The Cobb Story
Not many portable grills have a story to tell, but the Cobb has an interesting history and to understand the fundamentals behind the design and features of the modern Cobb, we need to go back to its origins and humble beginnings.
Where the Cobb was initially born might also surprise you. This popular versatile grill finds its roots in the most rural areas of South Africa. A budding entrepreneur saw numerous practical and safety issues with humble cooking in the rural villages of South Africa and looked for unconventional ways to provide a better and safer cooking experience to hard strapped families living mostly without electricity. The solution had to be economical, safe and portable. The result was the first iteration of the Cobb BBQ.
The very first Cobb was a ceramic bowl shaped grill that was small enough to be easily portable. What set this aside from other grills was the fuel it used to cook. With charcoal and gas both being expensive, and paraffin stoves causing all manor of safety concerns, the Cobb worked in an entirely innovative way. The inventors realized that they could use sun dried corn cobs to provide a safe, efficient and reliable fuel source.
With that quirky innovation to use corn cobs as a fuel source began the journey for this little grill, and with it, its name, derived from the very thing that made it stand out as a unique and unconventional grill; The Cobb.
Little did the inventors know that by solving a real issue for the poorest people in a small town in rural South Africa they had invented a product which would eventually go on to win an award for best invention by Time Magazine in 2001, and later become a global hit.
Over the years Cobb have refined and enhanced the initial design, adapting to new materials and adding a ton of new features that make the modern Cobb BBQ the outstanding bit of equipment it is today. They have listened to customer feedback, they have changed, modified and redesigned numerous features. Today, the Cobb may look a lot slicker and refined, but it has never lost its roots and tried to be something it’s not.
What is the Cobb BBQ?
It’s hard to classify exactly where the modern day Cobb BBQ fits in along side its competitors. That’s because its innovative design makes it useful for so many types of outdoor cooking. It is a grill, oven, smoker, broiler and fryer all in one unit.
The Cobb these days is a complete all-in-one cooking solution for the outdoors. When space and portability matter but you still want the versatility to cook a wide variety of foods using nothing more than a few briquettes of charcoal, the Cobb is the perfect choice.
Design
Many things have changed since the initial ceramic bowl design of the first Cobb BBQ range. The modern Cobb BBQ is constructed mostly out of stainless steel and has several core components.
The main base unit of the Cobb is the stainless steel basket that sits slightly raised off the ground by small rubber feet. The sides of the basket have a net design that allows air to enter, as well as numerous air holes at the base.
Inside the base unit sits a stainless steel bowl suspended by rubber grommets so it never actually makes metal-on-metal contact with the outer basket. This is an important feature as it prevents the outer and bottom parts of the Cobb from getting hot when cooking. You can even pick it up with your bare hands and move it while it’s cooking. This also makes it ideal for use on some delicate surfaces where heat is a problem, such as the deck of a boat.
The stainless steel bowl that sits in the main base has two main areas. An outer ring that serves as a fat drainage reservoir to ensure that dripping fat is collected and doesn’t spill out. The outer ring can also be used to add liquids to infuse foods with more flavour. At the center of the bowl is a round recess where you put a small charcoal basket.
The charcoal basket is large enough to house comfortably about 11 or 12 charcoal briquettes, which doesn’t sound a lot, but the Cobb is designed with such efficiency that this is more than enough fuel to cook at high temperatures for several hours.
On top of the this construction sits the cooking surface. The accessory that comes as default with most Cobb BBQ packages is the hot plate. This is a non stick round plate with a series of holes around the outer parts. It has a slightly convex shape meaning any fat coming off the meat will run away and get drained through one of the drainage holes and fall down into the outer reservoir of the bowl beneath and not directly onto the coals.
Numerous accessories can be used in place of the hot plate, and we’ll look at these later. Finally the Cobb has a tall lid which fits neatly over the unit no matter what cooking accessory you are using. With the lid in place this is where the Cobb truly comes into its element. Precision engineering and design of the airflow in the Cobb allows it to circulate heat around the unit using a surprisingly small amount of charcoal and cook for several hours.
Variations
The Cobb has undergone various phases of development over the years and these days there are several variations of the classic Cobb you can choose from. Depending on your needs and requirements there are plenty of options to find the best Cobb Premier charcoal grill for you.
