Picture the moment, the day has been warm and dry, though perhaps a bit grey, yet when you look outside you see the sun breaking through - it’s going to be a perfect evening for a quick BBQ. Yet, with a sigh you realise it’s already far too late to start heating coals, and as for the post cooking cleanup, well it just doesn’t bear thinking about! We’ve all been there, and I know in our house it usually ends in a takeaway! However the FlameDisk promises to bring an end to those frustrated BBQ cravings, by replacing the charcoal with a simple, ready to light, aluminium tray of solid fuel.

The concept is really good; the disk is lightweight, fully recyclable and easy to light, it fits any grill, has enough fuel to burn for about 45 minutes, which should be ample time for those last minute BBQs, and requires no cleaning afterwards as it leaves no soot or ash. The fuel source is renewable ethanol, which is clean burning and generates over 90% fewer pollutants than charcoal, so it’s better for the environment too.

I have to admit, I was sceptical, I’ve cooked outdoors by various means, and with a number of fuel types, and a straight forward BBQ over coals has always been my favourite. Could the FlameDisk change my mind?

For the trial we chose the first really sunny evening of the year, and just in case it didn’t live up to its claims we had a gas BBQ on standby to ensure we weren’t left hungry!
We needn’t have worried!
I set the disk in the base of the grill, peeled back the foil lid, applied one match, just as the packaging said, and the disk sprang into life. Within moments there was enough heat to start cooking, although I did wait the recommended 4 minutes before putting the food on. The cooking speed was as quick, if not quicker than the regular BBQ.

But what about the taste? After all one of the main reasons for this sort of cooking is that unique smoky flavour from the open coals, could the FlameDisk’s ‘SmokePlate’ replicate that?
In a word – Yes!

The idea of the SmokerPlate is that the juices that drip from whatever is being cooked are caught on the plate, heated and the resultant smoke returned back up to the food -simple and very effective.

In total we spent about 15 minutes cooking, then closed the lid on the grill and left it about 45 minutes, by which time it was burnt out, cold and ready to throw in the recycling bin. No mess, no embers, and just one grill tray and the plates to wash up – Perfect!

My scepticism is well and truly banished, and FlameDisks will certainly be making further appearances in my garden!

SRP: £4.99, For more information see www.flamedisk-europe.com.

FlameDisk is available to purchase from a number of retailers nationwide, including Amazon.