While not official, summer is basically here. Time to break out the grill and throw on your favorite animal or plant-based burger patty. But what if you wanted to top that burger with some cut vegetables or fried eggs? Those things slip through the grates!
If you were using the No 1 Grill Ambassador 5-in-1, all you’d have to do is grab the crank and rotate the cooking surface from the grates to the flat top and BOOM! Now you can heat anything you want.
That, at least, is the pitch from Emilliano Marra, inventor of the No 1 grill, who just launched an Indiegogo campaign this past weekend to raise $150,000 and bring his 5-in-1 cooking appliance to market.
The No 1 looks a lot like any other backyard grill, except for the crank on the front. Give the crank a whirl and the cooking surface rotates, going from a charcoal grill, to a gas grill to a flat top to a grate/flat top combo.
The grill is gas powered, but has a mode that uses charcoal, for that brand of purist. There is a single burner underneath the rotating cooktop, which means that there’s no multi-zone, variable heating when using the gas. There is also an infrared burner above the cooktop for broiling and browning. When both burners are on, Marra told me that the grill can reach 800 degrees F. The No 1 is also on wheels in case you want to move it around your patio.
Over the past five years, Marra has put $470,000 of his own money into his grill, which includes money spent getting a patent for the rotating cooktop. Super early bird backers can pick up a No 1 Grill for $1,2999 with an estimated delivery of October of this year. Should the grill make it to retail, it will cost $2,695.
While I like the idea of easy rotation through different cooktops, I shared the campaign with a hardcore grilling friend of mine to get his thoughts. While he thought it was neat, he said he’d prefer to just swap out the grill for a griddle plate over the heater. I guess I’m lazier than he is, because the idea of just turning a crank sounds so much easier/fun to me.
With a month left to go on the campaign, we’ll see if the No 1 Grill’s all-in-one rotating capabilities is a number one draw with potential backers.
