There is an article in Aftenposten online today titled “Engansgrillens dødare” (The engangsgrills killers)- about a group of 5 Norwegian firemen and 1 Norwegian firewoman (brannfolk-brann meaning fire) who are testing small, portable, multiple use grills that will hopefully discontinue the use of engangsgrills-the small disposable grills that you can purchase at a grocery store or convenience store in Norway to grill a few pølser on and dump it in the søppelkassen (garbage can).  Engangsgriller work ok (except they can easily burn the food you are grilling because there is not much space between the coals and the grate that the food sits on), but they are obviously not the most environmentally friendly (miljøvennlig) contraptions as they get tossed i søppelkassen after one use.  Who better to test grills than brannfolk?

Brannfolket tested 5 grills.  And here is what they had to say about them:

(refer to the following website for bilder (pictures) and mer informasjon (more information):

http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/aktivitet_friluft/article235686.ece

The characteristics that each grill was judged for include pris (price), størrelse av gassbeholderen (the size of the gas tank), plass på grillen (space on the grill), vekt (weight), letthet å bære (ease to carry), hvor raskt den blir varm eller kald (how fast it becomes hot or cold), and avstand fra kull (distance from the coals).

The conclusions suggested the following:

-the best grill would be lett å bære and not too heavy, yet not built so cheaply that it will ‘be destroyed easily’ (bli lett ødelagt)

-the design would allow it to provide ample grill surface area for grilling several things at once

-far enough distance from the coals to the grate sånn at maten ikke brenner (so the food does not burn), but close enough so it does not take forever for the food to get hot

-built so that the grill heats up quickly and also cools down quickly for storage and transport

-also brannfolket seemed to really like the grills built with little legs to protect the under side from damage

Check out the website.  It’s a pretty interesting and light-hearted article. The picture of the brannfolk with those teeny tiny grills is entertaining.  I do support that they are trying to encourage consumers to buy these relatively inexpensive, multi-use, easily portable grills.  When you consider all the people who buy the engangsgriller and how much waste they create, spending a little extra money on one of these grills will be worth it in the end for the consumer and for the planet.

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