Japanese hibachi

[Gaelen]

The post about the Lodge grill got me thinking about a very small hibachi grill I used to have back when I had a tiny balcony patio. It was only big enough for one steak, or a couple of small burgers, or a single fish fillet, but it was very efficient...only needed about three briquets to grill for a half hour. That was about six apartments ago, so that grill is long gone.

Then I found one this afternoon on eBay, and I'm now the proud owner of a Japanese-style cast iron table hibachi. I'll have to wait until I get it to confirm the size, but if it's like my old grill, it's the perfect size for a one-pot meal, or to grill skewers or a single portion, or heat up the coffee pot for someone camping alone.

[1849]

That looks pretty cool. Is there a brand name or some other hint so I could do a search for one?

Elliot

[Gaelen]

1849, I think you're already bidding on one exactly like what I have:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Mini-Iron- ... dZViewItem

I'm really happy with mine so far...boils a 2qt. kettle of water in about 6-7 minutes with three briquets and makes a nice burger. It also packs perfectly inside my charcoal chimney for traveling. Good luck bidding.

[Podunkfla]

Hmmm... Galen, that is really SMALL? The pic compared to a floppy makes it look only about 5 or 6 inches tall and about as big as one hamburger maybe... Cute, but too small for me.

[mikeschn]

Wow, that is way small... much smaller that this grill idea I had...

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 525#210525

Mike...

[Gaelen]

It IS really small, guys...much smaller than your idea, Mike (which I really like, btw.) I have a standard charcoal starter/chimney, and the hibachi packs inside the chimney for traveling.

The grill on top is about the diameter of the bottom of a 2 qt. camp percolater, 5 inches...but remember, I'm camping alone, so that works for me and the size pots I typically cook with--a 1 1/2 qt. saucepot, a 7" cast iron skillet, the camp percolator. It's about 6 inches tall, a little shorter than a small backpacking stove on top of a 16 oz. propane bottle...except that because it's cast iron, it's a LOT more stable and can handle a taller or heavier pot. I have a one burner propane stove that uses small bottles, as well as a backpacking propane stove--but the hibachi fires up with two or three briquets of charcoal, and does the whole meal with a lot less fuel. My full 2 qt camp coffeepot doesn't even wobble on the hibachi...I always used to feel like I had to brace my backpacking stove when I put the pot on it.

The very first time I saw one of these, it was in a little Japanese restaurant, and we all had skewers of food that we grilled on the little tabletop grill. They had them for sale. I brought one home and used it as my apartment balcony grill--it's so small that, in a firepan, it was completely safe where a larger grill would have been a major fire hazard.

It works great for cooking for one or two, toasting marshmallows, pie-iron cooking, grilling shrimp, and keeping the hot water boiling...and unlike propane, when it's in a firepan, I feel safe enough not having to stand right over it all the time--don't always feel that I can take that chance with other open flame.

The Japanese restaurant had a whole collection of much older ones, some made out of porcelain--when I searched ebay for 'Japanese hibachi' a lot of the antique style came up, too...guess they're quite collectible. I just like that it's small and packs well.

[dmb90260]

If you need to cook a bigger piece of meat, use the Ira technique and bolt a few of them together.

[1849]

Hey Gaelen,

I won two of them, since the guy said he could ship them both in the same flat rate box. I figured I would use one for myself and give the other as a Christmas present. I'm a solo camper as well, and this sounded just right to boil some water for hot chocolate and cook up a burger or two. Thanks for the heads-up!

Elliot