yakitory 焼鳥 grill for brunnhilde

I first saw this butane fueled compact yakitory 焼鳥 or 串焼 (skewer) grill on Cooking with Dog a few years ago. I immediately wanted one. I watched and rewatched the video to get a better mental picture of what the grill look like. In my ensuring trips to Japan I looked high and low and could not find it.

how to make yakitori by cooking with dog (love the misleading show name)

Eventually while cruising though an electronics and appliances shops in Akihabara I found it in one shop. It was quite expensive. I had to make the purchase decision immediately. This was a long pan Asia trip and we still have many countries and cities to go. The only way to make the purchase is to buy it an then have it shipped to someone in the US. Because of the trouble and cost I decided against it.

Fast forward to a few days ago, I was browsing Amazon and I came across this compact skewer grill. It looks different from the one Cooking with Dog lady used. (by the way, I think she has some of the best cooking shows on Youtube and the cutest name).

This one has an enclosed butane canister compartment just like the now ubiquitous butane stove. The one Cooking with Dog lady has the butane canister is exposed. However it is unmistakeably made by the same Japanese manufacturer Iwatani.

I was very surprised to see the number of vendors offering this grill for sale on the Amazon page. Looking through them you can tell most if not all are sold out of Japan. You can see the one Cooking with Dog lady has is in the third product picture. From what I infer it's model is CB-RBT-Z and is now superseded by the newer (i think for safety reasons) design.

This time I want to buy it for Brunnhilde to be use camping or on trips.I had consider buying a not so small table top grill made by Weber and this one would be a better choice given the precious storage space in Brunnhilde.
not a word of English on the box or the manual is an indication it is an article of delight from the island nation

you can use it for skewers (without the stainless steel grate) or grill food on the grate

i first tested to see how even the flames are from each orifice; very even as you would expect from a well made japanese appliance

 i like how compact the unit is for storage - you should always remove the butane canister for safety reasons

 the grate removed for skewers

 these are the right skewer sticks to use

note that the two stainless steel metal arms are adjustable so the skewer handles are not directly over the flame

 the two stainless arms fold away if you just use the metal grate

here is the butane canister compartment

 the canister is held engaged by a magnetic ring - very cleaver

 the magnet ring

I want to keep this grill in Brunnhilde for grilling while camping. It uses the same butane canisters as the Korean mini butane stove. There is no limit to the dishes I can make on the road.

 packed up for storage

when packed into the box the dimension is about 5 x 15.5 x 10 inches

Before you decide to buy this for use in the US, please note it has no indication it has pass the regulatory safety tests. For a product like this with little love from the consumers here it may never have. My first order from a vendor on Amazon was cancelled by the vendor after Amazon already has sent out shipping notice. I have to re-order from another Japanese vendor through Amazon again. I gathered that the manufacturer may not want this product to be sold in the US market due to liability reasons (the potential market size cannot justify the cost of certification).

So you can see that I addiction in cookware collection. I cannot resist special cookware. On the other hand, I found out through experience most consumer small kitchen appliances in Western countries are more trouble than they are worth. Very often you are better off just do the task without them.