In an effort to use renewable energy sources and less polluting products, I’m surprised that I never see barbecues being targeted. Everyone always thinks of cars or big industrial factories as the ones that leave the huge carbon footprint, but no one thinks about grilling. I mean, if you’re burning something, that smoke has to go somewhere. And I’m certain that propane is some sort of pollutant because it smells so funny.

Designer Sean McGreevy has addressed this issue with the Helios, an energy-efficient outdoor cooker. The dish that you see is not designed to pick up 400 stations, but for collecting solar energy. The solar dish, which is safely pointed away from you while cooking, is designed to heat a coil inside the barbeque and cook food.

I know that the 4th of July weekend is already over, but it makes perfect sense that having a cook out under the stars is not meant for just that particular day as you can always hold one to celebrate a birthday or an anniversary. The Grill Charms are similar in concept to wine charms, offering dime-sized solid stainless steel charms that are placed in your food BEFORE grilling.

The stems are serrated to hold securely while grilling, moving and flipping. Grill Charm your food prior to cooking to distinguish spices and flavors, steak temperatures, or to avoid health or allergy issues. When dinner comes off the grill everyone knows which one is theirs! With The Steak Collection, when still uncooked, you Grill Charm your steak or burger with the desired charm (MR for Medium Rare etc…) then when the food comes off the grill, you don’t have to cut into all the beautiful food to try to find the one you want. You simply look for your Grill Charm.

Sounds like the perfect device to prevent arguments between people who can’t make up their mind on which is their food and which isn’t. Just make sure you don’t end up swallowing your Grill Charm along with your barbecued chicken.

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The Barbegrill will definitely confound the older generation, being a mini barbecue grill where one is able to control its heat level so that stuff like incinerated sausages will be a thing of the past.

Thanks to a variable infra-red heat control system, this neat stainless steel grill is capable of cooking food to perfection without cremating it. It can even toast bread and simmer soup (assuming the soup is in a saucepan, of course). Amazing! Fueled by mini A4 Butane Battery gas cartridges (available from all good camping/outdoor stores, and quite a few mediocre ones) the Barbegrill is ideal for campers, festival fans and barbecue buffs. You can even use it indoors, as long as you’re in a well-ventilated space. Built to last and easy to clean, this brilliant cooking companion is also incredibly safe as it features a pressure-activated gas cut-off device.

The Barbegrill is truly one innovative device that brings together the best of both worlds of barbecuing as well as grilling. Firebox is carrying it for £29.95, making it an ideal purchase before the summer arrives.

I’ve just received this email from Think Geek and as it’s full of gadgety offers thought it was worth sharing, enjoy…

Spend $30 and get $5 Off Your Next Order - So Say We All

Is that cash burning a hole through your pocket like a death ray through stellar matter? We think not. As a geek, you probably have enough dough to grab that latest graphics card, while you are content to subsist on crackers and noodles until the next check arrives. We feel you. And we can help. Simply rack up $30 or more in goodies to your shopping cart (excluding shipping and taxes), then during checkout enter the following promo code to get $5 off your order: RAMEN Make haste, mortals! Offer expires 12/09/2007!

Ion USB Cassette Deck - $99.99 for 48 hours only! Save $50 off the Regular Price.

Don’t let your audio cassettes die a slow and lonely death moldering in your basement for years. Liberate them digitally with the Ion USB Cassette Deck. Simply plug this high-quality dual cassette deck into the USB port on your PC (Windows or Mac) and use the included Audacity software to rip your vinyl directly to MP3 (or WAV format) for playback on all your newfangled devices like the iPod. Now $99.99 for 48 hours only! That’s $50 off the regular price. http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/audio/9778/

If you’re going to host a cool barbecue you’ve got keep the beer cold, but nobody particularly likes sticking their hands in a bowl of ice which is where the Arctic Net Cooler Scoop comes to the rescue.

The Arctic Net Cooler Scoop is like the super hero of parties, fighting frost bite inflicted by ice chests everywhere by doing the scooping for you. Another amputation narrowly avoided. AND it has a bottle opener.

The cooler scoop will cost you $14.99 from After 5, found via Unique Daily.

Another deliciously geeky and practical contraption you can find at ThinkGeek. It’s a barbecue which can be folded into a 30-cm long tube!

Goodbye to lugging that heavy piece of iron around, well met exotic and remote barbecue locations!

The grill is made of stainless steel and weighs less than 600 grams! The grilling surface is 9″ x 10.2″ (23 x 26 cm), more than enough for 2-3 persons.

Regular readers will know we do have a particular affection for the odd barbecue gadget, the next gadget to make our outdoor cooking that little bit easier is the Qbag, an aluminium foil bag for cooking food that doesn’t normally work so well on the grill.

I’ve often wrapped mushrooms and garlic up in tin foil to cook on the BBQ but the Qbag does offer one other advantage, it has a window so you can watch the food burning cooking and it also peels away so you can turn items if needed.

It’s not vastly superior to the old wrap it in tin foil trick, but hey it’s a gadget. The Qbag costs $5.95 (~$12) for 8 from Prezzybox.

Spring might have just arrived, but what most of us look forward to is the summer. After all, who wouldn’t want longer days and more sunlight to bathe in, while children absolutely love the long break for them to roll around the hills stay up to pace with their computer games. As with sunbathing, holding a BBQ cookout is synonymous with summer activities, which is why those of you who do not yet have a grill ought to seriously consider the Memphis Barbecue. What’s the reason behind this, you ask? Aren’t all BBQ grills the same? Apparently not as the Memphis proves, boasting MP3 playback capability via a hidden speaker located at the cooker’s front panel.