Eureka Gonzo Review

The smallest grill we tested is also, in some ways, the most versatile. The Eureka Gonzo Grill is a grill, a griddle top, and a regular propane burner. Overall, the Gonzo Grill isn't the best grill out there. However, for both its compact size and multifunction versatility, it fills a special niche.

Performance Comparison

For cooking small meals with small storage space, the Gonzo Grill is just the ticket.

Output Power

Eureka claims the Gonzo puts out 6000 BTUs. It is difficult for us to precisely verify that, but our experience with other grills allows us to roughly confirm its veracity. For cooking, output power is a function of absolute heat produced and how that heat is distributed and contained. A small, weak burner under a giant grill grate would produce limited cooking efficacy. The Eureka, in absolute terms, doesn't produce much heat. However, the small, round grill grate, with specially optimized panels for heat distribution, leaves it as hot as you would ever need when you need it.

Close competitor Cuisinart Petite Gourmet produces about the same overall BTUs (Cuisinart claims 5500) and distributes it over a grill grate that is about the same size. Look at our Editors' Choice Napoleon TravelQ 285 for another comparison. The claimed output is 12000; exactly twice that of the Eureka. The cooking surface area, though, is also twice that of the Eureka. The result is that these two award-winning grills have an output power that is roughly similar. Our testing reveals that the Napoleon gets hotter than the Eureka, but not by an amount that matters for most cooking.

The griddle feature of the Eureka Gonzo Grill. That same piece of cast iron is simply reversed for grilling.

Control

Cooking different types of foods requires different types of heat. You want direct, high heat for searing a steak, while barbequing chicken requires slower, more dispersed heat. These different types of cooking result from the ability to modulate absolute heat output and the ability to place your food in different positions relative to the burners. The control knob on the Eureka Gonzo Grill works well. It tunes the output from a truly low setting to the aforementioned high, searing heat. The catch, though, is that the small, round grill top over one burner offers few options for placing your food relative to the heat source. Because it is round and has one burner in the center, pretty much everywhere on the grill top is a uniform temperature. For cooking a grill-full of chicken, this is great. However, for slow-grilling some veggies alongside a searing steak, the Eureka comes up short.

The round grill top over one burner is unique in our test. The rectangular top of the Cuisinart Petite Gourmet offers subtly different heating regions when using the center or the corners of the grill. A two-burner grill, like the Napoleon TravelQ 285 or the large Coleman RoadTrip LXX Grill, provides many more options for control. The most striking advantage of a two burner grill is in "indirect grilling." You can light one burner, but place your food on the opposite end, effectively delivering only dispersed heat to your food. This sort of control isn't often necessary, but it is impossible on the Eureka Gonzo Grill.

With an included handled hook one can swap the griddle and grill grate around, even while hot.

Portability

Small, lightweight, and with a bag that contains the important bits, the Gonzo Grill is very portable. It is hard to imagine a useful grill that is any lighter or smaller. There seem to be certain critical bulk and weight thresholds for grilling, and the Eureka treads that line. We like the compact stature and easy movement of the Gonzo Grill. Our only gripe is that the grill requires two hands to carry easily. The only real handles on the grill are a pair of them low and on opposite ends. This means that you must use two hands.

There are two sorts of portability concerns with grills. First, how easily can you move it from site to site? This is a function of weight and bulk. How much is it going to load down your canoe or how much space will it take up in your trunk? In this regard, the Eureka leads the pack. It is the lightest and simplest. Only the Cuisinart Petite Gourmet comes close, but it is a little heavier and a little larger.

The Gonzo Grill is a little awkward to carry. It definitely carries best with two hands, but can be tucked under your arm.

You also might be concerned with moving the grill around your yard or from the garage to patio. In this way, the Gonzo Grill isn't as slick as something like the Coleman RoadTrip LXX that has wheels or the suitcase style carry of the Napoleon TravelQ 285. The Gonzo Grill is small and light enough that moving it isn't an inconvenience, but these others are a little easier still in the described situations.

The bag cover of the Gonzo Grill contains the lid and grates while in transit.

Cooking Area

At 113 square inches, the surface area of the Gonzo Grill is less than that of a large pizza. It holds enough for two people to grill a full meal for themselves, but more than three might require a few rounds of cooking.

On paper, the Cuisinart Petite Gourmet seems quite a bit larger than the Gonzo Grill. The Eureka is 113 square inches while the Cuisinart is 154. The Cuisinart is 136% the size of the Eureka. In use, though, the round shape of the Eureka seems to hold just as much food, with all of that food cooking at once, as the Cuisinart. Arranging food onto the round grill top is easier than on the rectangle. Now, of course, as we note above, the rectangular grill of the Cuisinart gives some subtle control options for cooking different types of food that the Gonzo does not have.

The Eureka Gonzo Grill on the right, with close competitor Cuisinart Petite Gourmet in red. Clearly, the Eureka is smaller. For packing, this is an advantage. For cooking, the difference doesn't seem as profound as it looks.

In our experience, up to 200 square inches is appropriate for up to two people. Add just another 100 square inches and your overall food capacity, in terms of how many people you can feed, seems to double. The nearly 300 square inches of cooking surface on the Coleman Road Trip LXX will readily cook for a group of 4.

The "grease trap" solution of the Gonzo Grill is basic. Essentially, the lower half of the grill traps the drippings. Thankfully this area is smooth and easy to access. A single paper towel wipes up even a few meals worth of grease.

Wind Resistance

There was a time when small grills on the market had very poor wind protection. Thankfully that is in the past. The tight-fitting lid of the Eureka grill shuts out heat-sapping convection. Of course, the smaller stature leaves a greater surface area to volume ratio, and heat is going to be removed a little more rapidly than on a larger grill. We noticed this difference, but your food likely will not.

When exposed to the fan we used to compare grills and wind performance most objectively, the burner of the Eureka kept pumping out the heat. It fared very similarly to that of the Cuisinart Petite Gourmet, but not as well as the concentrated little jets on the Coleman LXX.

The tight-fitting lid seals out the wind. All that grill surface area leaks heat, but no more than with other small grills.

Best Applications

This is a compact car camper's dream. If your primary cooking in the wild is on a grill (and, this is something we highly recommend) the Eureka might be all the heat source you need. It grills right with the best of them for small groups. Additionally, it can be configured to cook food and heat water in your regular pots and pans (we know for a fact that the Eureka and our Top Pick camp cookset Stanley Adventure Series 4x pair well together). Finally, with an accessory hose, you can use one fuel source to power both the Gonzo Grill and a JetBoil stove for hot water.

Slow-grilled Country Style Pork Ribs were no trouble for the Gonzo Grill. The burner turns down for "low and slow" cooking.

Value

For all that it does, the Eureka grill is a good deal. If you need to grill for a larger group, something bigger is required. However, for a team of two car or canoe camping, the Eureka is just the ticket. The piezo igniter is a little finicky (we won't be surprised if it stops working entirely eventually. In that case, a simple butane lighter will suffice) and near the end of our test period, we started to have issues with gas delivery to the Gonzo Grill. We will keep testing and can hopefully report on long term serviceability. Durability is certainly a consideration in the value of a product.

Remove the grill/griddle entirely (see it sitting on the bench to Benja's left) and you can use the Gonzo as a regular burner.

Conclusion

This is a clever product. It is small, effective, and can be configured to do multiple tasks for you. It has its quirks (finding a cooler spot on a round grill is problematic; like yurt dwellers trying to send their naughty children to sit in a corner), and it is too small for groups larger than two. As long as you understand the limitations, the Eureka Gonzo Grill might be for you.