Cooking. On the Roadii.
Simon, like me, loves to cook and camp and loves a camp fire but found, time and time again, that camp fires were banned from many of his favourite campsites because of the damage they cause to the earth. It's understandable. He also found that portable barbecues tended to fall apart pretty quickly and often weren't up to the job. So he set out to create a portable hearth that wouldn't rust out easily, would keep the fire away from the ground, would provide a good heat for cooking and could also double as a camp fire.
The result is the Roadii Grill. It makes perfect sense to me as old wheels are great for cooking on and also make good hearths (I used to make fires in them on the beach in Wales). The Roadii is robust, easy to assemble and really enjoyable to cook on, simply because it is so easy to adjust the height of the grill to get more or less heat, or to stoke the fire. That's the clever bit of design that makes the Roadii really practical. It is also powder coated so it should last a few winters of being left outside (if you were too lazy to take it in). The stainless steel grill won't rust at all. Another feature that I really like is the ability to hang a dutch oven from the tripod, cowboy style. This means that stews and casseroles are still firmly on the menu for a winter camping trip.
I love it and have really enjoyed cooking on it over the last few weeks. In fact I am off camping right now and shall be cooking on it tonight.
It looks great but I was shocked at the price. For £255 it's outside my budget. How did you make your beach hearths from old wheels?
ReplyDeleteHi yeswecanjourney its always good for us to get feedback on our product. We should point out that £255 is for the top of the range Firegrill - Three. Prices start at £150 for the Firepit and this is the total 'delivered to your door' price. It depends how often you will use it as to whether you get a good return on your investment or not. Many of our customers tell us that they are using their roadiis most weekends throughout the summer and we designed the roadii for this purpose. There are plenty of cheaper options on the market but none quite offering the same versatility and quality as a roadii. We also made a conscious decision to manufacture the roadii from quality materials in the UK rather than importing from the Far East keeping product miles and carbon footprints low.
DeleteRe-using wheels is a core part of our philosophy and actually costs us about the same as it would to make an original part once all the original wheel paint has been completely stripped. The benefit is that we can capitalise on the energy used to create it and don't waste more energy in melting it down.
Never cook on a car wheel that hasn't had all the original paint removed. It wasn't designed for this purpose and will give off toxins when burnt. Roadii wheels are safe for cooking on as they have been completely stripped and bead blasted before being coated in a specialist high temperature BBQ stove paint.
Another important point to note is that all of our products can be upgraded by separately buying cookpots (dutch ovens), warmshelves and stainless grills. Finally, we want your roadii to last you as long as possible which is why we sell spares to prolong its life in case of damage or loss. If you actually wear it out - tell us all about it and we may just replace it for a new one!
May sound a little silly but what happens to the ash as road wheels have holes in and if not can you control air flow. Plus are they sold by camping shops etc so I could see one before buying?
ReplyDeleteHey Pete. There is a metal plate (added by Roadii) in the bottom of the wheel that stops the ash falling out. You simply empty it on to the roses when cold!
DeleteThanks Martin, are there any outlets that sell them or do you have to buy direct?
DeleteHi Pete. At the moment Roadiis are only available from us, the designers and manufacturers at roadii.co.uk.
ReplyDeleteHi Simon thanks for the info.
Deleteooooo that looks good thinking it ticks the box of garden hearth, camping bbq and fire pit. Better let Santa know ;-)
ReplyDelete