Giantex OP3307 Charcoal Grill Portable Barbecue Grill & Smoker Review
On the face of it, a charcoal grill can be a pretty basic thing. Most are little more than a metal box capable of safely containing an active fire. Utilitarian grill grates then hold meat and vegetables above the flames while you flip them with some basic metal tools.
It’s not the sort of thing that lends itself to new and interesting innovations. One could even argue that some grill manufacturers struggle or even give up on trying to produce something new.
Giantex puts forth a good effort at a very friendly price point with their OP3307 Charcoal Grill Portable Barbecue Grill.
Yes, it is still just a charcoal grill doing most of the stuff you’d expect. It also has a front adjustment crank that they call a “Charcoal Braizer Height Regulator.” Basically, you crank it in one direction the charcoal firebox moves up. If you crank it in the other direction it lowers. While there are a fair number of charcoal grills that already have a feature like this, the OP3307 Charcoal Grill does seem to have a greater range and plunges deeper than others with this same feature.
The side table folds down and is pretty sturdy once it’s locked in place. It includes four tool hooks. The cart base itself has a strong lower shelf which ties the legs together nicely. It also includes a front-mounted bottle opener.
At the bottom of the firebox, there s a pull-out ashtray. The face of the firebox also has a tight sealing access door, which allows you to add extra charcoal or to load in some wood chips. The lid has a built-in thermometer, which is relatively accurate. Just make sure to clean any soot off of the lead point, to make sure it’s giving you an accurate reading every time.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
The materials used for the Giantex OP3307 Charcoal Grill are relatively good quality. The internal crank isn’t as strong as you might want, which could lead to rusting and corrosion issues as the grill gets older.
As a charcoal grill, it’s pretty simple to assemble. You don’t need any exotic tools beyond the usual screwdrivers and wrenches. A deep well socket set and some open face wrenches might help in a few places, but they aren’t necessarily required. You should be able to put it together in a little over an hour to an hour and a half.
Grilling Performance
As a charcoal grill, the Giantex OP3307 does a good job of handling all the usual grilling tasks. With a little forethought, you can really use the so-called “Charcoal Brazier Height Regulator” for more than you might think.
Take for example “The Perfect Steak” which is one of those things like the sasquatch, everyone talks about it, but in reality, it’s elusive. The problem is that the perfect Steak needs a flavorful crust, but constant high heat tends to overcook the middle.
With the Giantex OP3307 you can crank the charcoal box all the way to the top to let the porcelain-enameled grill grates get ripping hot. Then lay down the steak and let it sear for a full minute. Lower the charcoal down. Rotate the steak 90 degrees for that sexy looking crosshatch look of the sear marks. After two and a half minutes, flip the steak. Crank the charcoal back up for a minute, repeat.
Then take it off the grill wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil to let the juices settle back into the meat fibers. The end result is a steak that is beautifully pink in the middle with a visually appealing, and perfectly seared crust.
Giantex goes a step further with the OP3307 and calls it a barbecue and a portable grill. I don’t know how portable it is. Yes, it does have wheels, but they are more for moving it from one end of the patio to the other. I wouldn’t recommend hefting the 60-something pound grill into the back of your pickup truck every weekend to tailgate in the stadium parking lot.
When it comes to it being used as a barbecue. If you are a pit master purist, then I would say that it isn’t a barbecue. Still, the coal box does drop down nice and low. The access door does allow you to reload charcoal and smoking woods. This allows you to use it as a barbecue smoker for certain foods.
The trick is to lower it all the way down. Build the fire on one side of the box. Then place the meat on the other side of the grate. If you use wood chunks instead of wood chips, you will get fewer flareups, and better heat control.
The main grate isn’t big enough to use it this way for smoking something large like a full-size brisket flat. You can pull off a small pork shoulder, a full-size chicken, or a decent size salmon fillet. The upper rack which is meant to be a warming rack could also double up for smoking riblets or link sausages.
Grilling Areas
The primary grilling grates provide 432 square inches of cooking space. This is more than enough to grill for a family of four or more. The warming rack is 210 square inches. Combined the Giantex OP3307 provides you with 642 square inches of grilling space.
Special Features
The pull out ashtray and bottle opener are nice little features that you don’t necessarily get with other grills in this same class and price point. Where the Giantex OP3307 really shines is the front access door and the charcoal crank adjuster.
Ease to Clean
For a box-style charcoal grill, the Giantex OP3307 is relatively easy to clean. The pull-out ashtray gets most of the spent coals and ash. Every now and then you might need to take extra time to make sure ash gets cleaned out of the corners of the lower firebox.
Take an extra 30-seconds to clean out ash from where the crank meets the fire brazier. Ash that gets stuck here can gradually start to corrode the relationship to the crank causing it to fail a few years down the road.
Warranty
It comes with a 2-year limited warranty for replacement of defective parts only.
Conclusion
A charcoal grill that can also pull double duty from time to time as a barbecue smoker is a handy thing. The Giantex OP3307 can pull off both these roles, so long as you are smart about managing the fire. You don’t often find all these features at a price point that’s this friendly.