Cobb Premier
The Cobb Premier is generally regarded as the classic Cobb BBQ and the most popular choice for most people looking to buy their first Cobb. It weighs in at a comfortable 8lb/4kg and has the familar round netted base unit and has a diameter of 330mm.
Cobb Supreme
If you have more hungry mouths to feed and the size of the regular Cobb Premier is going to be an issue, the Cobb Supreme provides all of the benefits of a class Cobb but gives you more cooking space. The Cobb Supreme gives you an impressive 48cm x 34cm cooking surface, but weighs in slightly heavier than its closest cousin at 7kg/15.4lb which may make it less ideal for use in situations where portability is key. But if this isn’t a concern then the Supreme model is a serious contender if you’re looking for a larger model, with the ability to cook two whole chickens.
Expect to use a little more fuel when cooking on the Cobb Supreme as with the lid on there is a lot more space inside the grill to heat.
One thing to be aware of when considering the Cobb Supreme is that the oblong shape and size of the unit means that accessories made for the class range of Cobb BBQ’s will not be compatible with the Supreme. One of the main strengths of the Cobb brand is the huge range of accessories you can add, but few of them are manufactured to be compatible with the Supreme.
Cobb Premier Gas
A welcome addition for some to the Cobb range was the Cobb Premier Gas. The design of the gas edition is very similar to the classic Cobb Premier. From the outside the dimensions and look of the Cobb Gas are almost identical, with the exception of a plastic attachment that is fixed to the side of the main unit to connect a standard 1lb/500g propane fuel canister. Here you will also find a piezo style starter and a knob to control the flow of gas to control the temperature.
Inside the Cobb Premier Gas things function pretty much as you would expect from a Cobb, the only difference being that instead of a fire basket holder, the Cobb Preimer Gas bowl has a hole cut out which sits neatly over a protruding gas outlet to provide the heat source.
The dimensions of the gas edition are identical to the Cobb Premier, meaning that any accessories are compatible and interchangeable. It does however weigh in a little heavier at 10lb/5kg.
See our full review on the Cobb Premier Gas edition here.
Cobb Premier Air
A relatively new edition to the Cobb family is the Cobb Premier Air. This model inherits a lot of its core features and design from the classic Cobb Premier but also adds adjustable air controls in the lid. A long sought after feature among Cobb enthusiasts has been the ability to adjust the airflow to more finely control the internal temperature when cooking. This model is the answer.
As well as the adjustable airflow in the lid, Cobb have also introduced some other clever features such as making the fire chamber that houses the charcoal basket removable for easier cleaning, and an updated version of the charcoal basket that they claim will last longer.
They have also shaved off a little weight from the classic Premier, with the Air model weighing 3.6kg/7.9lb.
Cobb Accessories
Cobb grills excel for two reasons, their unique design and the huge range of accessories that you can add on. By changing out different accessories you can convert the Cobb from a grill to an oven, griddle, frying pan or even a pizza oven!
Depending on which package you buy, some accessories may be included in the box, so check the contents before ordering accessories. Most accessories however are available to purchase separately. Some of the more popular accessories include;
- Roasting rack to fit on top of the hotplate to roast joints of meat.
- Wok attachment that provides an impressively deep pan for frying.
- Extension ring to add extra height to the Cobb for larger joints or chickens.
- Non-stick shallow frying pan
- Griddle pan for hot searing steaks
Check out this article to find out more about some of the Cobb accessories available.
What can you cook on a Cobb BBQ?
Where the Cobb truly sets itself apart from almost anything else on the market is versatility. We haven’t found many dishes that can’t be cooked on the Cobb. The Cobb is perfect for some types of cooking and a little lacking in others.
Direct Grilling
While the Cobb brands itself as a grill, if you intend to mostly use it for direct grilling then it may not be the best choice. The Cobb is designed to mainly be used in indirect cooking situations. The hotplate is designed to route fat away from the meat and deposit it in the reservoir below, not directly onto the coals. So grilling with the Cobb does not give you so much smokey flavour as you might be expecting when direct grilling.
Cobb are addressing this issue however. Recently they have released yet another new accessory to improve the direct grilling experience. The BBQ kit and fire grid accessories allow you to expand the diameter of the charcoal holder below and use a grill that allows fat to drain directly through to the coal. This will be a very welcome addition for Cobb owners who occasionally want that traditional direct grilling experience.
