Cuisinart All Foods Roll-Away Review
Cons: Handle gets hot, one of the more challenging models to set up
Manufacturer: Cuisinart
Our Verdict
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 This Product
Cuisinart All Foods Roll-Away | |||||
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| Awards |  |  |  | ||
| Price | $280 List Check Price at Amazon | $259.00 at REI Compare at 2 sellers | $71 List $69.10 at Amazon | $120 List | $100 List $109.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Large grilling surface, thermometer, heats fast and hot | Excellent heat retention, convenient side tables, consistent ignition | Sturdy, simple, good sized coal bed and grill space | Well insulated, gas efficient, sturdy | Convertible for indoor/outdoor grilling, consistent temperature control |
| Cons | Handle gets hot, one of the more challenging models to set up | Less portable due to weight and lack of latching lid, hot even on lowest setting | Handles get hot, vents are hard to adjust, requires more preparation than gas grills | Poor control of heat range, quick deterioration of grill surface | Tied to an electrical cord, no ventilation, “fat-removing” design |
| Bottom Line | Sturdy cart style product that would do well for a apartment or condominium patio | From folding side tables to easy to clean cooking grates, this thoughtfully designed model makes grilling on the go fun and easy | Simple and highly effective, this portable charcoal grill will help you show-off your pit cooking skills away from home | With a lot of heat output from a single burner, this compact powerhouse specializes in high-temperature grilling at a fair list price | A convertible indoor/outdoor grill that is perfect for party cooking, as long as you have access to an electrical outlet |
| Rating Categories | Cuisinart All Foods... | Weber Q 1200 | Weber Go-Anywhere C... | Cuisinart Grillster | George Foreman Indo... |
| Output Power (25%) | |||||
| Control (25%) | |||||
| Portability (20%) | |||||
| Cooking Area (20%) | |||||
| Wind Resistance (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Cuisinart All Foods... | Weber Q 1200 | Weber Go-Anywhere C... | Cuisinart Grillster | George Foreman Indo... |
| Total BTU | 15,000 | 8,500 | N/A | 8,000 | N/A |
| Weight (pounds) | 41 pounds | 31 pounds | 12 pounds | 13 pounds | 9 pounds (w/o stand) |
| Cooking surface area (inches) | 240 sq in | 189 sq in | 140 sq in | 148 sq in | 227 sq in |
| # of burners | 1 | 1 | N/A | 1 | N/A |
| Grill material | Porcelain-Coated Cast Iron | Porcelain-Enameled Cast Iron | Plated steel | Enameled steel | George Tough Nonstick |
| Packed Size (inches / cu ft) | 44" x 23" x 21" / 12.3 cu ft | 15" x 26" x 14" / 3.2 cu ft | 14.5" X 21" X 12.2" / 2.2 cu ft | 20.5" x 12" x 10.2" / 1.5 cu ft | 22" x 18" x 14" / 3.2 cu ft |
| Piezo Ignitor | Yes | Electric | No | Yes | No |
Our Analysis and Test Results
Check out this hot, large, grill mounted on a sturdy stand. After some setup time and provided you manage the handle that gets really hot, the Cuisinart Roll-Away is a prime candidate.
Performance Comparison
Output Power
The All Foods Roll-Away packs a powerful punch as far as output power goes. It has clear low, medium and high settings, but it gets hot. It's great for searing on its cast-iron grate.
Control
The All Foods starts right up, and the 15,000 BTUs swiftly cook anything you throw at it. The built-in thermometer is an asset as this baby can easily reach over 500 degrees relatively quickly. This product did go through fuel fast and did not pass the wind test. On a very windy day, it required relighting four times during a twenty-minute cooking session.
Portability
Though it's light for a standing, cart-style product, the All Foods felt like the heaviest. The main body of the grill is heavy, and moving it from a standing position into a folded one was the most challenging.
The All Foods is tricky to transport and to raise from a folding position to a standing one and vice versa, especially as compared to the other cart-style grills. When in the standing mode, there is a hook that hangs from the bottom of the backside of the grill to a bolt on the top of the wheel portion of the cart that must be unhooked before it can be set into a folded position. The problem is that the hook doesn't stay open and just falls back into place if you don't hold it up with your other hand.
There is also a hook bar on the bottom of the right side of the grill that has to be lifted up and off of the entire top of the wheel side of the cart. If you hold the hook up with your right hand and lift the whole grill off of the hook bar with your left hand, (all while keeping one foot on the bottom of the non-wheeled side of the cart) you are then left with the entire weight of the whole system in one hand. Gravity can quickly and nervously take over, while the left side of the grill wants to take a nosedive to the ground. You'll have to grab the handle with both hands and gently set it on the ground. Alternatively, you can hold onto the handle with one hand, and the top of the wheeled side of the cart in the other, and gently guide both to the closed position.
From the closed position, there are two metal hooks to be unfastened to raise it back up to a standing position. Both fall back into the hooked position unless you pull the hooks out past the bolt where it is supposed to be placed. In time, this could cause the metal to bend which could render the whole system loose and unsafe.
When folded, the All Foods has most of the weight towards the wheel end, which makes it feel like a super cumbersome and bulky rolling suitcase. While in the transporting position, the top of All Food's lid sticks out further from the cart than the other two products as well, which makes it a bit more cumbersome to maneuver. The lid latch on the All Foods does close securely, and the wheels are durable. One of the cotter pins that keep the grill fastened to the cart fell off during an outing, which added to the challenge of transport.
Cooking Area
The All Foods has a large 240 square inch porcelain-coated cast iron grate that did get a bit rusty from time to time. If this happens, season it with some oil on a small rag or paper towel. There is a cover over the burner, which means no dripping grease will fall into the holes in the burner, clogging them up. The stainless steel side tables are a great added feature. Do be careful because the handle on the lid of the All Foods gets hot when grilling.
Wind Resistance
The All Foods received one of the lowest scores for wind resistance. It blows out easily in the wind and can be extremely frustrating, especially if you haven't noticed it has blown out. On a positive note, it does light back up quickly and easily. We don't recommend this product for windy excursions.
Value
This product approaches the higher end of the price spectrum of the contenders tested. It is a beefy grill that is a pleasure to cook on, but it did receive one of the lowest ease of transport scores of all the contenders tested.
Conclusion
The Cuisinart All Foods Roll-Away is a stainless steel grilling machine. It heats fast and grills hot, and the side tables and thermometer are nice bonus features. The All Foods is portable but cumbersome.
— Aaron Rice and Valentine Cullen
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