Regardless of who you are or where you come from, I think we can all agree that the concept of a completely solar-powered grill is something that carries an undeniable appeal. Armed with one of these bad boys, you can cook anything from burgers to bundt cake, all with little more than the power of the sun. No propane, no lighter fluid, no ridiculous charcoal chimneys — just you, some mirrors, and that big ball of burning gas at the center of our solar system.
The only downside? Unfortunately, most of the solar grills out there right now aren’t particularly portable. They’re large, unwieldy affairs that aren’t designed to go anywhere but your backyard — which totally sucks when your neighborhood is mired under a gloomy patch of clouds. Ideally, you’d be able to pack up your grill and head to wherever there’s sunshine.
That’s where PhotonGrill comes in. Rather than using a set of rigid glass mirrors to focus light onto your cooking surface, this beast uses a lightweight, reflective plastic. To start grilling, simply inflate the solar collector until it becomes rigid enough to hold its concave shape, attach it to the expandable tripod mount, and then direct the sunbeam at your cooking platform. After that, all you’ve got to do is wait.
So long as you’ve go decent sunlight you don’t even have to wait for that long, either. According to the grill’s creators, the PhotonGrill can reach a temperature of 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 Celsius) in just five minutes with full sunlight.
When it’s all said and done, simply deflate the dish, fold up the legs, and pack everything up. PhotonGrill even comes with a backpack carrying case, so you can easily take it along on backpacking trips, picnics, and any other sun-soaked adventure you’ve got planned.
You cant get your hands on one quite yet, but the SolarGrill team has recently turned to Kickstarter to raise funds for production, so you can lock one down with a preorder by pledging your support. Check it out!