Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture Portable Gas Grill Review
Cuisinart has done an impressive job of transitioning from the realm of home and kitchen appliances to offering a wide range of grills and smokers with their telltale quality, infused with convenience. This shows through with the tasteful style and functionality of the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture Portable Gas Grill.
At first glance, the exterior is even reminiscent of a classic picnic basket. Though you find it is much more when you lift that wooden-styled lid to find a very capable portable gas grill underneath. The wood lid can even double as a functional cutting board or serving platter, should the occasion call for it.
With the lid off you can install a typical one-pound propane canister. With the stainless steel burner element turned all the way up it gives you up to 9,000 BTUs of consistent heat per hour. This is more than enough to sear off steaks, chops, and grill burgers on its own. Though Cuisinart takes it a step further by offering porcelain coated grill grates made from heat-absorbing cast iron.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
Cuisinart has spent decades cultivating a loyal customer base with quality material craftsmanship and an engineering eye focused on convenience. This shows through handsomely in the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture Portable Gas Grill. This is reflected in the cast iron grill grates, which most of the competitors in this price range don’t have, as well as the way the lid doubles as a cutting board, and the base houses sturdy legs. The underside of the base will even hold the one-pound propane canister you need to fuel the stainless steel burner.
When it comes to assembly, there’s not much beyond carefully unboxing the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture Portable Gas Grill. Setting it up when you get to your camp, beach, or picnic spot only takes a minute or two.
Grilling Performance
For a relatively small portable gas grill, the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture does a really good job of searing off traditional pieces of meat like steaks, bratwursts, and chops. If you are just looking for this kind of grill, then the venture will tick all the important boxes.
Just bear in mind that it doesn’t have any sort of lid or done, which makes it a poor choice for cooking things like bone-in pieces of chicken. If you do need to melt a slice of cheese on a burger you can lightly tent the top of the grill with a small sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
It’s worth bearing in mind that the interior of the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture can be prone to spatter issues and grease problems over the course of a long grilling session. If you are the kind of person who loves to grill meats with sopping marinades and flavorful mops, or you just love to grill up big fatty pieces of meat, the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture might not be the ideal grill for you.
Grilling Areas
The porcelain-coated cast iron grill grates on the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture Portable Gas Grill offer up 154 square inches of cooking space. This is just about right for a pair of New York strip steaks for two or perhaps bratwursts for up to four people.
Special Features
The engineering of the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture was designed to be conveniently portable. This includes the ability to use the base to hold the one-pound propane cylinder as well as a small assortment of other picnic essentials.
The fact that you can use the wood top of the “Faux Picnic” basket as a cutting board is also a nice touch that adds to real-world functionality.
Ease to Clean
A lot of small portable gas grills are tricky to clean and the grill grates typically wear out long before the gas grill dies on its own. Though this is not the case at all with the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture.
The grates are made from very durable cast iron with a protective coating of nonstick porcelain. This means you can get aggressive scraping them down without worrying about damaging the underlying metal. If you do run into some stubbornly stuck-on material, you can always remove the grate for a good soak in warm soapy water. The porcelain coating will protect it from rusting.
If there’s a complaint with the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture’s cleanup, it’s the drippings. The drippings pan is very shallow and the curved interior is prone to spatter problems near the stainless steel burner elements. So, make sure to take your time carefully wiping out the base, as well as any spatter around the burner. If one of the flame ports is clogged, you can gently poke it open again with a bamboo grill skewer or a round wooden toothpick.
Another thing to keep in mind with the wooden cutting board lid of the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture is that like a lot of wood, it’s not ideal for cutting certain types of meat like raw chicken. If you do need to cut raw meat on it, make sure to give it a thorough wash with soapy water and perhaps a light douse of bleach water to make sure all the bacteria are thoroughly eliminated from the microscopic pores of the wooden surface.
Warranty
Like a lot of Cuisinart’s products, the Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture comes with a 3-year warranty protection program rolled into the original purchase. Though it needs to be registered within the first 30 days after the initial purchase and only warrants manufacturer defects, not damage from abusive use.
Conclusion
The Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture is one of the best compact portable gas grills on the market. This starts with the picnic basket styling and a wooden cutting board top. Though what you find under the top is a great grill with 9,000 BTUs of heat as well as a high-quality porcelain-coated cast iron gas grill.
Just be wise about how you treat it when you deal with marinated meats and greasy cuts. While the grates will be easy to clean the liquid remnants that find their way into the lower portion of the grill can cause a smoky mess that’s hard to wipe clean.
