Review of Lodge L410 Pre-Seasoned Sportsman's Charcoal Grill

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I ordered this heavy (33 pounds) little jewel from Amazon a week ago, got it much earlier than expected and tried it out the day I got it. I now have 4 grills: An "oil barrel" type that is perfect for when the family tribe shows up, 2 Weber kettle types in different sizes for weekend entertaining and now the Lodge.

I've had several cast aluminum discount store hibachi's over the years and after the wooden handles fall off, the legs become impossible to tighten and then the "adjustable" supports for the grill crack. I don't see that happening with this hibachi.

Let the grill pre-heat, spray it with PAM and then enjoy the meal. The heat is even, cooking times may be a bit faster than you think, but the dish will be excellent.

HOWEVER! If one is cooking on a wooden deck, as I do, invest in some bricks or concrete pavers to go under the feet. Like all cast iron, this sucker retains heat and you don't want to burn your house down while entertaining guests.

Look for the book "The Honerable Hibachi" by Kathryn Popper. An excellent guide/recipe book.

I wonder if this would be safe to use in a large fireplace in winter months. Any ideas?

I'm thinking about getting another Lodge and then finding a home for the smaller Weber.

Get one and then enjoy your hibachi.

Update Feb 26, 2006:

I've now had the Lodge Hibachi for 4 months and typically use it several times a week. Clean-up is even easier than it was when new. Remember to put a little olive oil or PAM on the grids first and the seasoning improves. In cold, rainy weather, the hibachi fits and cooks nicely in my fireplace (thanks, Ukiechris!), but I crack a window when I do that.

Although quite heavy, it's a great picnic grill and will easily cook chicken, steaks or burgers for 4 people. My Webers must think I don't love them anymore. I do, but the Lodge is perfect for 1-4 people and chicken cooked on the hibachi has a flavor my kettle or barrel grills just can't match.

Besides cooking for that tribal gathering, I'll let you know if I find something the Lodge can't do.

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A great little grill! Though I grew up with weber, kettle type grills, and even tried a trash-picked gas grill, I have never used a grill that cooks so consistently well.

I use mine with hardwood charcoal -this gets the temperature hot, fast. As soon as the charcoal is lit up I spread the coals outward, drop the grill on top (on the high side of the legs), and let it warm up for a couple minutes. Once the cast iron is warmed up the heat radiates evenly across the cooking surface. To check the temp, I hold my hand 4 inches over the top of the grill -if I can hold it there for more than a couple seconds, it is not hot enough. Without adding charcoal, I usually have just enough time to do two batches on the grill.

For steak, I leave the meat on for four minutes each side. When I pull it off, it has a nice crispy crust, and a perfect pink inside. When I cook burgers, I leave them on five minutes each side. And, chicken, I'll take a boneless, skinless chicken breast and pound it flat with a fry pan before tossing it onto the grill (this prevents the common problem of dry on the thin end and too pink on the thick end). Four minutes each side, and when the milky juice flows out when pricked with a fork, you know that it is perfect and juicy. I cook fish in a similar fashion. A little flavor tip: Some coarse kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper added to your meat before cooking is usually all you need to have excellent results.

Now, for roasting or smoking, this is not the product for you. Since there is not a lid it would be impossible to cook a whole chicken, for instance. Buy a weber for that. But a weber will never acheive the kind of perfect steaks and burgers that you get from one of these.

We have had our grill for three years now. It has lived outide our home the entire time in all kinds of weather rain, snow, ice, or sun. And I was grilling in all conditions. I have performed absolutely no maintenance -never oiled it, never cleaned the ashes. It seams perfectly happy in this state of useful neglect.

If you want a great charcoal grill, this is what you want.

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One of my friends received this as a gift to use for tailgating parties. After a few uses, he decided it took to long to cool off, was to hard to clean and had put it back in the box with the intention of setting it out with the trash! Fortunately before he did, he saw me looking at it on this website and asked if I planned on buying it. I said yes and he said don't because he had one that he was going to throw away. If I didn't mind it being used and a little rusty, I could have his. I took it. It was rusted but I scrubbed it, oiled all the parts, and seasoned it in the oven (it was still cold outside so I couldn't fire it up)!

