LotusGrill Standard Barbecue Grill Review: ‘The built-in fan makes it absolutely controllable’

German-based LotusGrill have taken the humble barbeque and lifted it to an artform, and nowhere is that more apparent than in its LotusGrill Standard – quite frankly, it’s gorgeous

Weighing in at just 2.8 kg the LotusGrill Standard comprises a power-coated steel outer case, a stainless steel inner bowl, a grill grid and the clever bits; an internally-located charcoal holder and an integral fan.

Starting with the outer case, that comes in a choice of no fewer than nine colours ranging from neutral black, white and grey tones to vibrant shades of green and, as per my test unit, bright orange. It might not be the best boat grill for everyone but it’s certainly one of the prettiest.

The inside is just as elegant as the outside with the mirror-finish stainless bowl slotting beautifully into position; this is a well made piece of kit indeed. The charcoal container is another super feature as it safely keeps the heat source out of harms way centrally within the unit. LotusGrill supply their own charcoal of which the Standard unit swallows up to 200 grams at a time.

LotusGrill Standard in use

Lighting it is simple; just pour on the lighting fluid LotusGrill supplies, add a match and off you go. To ramp up the heat, the unit has a built-in variable speed fan which is powered by four AA batteries or a USB cable, and controlled by a rotary switch on the front of the unit.

It only takes a few minutes for the charcoal to warm up, and once there cooking temperature is maintained for up to 90 minutes. And if you need to refill the charcoal holder it can be topped up at any time.

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One thing that challenged us was the LotusGrill’s optional rail mount. Although billed as a railing and guardrail holder, it appears to be primarily intended for garden railings rather than boats. The mount requires three points of contact to work – two at the top and one at the bottom, so if it’s to be used on a boat you will need to enlist the support of one of the guardrail’s stanchions for the lower point.

There’s lots of fiddly adjustment Allen screws on the bracket (and, yes, one of our Allen keys did go in the water) but you only have to set it up once after which the entire unit clips on and off easily. Should it not be possible to use the bracket – and on some boats it might be tricky if you want to cook anywhere other than the foredeck – the LotusGrill works just fine as a table top unit, and is a real head-turner to boot.

My three lidded barbies – the two Magmas and the Cobb – cooked away merrily throughout the cooking process while the open-top LotusGrill struggled in the day’s breezy F4 conditions. In fairness, it was in an exposed position with the Fairline facing almost directly into an incoming north-easterly.

I decided to lift it from its mount (which only takes a second) and move it inside to the cockpit table where it instantly picked up and recovered. While that’s all well and good, winds at sea are far from uncommon, so do take this into consideration if you are looking at any open boat grill and barbecue. In its favour, despite the wind, not one ember of hot coal was blown from the LotusGrill’s charcoal holder – it’s fully-enclosed system definitely worked for us.

Chef Andy 1 confirmed that as long as it’s kept out of the wind, the Lotus Grill is a fabulous piece of kit which works really well: “You put the coal in the middle and it’s completely contained,” he said. “Add a little bit of the lighter fluid, super safe, light it up, nothing to worry about, and the built-in fan makes it absolutely controllable with a nice heat all the way through the grill.

I really, really enjoyed cooking on it. Okay, it did struggle a bit in the wind, but in the shade and the calm it really came into its own. Out of the bright sunlight you can see the little fire box going away. Turn the fan down and you can see the heat instantly drop away. Makes it easy for the chef to ensure everything cooks beautifully. Great little machine – and with the charcoal it cooks like a real barbie!”