Camping and grilling go together like juicy hamburgers and freshly cut French fries. Yet most campground grills (when available) leave much to be desired. Either they are falling apart from neglect, or they are gargantuan devices apparently designed by Cro-Magnons for the roasting of freshly slain woolly rhinoceros.
Enter the Weber Q100 “Baby Q” Grill. This is an excellent travel-sized, propane-powered grill. It works so well, you may find yourself using it at home as your primary barbecue grill of choice.
The Weber is built of solid cast aluminum, so it won’t rust. It’s thick and sturdy, so it won’t fall apart. It has a substantial 189 square inch cooking surface, so when cooking for 2-4 people you won’t run out of room.
It not only gets hot fast, it gets hot evenly (which is more than I can say for the relatively expensive Hyundai-sized grill at our home). The Baby Q imparts superb sear marks on steaks and other meat.
The Baby Q is an ideal size for camping and tailgating. There’s an optional canvas carrying case that fits the grill like custom luggage. We usually haul our grill in the bed of our pickup truck SEEMORE, though it also easily fits in the back seat.
Build quality is high. In an era of cheaply made plastic products, the Weber seems to be built like a cast aluminum tank. Properly maintained, one suspects it will last many seasons of grilling.
The design is downright curvaceous and attractive. It’s also functional, with a built-in removable drip pan that collects most of the mess. This makes clean up a cinch.
There’s one major problem with the Weber, and that’s the required propane tank. For some strange reason, Weber opted to use 14.1-ounce propane tanks instead of the standard 16-ounce tanks you find in most camping supply stores.
One can imagine the scene in a Weber corporate conference room, as the design team meets with the engineers…
“We’ve designed our grill to use this skinny, little, blue 14.1-ounce propane tank,” says the perky, youthful Design Team Leader. “Isn’t it cute?”“But…” says the grizzled, grumpy old Product Engineer, a frown scrawled across his face. “That there’s a weldin’ tank. The campin’ propane tanks are 16-ounce canisters.”“Those camping ones are FAT,” replies the Design Team Leader. “And they’re an UGLY shade of green.”
“But that one is for WELDIN’,” says the Engineer. “And it’s found in the PLUMBIN’ section of most stores.”
“But this one is BLUE!” exclaims the Design Team Leader. “And it’s CUTE!”
Cute won the day. This fateful decision, no doubt, has resulted in thousands of Baby Q owners buying those standard fat, green propane tanks, and cursing shortly thereafter. The standard tanks won’t fit, at least not without taking apart certain sections of your grill.
Have no fear. The 14.1-ounce tanks are readily available if you know where to look. They are generally located in the plumbing and welding area of your local hardware or home supply store. We’ve bought our tanks at Ace Hardware, but I’m told they exist in Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the rest.
Weber makes a number of optional accessories for these grills, including a propane hose adapter kit. The kit will allow you to use any propane tank, not just cute blue ones.
Despite the 14.1-ounce chink in its armor, the Weber Baby Q is a fantastic little grill. Highly recommended.
I also recently bought a Baby Q for my A/S. Mine was purchased on line thru Target so I could get one with a red lid that matched George (Foreman Grill) and Cole (man-fold-n-go). I always talk about keeping my boyfriends in the A/S. We love this little grill and have always questioned the small welders gas tanks. BUT my husband just bought a 12 foot propane hose adaptor so we can hook it up to the A/S propane tanks. Yes you are limited to 12 feet. But we like the height of the grill on the truck tailgate. Or we can take a spare large propane tank on the big trips and put it where ever we want.
Best Regards-
Alice Wymer
Oakland, FL
WBCCI #4249
’04 28′ International CCD (MINE)
F-350 Diesel Crew Cab L/B (HIS)
Hi Alice! We need to investigate getting one of those propane hose adapters. It makes a lot of sense, especially since we’re already hauling around a couple of 40-pound tanks. 😆 It seems a little silly to go chasing welders’ tanks when we have all that propane attached to our Airstream. Anyway, thanks for the tip. And happy Airstreaming!
We have been camping for years, and bought a baby Weber 2 years ago. Never had a better BBQ. Just love it! And yes, we use it at home often, since we prefer it to our big one. It’s just wonderful for cooking everything from a roast to burgers.
Sean, Love your site and all the videos. Keep all that good info coming.
Re: the Weber Q. If you unscrew the top retaining screw on the stainless ring that holds the small diameter propane tanks and bend the ring open about an inch or so you can then easily use the standard camping propane tanks (larger diameter).
Does the Airstream have an outside grill/stove shut off on the side? That makes for a perfect spot to hook up a hose assembly for the grill.
Happy Camping or RVing!!
Joe
We have the Baby Q, based on a recommendation from a friend. We love ours. You will be glad to know that Weber upgraded the newer (2008) model Baby Q, so that it no longer needs the support ring, and it accepts the larger 16 fat boy tanks.
Here is the factory response when I asked:
“Weber Q grills manufactured in 2008 did not have the tank holder. The valve and regulator was built with a support bracket attached to support the weight of the 16.4 oz canisters.”
Sincerely,
Dyishan
Weber/ Ducane Customer Service
The good news is mine is one of the unit that supports both. After the email I went out and tried it .. it works. 🙂
Happy Trails