Many people have fun fantasies of eating outdoors, whether it’s at a campsite or just in your backyard. Most, however, only imagine the actual act of eating and socializing, but not what happens before and after that. Unless you’re a blue-blooded fan of grilles and barbecues, you probably aren’t too fond of the preparation and the actual cooking parts of the experience. And no one probably looks forward to the cleanup afterward. Cooking and cleaning are, of course, inevitable even when indoors, so the trick is to actually make those activities easier, usually by having good tools for the job. You might have smart ovens or multi-purpose cookware indoors, but this modular charcoal griller has you covered outdoors, including when it’s time to finally clean up the mess.
Designer: Hayanako Kenko
When people think of cooking outdoors, they often presume it’s all about grills, mostly because it’s the most common type of cooking you can’t conveniently do indoors. Of course, that’s probably not the only kind of food you’d want to eat, but other styles of cooking would require other cookware and, consequently, a larger space. The +Base modular griller, however, supports almost any kind of cooking you’d want, from frying (teppanyaki), smoking, stewing, grilling, or even keeping wine warm.
All of these happen on a griller that can sit on top of a table, its compact body making it perfect for carrying around and storing in small spaces. Made by a small family-owned Japanese factory that specializes in sheet metal fabrication, the All-in-One Grill is carefully designed to maximize the limited amount of space available, like small grooves on the grill’s frame that keep the skewers in place. The wooden base that protects tables from the grill’s hot bottom also acts as a lid when the griller has to be stowed away.
As the name suggests, the secret to the griller’s multi-functional talent is its modularity. Despite its small size, it includes a grill and grill net, a pot with a cover, an iron plate for frying, a steamer and smoker, and a specialized pot for keeping sake or mulled wine warm. It’s simple to mix and match the parts that you want for the kind of food you need, from steaming vegetables and dim sum to smoking fish or cheese to even enjoying a sip of warm wine to complement the dishes.
The modular griller is designed for maximum efficiency despite its small size. Working with either charcoal or wood, the clever ventilation system allows air to circulate properly while cooking. Handles on the grill frame as well as the pots make it convenient to pick up the griller for easy transportation. And since it’s made of multiple small parts, it’s almost trivial to clean each piece rather than fumbling around washing a large grill.
Cooking outdoors to share a meal with family and friends should be enjoyable from start to finish. While you do still need to actually cook food, this modular griller takes some of the stress out by offering cookware that you can place on top of almost any table. And since it’s easy to clean, everyone can pitch in to wash a part of the set, potentially turning even that chore into a fun experience.
