BEWARE MASSIVE DELAYS ON ‘THE TUBE’
Solar barbecue (£139, amazon.co.uk) THIS space-age-looking barbecue uses curvy reflectors to direct the power of the sun onto a metal vacuum tube, which then heats up to — apparently — as high as 270c to cook the food within.
The food is inserted into a stainless cooking tray, which you slot into the machine for 30 minutes. It also has a lightweight carrying bag. The downside? It probably works best on an Australian beach. On a sunny British afternoon, the tube barely warmed up at all, even though I left it out all day.
VERDICT: Disaster. My sausages came out hardly lukewarm, let alone cooked or edible. And the narrow tube can only fit food for one person at a time.