It’s well and truly BBQ season and with the weather set to reach highs of more than 30C over the next week or so, it’s time to get the burgers and sausages - or plant-based alternative - out of the freezer.
Typically, we’re a bit of a hosting family and love to have my siblings, their partners and children round, so our Landmann Gas Barbecue is brilliant for big get-togethers. But when it’s just me and my parents planning burgers for tea, firing it up feels a bit overkill.
We’ve been looking for a smaller, more portable BBQ for a while now. Something ideal for when it’s just the three of us, which could be taken away on holiday with us, too.
READ MORE: A £20 Aldi fan has been my lifesaver as a ginger working from home in the heatwave
I’ve heard lots of great things about ceramic kamado BBQs, but many retail for well in excess of £500; for example, Big Green Egg’s smallest BBQ comes in at £795. However, Aldi released a dupe for just £119 , which has received nearly 100 five star reviews online.
And as part of their huge garden Specialbuys sale, the budget supermarket has reduced their Gardenline Mini Kamado BBQ even further, now less than £100 at £99.99.
The BBQ stands just over half a metre tall, and was fairly simple to assemble. It comes with a powder coated steel stand that needs fixing together, which the ceramic outdoor oven then sits in. It’s quite heavy, weighing around 20kg, feeling well built and sturdy.
It’s recommended that you burn the BBQ a couple of times before using it to cook, so we did this ahead of loading it up with burgers so we could get to know the pint-sized BBQ.
About the BBQ, Aldi said: “Take your garden party to the next level with the Gardenline Mini Kamado BBQ. The mini kamado bbq is versatile allowing you to grill, bake, slow cook and even smoke your summer bbq favourites. It has been designed so there is an even distribution of heat, cooking your meals evenly.”
The gunmetal ceramic gadget features a temperature gauge, chimney top, and an ash door. Its Japanese inspired insulated design aims to keep food succulent, while still offering that iconic smoky taste that can only be achieved on a BBQ.
Once the charcoal has been lit, the BBQ is ready to start cooking in around 15 minutes. It fits four Aldi quarter pounders on comfortably, and fits six to eight sausages or two steaks. As such, it’s ideal for couples or small families for three or four people.
With the egg lid down, the food cooks quickly and evenly, meaning you don’t have to think about prepping your BBQ well in advance and you can be a bit more spontaneous with it, so long as you’ve got charcoal in. Who doesn’t love an impromptu BBQ, right?
After loading my burger with gherkins, cheese and ketchup, I was ready to enjoy, and loved the smoky flavour from the coals. As gorgeous and useful as our large gas BBQ is, you just don’t get the same flavour as with a charcoal one.
Other shoppers have loved the bit of kit, too, leaving 93 five star reviews on the product, which is still in stock at Aldi.
Des67 said: “We have been tempted by one of these for a while now and looked at a few. Prices vary a lot. Our friends bought a large Aldi Kamado and said it was brilliant and so we thought that we would give the mini a go. We can’t believe how good it is, especially when you consider the price. It is very heavy and as well made as any others we saw. Highly recommended, it is fantastic!”
Crusaderpete agreed that it’s perfect for smaller households, writing: “Ideal for a couple or small family heats up quickly and stay hot very controllable.”
RJA 2022 uses theirs as a second BBQ, like me, and wrote: “Superb mini Kamado, a great alternative to using my full size grill. Small amount of charcoal and a great cooking heat raised in about 30 mins, even better if left longer.
“Air controls work perfectly and like with all Kamados, a bit of trial and error will get the optimum cooking temp bang on for cooking food. Cracking item and great value too.”
JHH91 said they used theirs ‘four times in the first week’, while Scott added that it’s ‘good for taking away camping’.
I was really impressed with the £100 Aldi BBQ, and found it easy to use, easy to clean, and it offered a great flavour to whatever you cook on it. We’ll definitely find ourselves using this for quick and easy al fresco cooking over summer, and are planning on taking it on holiday with us too, to avoid buying disposable ones. Perfect for couples and small families, you can shop the Gardenline Mini Kamado BBQ here.
READ NEXT:
- App hack that means families can get up to half price off meals out in Manchester over the summer holidays
- All the films you can watch this summer holidays from £2.49 at Vue Cinema
- Sainsbury’s rewarding shoppers with extra Nectar points for buying fruit and veg in holidays
- Morrisons aim to help low-income families by donating £100k of food to holiday clubs
- YO! customers can get a third off their bill this summer using app hack