Roast Joints and Chicken
Using the roasting rack attachment, that comes as standard with a variety of packages, the Cobb is perfect for roasting. Using just as little as 9 charcoal briquettes you can easily roast a whole chicken, beef joint or rolled shoulder of pork.
The fat reservoir in the inner bowel can also be used to add liquids such as beer or cider to infuse more flavour into your meat as it vaporizes in the heat. Note however that adding liquids to the moat will reduce the heat performance of the Cobb as more heat will be conducted outwards into the liquid.
While the Cobb is an excellent choice for a portable outdoor oven, it’s quite hard to get it cool enough to cook some more demanding low and slow dishes that require many hours at low temperatures. It handles high heat and medium heat roasting perfectly, but for very low heats you will struggle to lower the heat enough.
Stews and Curries
By flipping out the roasting rack and hot plate and using the wok attachment you can easily convert the Cobb from an oven BBQ into a portable stove with enough capacity to cook a stew, curry, chilli con carne or rice dishes such as paella.
The wok attachment allows you to explore lots of hearty winter dishes and cook them anywhere in the great outdoors. With the Cobb you can let your imagination run wild and cook dishes you previously thought could only be prepared at home.
Seared Steak
While it’s true that the Cobb isn’t the best choice for direct grilling over coals, the ridged griddle plate attachment does produce very satisfying results. It has a non stick surface and is designed to maintain a hotter surface temperature making it an ideal griddle for fast searing steaks. Fat from the meat is drained away effectively and you can get this griddle hot enough to cook an amazing steak. The ridge lines of the griddle plate add nice pleasing char lines to the meat.
Fuel
With the exception of the Cobb Preimier Gas edition, which is fueled by standard EN417 butane gas canisters, all other Cobb models use burning fuel. The most common form of fuel used in Cobb BBQ systems is charcoal briquettes. Briquettes burn effectively and economically in the Cobb, which just a handful need to cook for several hours at high heats.
Lumpwood charcoal can also be used in place of briquettes. This still provides a good cooking experience but may reduce cooking time as there is limited space in the fire basket and larger quantities of lumpwood are required to achieve the same level of performance.
Alternatively, Cobb also make a charcoal based briquette especially for the Cobb called the Cobblestone. They are designed to be easy to light, cleaner to handle and one Cobblestone will typically give 2-2.5 hours of cooking time.
Where can I use a Cobb BBQ?
The portability of the Cobb BBQ makes it the ideal cooking system to bring along to a variety of outdoor situations. It’s perfect for car camping as you have your entire kitchen in one easy to transport unit. Breakfast, lunch and dinner can dinner can be prepared right there at your campsite, and you can prepare all your favourite dishes from home.
As mentioned earlier, the Cobb is designed in a way to prevent the outer shell and base from getting hot. In fact, most of the time they will be cool to the touch. This means the Cobb can be used in situations where food needs to be prepared on a delicate surface areas such as those on boats. Many boat owners are leaning towards Cobb for a great outdoor cooking experience without risking damage to their vessels.
Of course, you don’t have to go anywhere to enjoy cooking food on the Cobb. The Cobb is a great little portable grill to use in your garden or on a small patio as it takes up very little space and the compact design means very little smoke and fire problems.
Where to buy a Cobb BBQ?
Depending on your country, the availability of different packages of Cobb packages and models varies. Here we have listed some of the best deals on Amazon
| Product | Price* |
| Cobb Kitchen in a Box Premier (all you need) | $299 |
| Cobb Premier (ideal for beginners) | $179 |
| Cobb Premier Plus (more accessories) | $209 |
Verdict
The Cobb is one of the most innovative and unique outdoor cooking systems. It has a few drawbacks depending on what type of cooking you do, but this unique design offers so much in versatility that it’s hard to really fault. If you are looking for a fun and easy way to prepare your favourite dishes on camping trips, tailgate parties or picnics, then you can’t go wrong letting the Cobb do its job!
Pros
- Ultra versatile
- Very economical
- Portable enough for car camping
Cons
- Not many features for direct grilling
- Not as much smokey flavour as a traditional BBQ
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