Pit Boss Grills PB100P1 Pit Stop Single-Burner Portable Tabletop Grill Review
Pit Boss has put a lot of time and effort into developing a reputation for quality grilling products. Their largest segment focuses on wood pellet grills. Their line has started to expand in recent years, to the point that they now offer other grilling appliances like the Pit Stop portable gas grill.
It’s made largely from commercial grade stainless steel, which gives it a definitive gleam. The primary grill grate is also made from stainless steel, as is the warming rack built into the lid.
The single stainless steel burner element produces up to 10,000 BTUs of heat. The elongated U shape helps to evenly distribute the heat across the grates. It has a push-button ignition system that spares you have to fiddle with a lighter or matches.
The Pit Stop includes a regulator and is designed to run on a one-pound propane tank. It’s also detachable if you would prefer to connect it to a larger propane tank with a hose.
It only weighs 20-pounds which makes it easy to carry with you for trips to the beach or tailgate parties. The legs also fold up neatly. The lid latches as does the slide-out grease tray.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
Pit Boss always does its best to marry quality with innovation. You can feel this with the Pit Stop and the copious use of non-magnetic, commercial-grade stainless steel. The fact that the lid and grease tray latch in place is a nice touch and speaks to its portable design.
One knock on it is the incredible sharp edges. If you happen to have some metal-rated sandpaper, or you have a deft hand with a mill file, you might want to spend ten minutes lightly buffing down some of the razor-like corners. It would also be a good idea to keep a basic first aid kit with you when you take the grill on the go.
The slide-out grease tray is a little bit shallow. Still, there are plenty of other portable grills in this price point that don’t even have a grease tray to speak of.
There is very little in the way of assembly. Once you unbox it and put things in place, it’s pretty much ready to use. It shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to get it ready to fire up.
Grilling Performance
As a portable grill, the Pit Boss can do pretty much everything you need it to do when it comes to direct heat grilling. It can sear a Steak, make a great burner and crisp the skin on a brat. The 205 square inch primary grill grate and 100 square inch warming rack can both be used to help cook food.
It’s the low end of the temperature spectrum where the Pit Stop struggles. This is pretty much standards with a lot of portable gas grills, where even the lowest flame builds up under the lid.
If you need to cook something with a bone-in like a pork chop of a chicken breast, you might want to start it out on the warming rack to help the meat cook through. Then you can bring it down to the main flame to sear it off and give it attractive grill marks.
The regulator it comes with is only set up to run on one-pound propane cylinders. This is nice for the times when you want to use it as a portable grill for a tailgate party or camping trip. Yet this grill has enough quality and size to also live as your daily griller on the deck or patio.
A single-cylinder will handle around four to six grilling sessions. If you want to hook it up to a larger propane tank, you might need to upgrade with a larger gas regulator.
Grilling Areas
Both grill grates are made from stainless steel. The primary grates measure provides 205 square inches, and the warming rack adds another 100 to the equation, and is close enough to the heat to be used as additional cooking space.
Special Features
The latching lid and grease tray, with the stout handle, makes it easy to take the 20-pound Pit Stop with you.
The folding stainless steel legs the Pit Stop packs away tightly.
Ease to Clean
The stainless steel primary grate and warming rack can be a little sticky. Especially if you are grilling lean cuts of meat like pork loin chops of chicken tenderloins. Lightly greasing the grates in advance will help the meat release quickly and spare you some extra scraping with a grill brush.
The grease tray slides out easily to be poured away. As you might expect with a portable grill, it is a little on the shallow side. If you are making something with a little slopping marinade or drips a lot of grease, you might want to check the tray from time to time, just in case, it needs to be poured out.
Warranty
Pit Boss follows through on their dedication to quality by backing most of the Pit Stop’s parts and components with a five-year limited warranty. This is a superior warranty to pretty much all other competitors. Pit Boss even goes so far as to declare its warranty coverage as an industry best.
Conclusion
Portable grills tend to be a little bit on the cheap side, and they get knocked for questionable quality. The Pit Stop by Pit Boss turns this notion on its head, with quality components, thoughtful design, and materials. Just watch out for the sharp edges, and don’t expect it to handle low heat applications.
If you are in the market for a high-quality portable grill it’s very hard to ignore the Pit Stop. Especially, with a very friendly price point.
