I decided I would try a smaller option. At first I started to look at Weber BBQ's but ended up finding the Outdoorchef Ascona for an excellent price at Bunnings so took a chance and purchased. Wow I couldn't be happier with this BBQ. Not only easy to use and cooks EVERYTHING well it is also easy to… Read more

clean and store. Cant believe I was always looking for bigger when you can have a quality kettle BBQ like this and takes up little room and less time clean and more time enjoying a well cooked snag.

One unbelievable buy- you won't look back – I have had the Outdoorchef Ascona 570 for 2 years now, i hated gas bbq's by trying most as compared to over coal BBQ's, but this unit on direct grill, flame grill on steaks is better than can be produced on the best natural flame grilled steaks. This is honestly the best BBQ even comparing with my very renowned BBQ brands, this 570 is an all… Read more

around winner and hardly uses gas. If it were a person, it would be a super model ! - Never walk past one without buying it, true it's the ultimate wedding gift too. Ease of use and reliability 10/10 minimum, cooking results could not be better due to extremely even heat, easy to move and take to Lakeside BBQ's if needed. Get one quick.

fantastic – as we had a huge 4 burner BBQ we were only using it on large family gatherings so began looking for a small kettle type so as we can cook more outdoors from now on,we blogged the reviews. Ascona. 520G absolutely the best we have ever had cooking steaks, sausages will be trying out a roast on Australia day cannot wait

Love my outdoor chef ascona – Great gas bbq. So far everything I've cooked has been great including pasta bakes and stir frys. I also bought the cast iron grill for it. And that makes it even better for the perfect grill marks on burgers, steaks and sausages. Was the best decision to purchase it. Good quality but a little tricky to assemble.

omg – I bought some cheap sausages today to trial out my new ascona.I've never had a kettle type BBQ before and wasn't sure how well the indirect heat would work.all I can say is in the 12 minutes it took to cook these cheap sausages they were like gourmet sausage.crispy skinned and perfectly cooked.all my worries about indirect heat have disappeared.love this BBQ and I'm sure if you appreciate the finer things life has to offer you will to.

A different kettle – With my current barbecue needing new just-about-everything, it seemed prudent to shop around for a replacement. I looked briefly at the cheaper barbecues sold by the larger establishments and the hideously expensive ones from the more specialized stores. Knowing my needs were not for something that could feed hundreds I sought out something… Read more ·  1

reasonably priced and good quality.

After much to-ing and fro-ing I bought the Ascona.

I checked out the reviews on YouTube beforehand and the Ascona seemed to have a bit going for it. Try to find the one with the surly assistant - he looks a bit like a minion doing the task for his master and is desperate to get back to the dungeons in the dark, forbidding castle. That some of the Outdoor Chef items are on display at Bunning's was also a big help.

It comes in a box, in pieces and needs a screwdriver and an adjustable spanner (shifter) to assemble. It takes a leisurely 30 minutes or so with no nasty surprises. I was certain the kettle hinge was spring loaded and searched for a spring for a while, until I just gave up. Obviously, I was wrong. The assembly diagram is fairly easy to follow and screws are all stainless steel, so rust won't be a problem. The only quality flaw that I see is in the timber slats on the trolley - they are very, very thin and ought to be replaced with thicker, merbau decking or similar. Most of the barbecue pieces are enameled steel and of a quality that seems similar to a Weber. Once assembled, the whole seems quite sturdy, though I'd use some thread-locking compound on the trolley screws.

This model features a pair of gas rings at the base and a two-piece cone to provide even heat and this interesting, if not unique idea seems to work very well. Each burner has its own adjustment knob and the outer one is enameled steel, while the inner one is stainless steel. The grill is of course, enameled as well. The igniter is battery powered and gives a constant stream of parks.

Our first use was to cook some steak and I used a sizzle-steak platter just to minimize cleaning up. With my old trolley barbecue I had become used to heating it for about 15 minutes before putting the steak on. With the Ascona, preheating was only a couple of minutes - the temperature inside rises very quickly, and I was soon able to throttle back the main burner and turn off the smaller one. Still the steak cooked quickly, so much so it was ready before the rest of the meal! No burning, and cooked to medium rare which is how we like it and very juicy, but then I do marinate my steak (red wine, teriyaki, garlic, a little liquid smoke, red wine vinegar, mustard powder, brown sugar, and tomato paste).

Other uses have shown similar performance and so far it looks to be a very good-quality unit that works very well. It will get to very high temperatures inside so pizza ought to be easily done, as the YouTube clips claim. It lacks a hotplate, and I'm hopeful Bunning's will support it by bringing across some of the accessories. In the meantime, I have a large, stainless-steel paella dish that will do a stirling job as a hotplate for hamburgers, I'm sure.

If looking at barbecues, look at the wall thickness of the shell and ensure it is either stainless or enameled. Powder coatings will rust very quickly. Also look for tell-tale cost cutting like the side shelves being so soft and weak they buckle under a slight push, or a drip tray that comes in two or more pieces. Look out for sharp edges where stainless steel has been guillotined. Most of all, consider your needs - the big shiny ones look good on a back verandah, but how often you'll use it to capacity is an important question and consideration. We don't rotisserie out chicken, we roast it on a rack. Consider how durable it will be as well. I thought about all these things before lobbing for the Ascona,

It's only the flimsy timber slats on the trolley that stop me giving it 5 stars, but it is an excellent pieces of outdoor equipment so far. Easy to use and works so well. Seems a good quality unit. Timber slats are a bit flimsy.