If you live in a big city, chances are that you don't have a large backyard to yourself. Apartment-dwellers, those in townhouses, rowhouses, condos, co-ops… anyone without enough space for a giant mutli-burner setup should pay attention. We found a great solution for crowded spaces, and over the recent Independence Day holiday, managed to grill without needing a huge open area, a lot of charcoal, or trying to rush to get a grill space at a park.
The Stok Gridiron is a portable, single-burner, propane grill that is perfect for urban citizens. The surface is big enough to fit enough food for a group, and it folds up and collapses into a fairly small package that can be wheeled inside or out of the way. Porcelain-coated grates are fairly easy to clean, and the integrated temperature gauge is easily visible, so you don't need to open up the hood and let all of the heat out just to check on your burgers and chicken.
There's an electric starter so you don't need to fumble with matches or a lighter, and a side table for holding your tools or a plate. Big handles mean fewer burns when you try to open the lid, and the heat is adjustable as well- try that with charcoal! Of course, we found that the heating was pretty uneven, with some cold spots and hot ones, that took some experimenting to get good results. The surface is fairly large for a single burner, and 15,000 BTUs is plenty of heat, so we found ourselves primarily cooking at the lowest setting and sometimes wishing we could have an even lower one. Build quality is decent- great in some spots, and a bit cheap in others, but most everyone liked the bright orange color and how fast it's setup and hot- it takes only a couple of minutes from folded away to hot and ready for your sausages.
If you need a smaller grill for your smaller space, then the STOK Gridiron is a solid choice. The company offers inserts like pizza stones, a griddle, and a chicken roaster that make for fun additions. And even if they aren't as well known as the big companies, we were impressed by the results. At $200, it's a good buy, and a great addition to your patio or even balcony.