Coleman 9949-750 Road Trip Grill LXE (Red)

We purchased the grill for camping and it works well for that purpose. Our only complaint is that the side tables fall down when rolling the grill to move it.

I've always favored using a charcoal grill over a gas grill, especially for cooking steaks and smoking chicken and ribs. While living in the country I had both in my backyard, and used the gas grill only when I needed to cook something quick with the least amount of preparation & cleanup. My gas grill did use lava-rocks, which did aid in its ability to smoke foods and control the flame underneath the food. However, it's still hard to duplicate the flavor that you get from using charcoal.

After suffering a stroke and heart attack a few years ago, I was forced to sell my home in the country and move into an apartment style condo in town for health considerations. I figured that my outdoor grilling days were over as I was no longer had the room or space to store a grill, or the strength to move it in and out of the garage with a heavy 20# plus tank attached to it. A charcoal grill was out of the question due to all the setup and preliminary preparation work required, and then having to find a place to dispose of the hot coals after use.

I came across the Coleman RoadTrip 9949-750 Series by chance at a local building and home center, and was impressed with its size and ease of portability. It looked like something I could handle and was able to store in a relatively small garage. I, like the others reviewers that have reviewed this product, read the reviews on Amazon.com, and finally decided that this grill was for me under the circumstances.

This grill (or stove) was extremely easy to assemble, and the instructions were concise and easy to understand. I have the habit of reading instructions over several times, to make certain that I fully understand them and don't have to disassemble and then reassemble again correctly. The unit was also light enough for me to handle alone during its assembly. The whole assembly process took me about half an hour from start to finish. I followed several suggestions as posted on this site, and lined the inside of the unit, and drip tray, with aluminum foil, and used "PAM" to spray the cooking surface for ease of cleanup. I also made sure that the side plastic tables underneath were fully extended when in use, to keep them cool and from melting, as his stove can get VERY hot quickly.

My first use was cooking a few hamburgers for my wife and I. All went fairly well. The unit was easy to light, and I only needed to ignite one burner. I turned the heat down to medium, after the initial startup on high for a few minutes, and then placed the meat on the cast iron grill. Yes, you could hear the meat "sear" after only a few seconds. Due to the extreme heat, even on medium, it took only a few minutes until the hamburgers were ready to turnover. The whole process of cooking these hamburgers only took about eight minutes from start to finish. Almost too quick if you ask me, as it takes me longer than that to finish a beer, which is part of the whole experience. Anyway, the hamburgers tasted better than fried or broiled ones made inside on the stove, but not as good as they used to be.

Cleanup was not that easy, as the heat from the stove radiated through the aluminum foil and caused the inside polished well surface to discolor, causing it to look dirty.. Also the cast iron grill surface was extremely hard to clean, even after I had sprayed it generously with "PAM" before use. Then I got to realize that this is a grill, and regardless of what you do, it's bound to take on a used look, and not look "factory-fresh" forever!

Since I don't plan on using this grill as a mobile unit, and plan on keeping it in the upright (setup) position constantly, I decided to do a little experimenting. I found some square ceramic gas-grill rocks at a local hardware store that appeared to be just small enough to fit in the recess area around the burners. I threw the aluminum foil away that I had lined the inside with previously, and put in the ceramic rocks. I then fired the grill backup, and placed a couple more hamburgers on the grate. As the hamburgers cooked, the grease dripped down into the ceramic rocks and was absorbed, thus emitting smoke which I had very little of initially. I also was now able to gently close (not lock) the grill top cover while on medium heat, as the high heat emitted from the stove seemed to be dissipated into the ceramic rocks. Next time around I tried a couple of nice thick New York cut strip steaks, and they turned out fabulous. They were only one notch below of what I use to receive in flavor quality while doing them on a charcoal grill, and they took only a fraction of the time. However you do lose the portability (mobile) factor using it this way.

As long as you make certain that the side tables are fully extended before use, and check the front lid handle occasionally to make sure that it's not getting too hot if you put the lid in the down position, you should enjoy the the Coleman 9949-750 RoadTrip LXE as much as I do.

I like it very much... from putting it together(which was oh-so easy) to grilling the first burgers. It is very well made, gets plenty hot too. My first clean up was tough however. The grills required a lot of scrubbing and cleaning. I have since found that Pam works wonders. I imagine I will get a lot of used and enjoyment out of this grill. An excellent value. Shipping fast.

I brought this to a Brewers tailgating party last weekend and it worked excellent. Fired right up, burgers and brats in no time. Nice little drip pan (I covered mine in aluminum foil and just tossed it for each clean up). I certainly wasn't the only person with this grill there.

For transport the cover locks closed and the sides push in. Uses standard propane and comes with an adapter that plugs in the back. Some small assembly needed, extremely easy, you'll have it up in less than 5 minutes. The actual size of the grilling surface is very large. I cooked burgers/brats for 10 guys without a problem. Unfolding the grill takes about 2 seconds...your grandma could do it.

Now, my one negative, I would actually prefer if it was a touch smaller. I couldn't fit the grill horizontally in my Mazda 3. Full size sedan would probably be okay. I had to crack open the seat in the back to get it to fit. (The problem is the foot rest sticks out too long)

We have had our Coleman LXE Grill since April 2008. I waited to do a review until I had used it a lot. We live full time in our motor home and cook out several times a week. I shopped for months for the Coleman LXE Grill. Found the very best deal here on Amazon.com, with free shipping a $[...] savings, plus no sales tax. Our motor home came with a build in gas grill.The grill was to small for more than two people, did not get hot enough, and was a cleaning night mare. The Coleman LXE fit perfectfully in the motor home bay, by removing the pull handle extension, which is very easy just push a button. As a matter of fact when the grill arrived it went together real fast, no problems at all. It folds down easly as well as up. Just put your foot on one end of the stand and pull up to raise, or lift up to unhook and let down, couldn't be easier. It cooked great the very first time on steaks. just spray some veg. oil on grates, and below, preheat, no sticking. The ignition system works good, temp. controls are good, its true you can use when windy, I have. We have cooked all kinds of meats, and veg. no problems. I haven't had the need to cook above medium as it gets really hot with its stove type burners. A plus is you can only use one burner if you don't need the full grill. Clean up is easier than my previous grills. Unlike what I have read about using foil in the bottom of the grill, which I tried one time, I simply spray veg. oil and the clean up is a simple wipe down under the grates with a paper towel. The grates are the worst to clean. They reguire good old fashion scrubbing. I have read in reviews prior to buying this grill about the lid handle melting off,and the pull out trays melting. I have not had these problems thanks to reading the reviews. Get in the habit of always pulling out the trays prior to raising the lid, if you use high to preheat leave the lid up, however medium is all I have needed even for thick steaks. I do most of my cooking with the lid down on medium. We have gotten many compliments while using our Coleman Grill. People with the Weber are impressed over its easly to use build in stand, large grilling area, and bright red paint is sharp. A couple of things that did concern me with this Coleman LXE Grill is the weigh.I have had back surgery. I solved this problem by taking out the two grates prior to loading or unloading into my motor home bay. This made a noticable differance in weigh. Also you can decrease the storage length by about 5 inches by removing the clip on pull handle extension. Another was the gas hose to connect to a LP bottle. Coleman does not tell you any LP gas hose that fits a disposal bottle on one end, and the universal connection on the other end for a LP 20 pound or larger bottle will work. These are available everywhere, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc. Its a great gas grill for its size and price. I too wish Coleman would replace the plastic lid handle with wood or something heat resistance, otherwise its great. Coleman 9949-750 Road Trip Grill LXE (Red)