Everdureby heston blumenthal FORCE Graphite Gas

Having read other reviews, I decided to purchase this Heston barby. I'd expected something a little special, in way of design and finesse. I'm disappointed though.The stand is a cheap black plastic, also with red 'arrow' stickers on it that are, so far, impossible to remove.Be aware that the 'slate grey' is not - it's simply a flat matt grey - rather like a dull paint. Very surprisingly the underside of the lid is not even painted! It's just plain aluminium.The instructions are difficult to follow and clearly not written by someone who speaks English particularly well.Overall, my feeling is that Heston slapped his name on this barby without doing his own quality checks. You can do better for the money.

I've owned this for several years. It looked quite nice when new, although remember that a thumping great gas bottle (that you will have to also buy) sits with it so it doesn't look quite like the promo photos! It's two main pros are speed to heat and power, it is great at searing and you can be cooking within a handful of minutes. But as such is a bit of a one trick pony. Even at idle, with both burners on, it runs well over 300F. You can do offset cooking over the "off" burner though. Note that as the gas bottle runs down the performance changes, even with a regulator. I bought the searing (plancha type) plate, which was extra £s still and this is good for all searing and far better than the grill grates (total searing / char, no gaps from grill grate gaps and no flare ups). Cons: build quality not good, the UK distributor had to come to my garden (!) to assemble misaligned hood bolts; the painted on control dial markers wore off in months of use, (didn't use any abrasive cleaner, just wiped with washing up liquid / water); grill grates are hard to clean and rust, they are not enameled (I oil them before every use, note the searing plate is better as fat stays on it so it doesn't rust, just heat to max e.g. 500F for a few mins to sterilize); the hood drips fat out the back onto your patio or deck, not just into the drip tray and the hood base is relatively flat, so fat builds up inside the unit and doesn't drip easily into the fat collector; the handle has come loose because the hood is aluminium and the holes have worn larger in diameter (the hood should have had steel inserts), the paint finish has bubbled in several places on the hood, though has not flaked, but paint has also discoloured in places. The side shelves are also quite limited, the one with the controls (on right) is almost useless because of the placement of the gas controls. Cannot sit a large serving dish here. Lower plastic shelf is OK for tool storage but not during use - far too low. It is expensive for what it is, there are far more versatile options out there that are better built too. However, I do still use it in winter for a quick searing when a) I don't want to fill kitchen with smoke and b) I don't have time to wait e.g. for charcoal or pellet grills to heat up (and charcoal is harder to manage to temperature, takes more skill). The gas burners are reliable and the igniters still work though! It is a good idea (v. powerful gas grill), but let down by execution and detailed design hence 2 stars.