This little grill came in so handy when we bought another house in the spring and removed the stove to make way for the new one. I cooked on it everyday. What my friend found as a disadvantage, I found as an advantage, it stays hot for a long time!

I grilled everything, half smokes, kabobs, burgers, chicken, veggies, fish, etc. . . and nothing stuck! I also grilled ribs on it. I sliced them into individual ribs, placed them on the grill, and covered them with foil (crimped the foil around the rack with tongs). They turned out really good. I used my little cast iron skillet on top of the rack to scramble eggs, and blacken steaks (lots of coals needed for that).

The grill is very durable and as long as it is properly taken care of will provide many years of grilling pleasure! I really like it because the grill rack can be put in the sink for easy clean up and as long as it's properly seasoned, I don't have to worry about my food sticking to it.

I also have a 22" weber kettle grill that I use when I want to grill a lot of food or large items. If I don't, I set this one inside of it on the grate and use it instead. This is an excellent grill for a small household, and I recommend it over the other hibachi type grills. It's great for camping but keep in mind that since it's cast iron it takes a long time to cool down, so start grillin' early!

Honest reviews on Lodge L410 Pre-Seasoned Sportsman's Charcoal Grill

I love using the Sportman's Grill. It gets hot fast and temperature control is easy with the damper and two-position grate. I keep mine seasoned with pam and keep the water out by covering it with an old cookie sheet while it cools down.

This grill is definitely for hardcore charcoal users. I can see where less experienced grillers might not be able to get good results. If you need a thermometer to cook a steak, this is not your grill. If you cam measure temperature by how long you can hold your bare hand over the coals, this grill is for you.

I only gave it four stars because I don't find it very easy to clean out. All of the loose parts have to be removed (grill, charcoal grate, damper door, and the front door) to get all the ash out. Also, I find the carrying handle is nearly useless. The grill is unbalanced so that if you try to pick it up with all of the aformentioned parts attached, it tips over and all the parts end up on the ground. Be careful.

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Pros:

1) Beautiful sear marks and flavour

2) Preseasoned, so it's easy care, just wipe down with an oily paper towel, and remember to cleanup the ash after use.

3) Simple effective no-frills design.

4) Can be used as an outdoor firepit.

5) Sturdily built.

6) The oval shape is much more space-efficient than the round one:

a) for finding somewhere to put it,

b) the cooking surface you can fit 6 burger patties on this, flank steak, a full rack of ribs, good sized slab of salmon...(not all at once!) plus two or three medium potatoes wrapped in foil next to the coals. You can cook for 2-6 pple.

c) in arranging the coals for the right type of heat for what you want to cook.

Cons:

1) No lid -For a lid, I would suggest the Cajun Classic brand cast-iron oval dutchoven flipped upside down.

2) Matching oval-shaped Lodge cast-iron Dutch oven is discontinued (could be used as lid, griddle and dutch oven).

3) It is heavy

4) It is ugly

5) Design too basic? Could be made more user friendly with height-adjust option during cooking. Currently, you have to flip the grill over to change height.

You have to really know your coals. Not very charcoal-phob friendly.

6) Limited use:

a) Cast Iron retains heat and cools slowly, so not very pratical for anything where you might have to move it before it cools.

b) Needs to be baby-ed: water + ash = lye, which will eat away at the cast iron bottom causing rust. So no open grilling in a snowstorm, during unstable weather, or leaving out overnight to cool. You have to go back out when it cools to put it under some sort of cover.

Needful accessories:

1) Oval dutch oven to be flipped upside down and used as a lid.

2) Chimney starter.

3) dutch oven lifter which can we used to lift the grill grate and adjust the height while grate is still hot.

4) alternately a pair of heat resistant gloves.

5) 2 pairs of heat resistant tongs, one for fiddling with the coals/ash and another for cooking with.

6) The nylon cover to help protect it from weather (better than nothing, but a garage or shed is best).

Conclusion:

Love it for its efficient size and shape, great sear marks and flavour. Hate it for when the sky threatens to snow/rain.

Precaution for those who live on the shore:

I live by the shore and have salt water mist roll in overnight. I MUST move it into the shed, as moisture/mist/condensation will collect even under the protective covering. Also, a well oiled and cleaned grate will rust in the salt mist if left out overnight.