John Lewis Grillstream 4 Burner Hybrid
What’s the story?
This is an affordable hybrid made for John Lewis by Grillstream (if you don’t know who they are, see opposite). It’s not as fancy as some models featured here, but it still packs the brand’s’s unique design with two grills one on top of the other: the top grill streams away most of the yucky juices that might otherwise lead to flare-ups; anything that drips over the side of it is caught by the lower grill; and a ‘fat cup’ on the side gathers all the excess. Please don’t drink this.
The grills and griddles are made from cast iron, with a porcelain coating to help keep rust at bay.
Is it any good?
This is best compared with the Grillstream Gourmet on the left – it’s a similar size and grill design, but without the fancy stuff like the side burner, the glass window or the circular griddle that you can swap out for other accessories. It doesn’t have the silver finish either.
Performance is impressive, though: it feels like a good hybrid barbecue for the price. Of those aforementioned fancy bits, I missed the sear burner most because they’re great for quick cooking – gas hob rings on barbecues are handy enough but a bit meh.
Charcoal lighting is not as quick or easy as you might hope. Cooking results were good, but I found myself thankful for the option to use gas to top up the heat when the charcoal started to cool. Again Grillstream’s signature double grill tends to obscure the view, so you can’t see the burners or coals properly… but all in all, the
John Lewis Grillstream is a great choice for the price. The fancy extras are only worthwhile if you want to barbecue most days, through the summer and beyond – in which case the Gourmet’s foodie versatility is undoubtedly worth the extra expense.
Cleanup was easy and the dual-grill system for catching stray fat clearly worked. That makes this – like the much pricier option opposite – a good choice if you like to cook lots of fat-spattering, flame-provoking meat.
£499 / go.stuff.tv/jlgrillstream
Key specs
● 4 gas burners, 1 gas ring
● 74x42cm main cooking area
● 138x115x56cm, 49.3kg
STUFF SAYS Outstanding for the price, this has it all apart from fancy accessories ★★★★✩