Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Grill Review And Rating

Live-fire cooking is about as elemental as outdoor cooking gets, and the Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Grill makes it fun.

Argentine-style (also known as gaucho grills) and Santa Maria-style grills embrace a back-to-basics approach: just fire, food, and a cooking grate. Open tops and adjustable grates let you control heat by changing the distance between food and fire. Instead of relying on vents, burners, or electronic controls, you manage the fire and move the food closer to or farther from the heat. It’s wonderfully primitive cooking, made easier with a big crank wheel.

Although both styles offer an adjustable cooking grate, they have distinct designs. Argentine-style grills typically feature a side firebox where wood burns down to embers, which are then moved beneath the cooking grate. Popular throughout Argentina and neighboring South American countries, these grills have increasingly found fans elsewhere in the world.

Santa Maria-style grills, on the other hand, are best known for their crank-operated grates, which can be raised or lowered to control cooking intensity. Traditionally, they lack the separate side firebox found on Argentine-style models. Originating in California’s Santa Maria Valley, these grills are rapidly earning a larger fan base thanks to entries into the marketplace by some major grill manufacturers. However, the price of well-designed models can make them inaccessible for many backyard grillers.

Enter the Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Grill. With an MSRP of just under $500, it offers a more affordable way to explore open-top live-fire cooking and includes both crank-operated grates and a side firebox.

At the heart of the Bronco is its cooking grate, suspended over an open cook box. A large, locking crank wheel raises and lowers the grate, letting you control cooking intensity by adjusting the distance between the food and the fire. Lower the grate for intense heat and quick searing; raise it for less heat and slower cooking.

Simple fire management

Blackstone has incorporated several practical features to make managing fire and ash easier. The cook box has a heat-retaining stainless-steel lining, while a drop-down door in the front of the unit provides direct access to the cook box for tending coals and general maintenance.

There’s also a removable ash tray, making cleanup considerably easier than shoveling ash from the bottom of the cooker.

Blackstone includes a coal rake, an important tool on this type of grill since moving coals around is effectively your temperature control.

Blackstone Bronco Open Flame grill cooking space

The Bronco’s 22 x 17-inch cooking surface provides roughly 374 square inches of primary cooking area. That’s not enormous, but it’s plenty of space for a typical family cookout.

More importantly, the adjustable grate and the ability to create multiple heat zones across the cook box should provide considerable flexibility within that relatively compact footprint. Pile coals beneath one side for high-heat searing while leaving the other side empty to keep that side cooler (2-zone cooking), or spread a uniform layer across the burn box for more even heat.

While some Argentine-style grills use V-shaped grates to channel grease and drippings into a grease tray, the Bronco Open Flame Grill uses round-shaped steel grates. That allows some flavor from incinerated drippings to migrate back up to the food, but you also need to watch for flare-ups.

Bronco versus more expensive live-fire grills

On paper, the Bronco Open Flame Grill shares some of the fundamental characteristics that make considerably more expensive live-fire cookers appealing: an open fire, adjustable cooking height, a dedicated brasero (burn box), and easy access to the coal bed.

The more relevant question, though, is whether Blackstone has distilled the important parts of the live-fire cooking experience into an affordable package that works well enough to make this cooking style accessible to a broader group of backyard cooks.

Based on the list of the Bronco’s features, it appears like the company is on the right track.

Construction

The Bronco Open Flame Grill has a heavy-duty steel body with a corrosion-resistant stainless-steel interior lining. Its built-in brasero holds burning wood as it produces coals for cooking, while a locking crank wheel raises and lowers the chrome-plated steel cooking grate to adjust its distance from the fire.

A latching, drop-down front door provides simple access to the fire, and a removable ash tray beneath the main cook box simplifies cleanup.

Weighing in at 114 pounds, the Bronco is a solid unit. It measures approximately 45.5 inches wide, 25 inches deep, and 56.5 inches high and burns charcoal briquets, lump hardwood charcoal, or firewood. It also features four lockable caster wheels that make moving it super easy and a bottom shelf for storage. An included soft cover is another nice touch, particularly for a lid-less grill.

Assembly

Assembling the Bronco Open Flame Grill was fairly straightforward and took about 1.5 hours, including unpacking and laying out the parts. I spent the bulk of the time putting together the frame. Once the base was assembled, I secured the main body on top of it. For the remaining assembly, I attached the brasero, then installed the cooking grate lifting mechanism and crank wheel with crank brake.

Cooking tests

Time to fire it up. During my tests of the Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Grill, I tried cooking exclusively with wood splits as well as with lump charcoal. I settled on grilling skirt steak, corn, burgers, tri-tip, and filet mignon. This mix of fuels and food allowed me to try out different arrangements of embers, explore grate-height control, and use an added griddle surface.

Starting a wood fire

As someone relatively new to this style of cooker, I was immediately drawn to the brasero. It’s hard to beat the back-to-basics satisfaction of tending burning logs as they break down into embers, then moving those embers across the cook box for direct grilling as well as indirect grilling using a multi-zone set-up.

For my first cook, I used five small wood splits in the brasero, plus two fire starters (my current favorite is the Diamond Strike-a-Fire natural fire starters) to get them going quickly. I also left the front door folded down during startup to further fuel the flames with increased oxygen around the wood. Within about 10 minutes, the logs were burning vigorously. Roughly 30 to 40 minutes later, I could break most of them into smaller embers with the rake.

Within about 10 minutes, the logs were burning vigorously.

Roughly 30 to 40 minutes later, I could break most of them into smaller embers with the rake.

That produced enough coals to cover about half the area beneath the grate, plenty for dinner for two. Obviously, if you plan to cook for more people, building and maintaining a larger coal bed would require more fuel, either through adding more logs to the brasero or adding lump charcoal or charcoal briquets to the hot coals.

Skirt steak and corn

Skirt steak was a good first test because it benefits from a quick, hot cook. Lowering the grate to a few inches above the embers helped develop a crust without overcooking the interior. When the surface began charring too quickly, or fat caused a flare-up, I simply raised the grate with the wheel.

I also cooked two ears of corn in their husks without soaking them (my preferred method for grilling corn as it is super simple), turning them every few minutes until the husks were charred. Moving the ears to the cooler side or raising the grate helped manage any burning husks. The corn roasted inside, with some kernels picking up caramelization. After about 20 minutes, I set the ears aside for roughly five minutes before shucking them.

Producing my own coals and adjusting the cooking height as the food needed more or less heat was more enjoyable than I expected. This is a grill for someone who likes participating in the cook.

Burgers

Burgers required more gradual cooking than the skirt steak. I started with the grate roughly 14 to 18 inches above the coals, letting each side firm up before flipping. Then I turned the patties every few minutes and checked their internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer (I used my Thermapen ONE).

In this test, I lowered the grate when they reached an internal temperature of 135°F, searing both sides for a nice crust and a finished temperature of 140 to 145°F for medium.

To melt the cheese, I covered the patties with an inverted aluminum pan for three to four minutes. The temporary cover helped trap heat above the burgers, something the Bronco’s open design does not do on its own.

Tri-tip over lump charcoal

For a thicker cut, I chose tri-tip, a staple of Santa Maria-style barbecue. I used lump charcoal for this cook and again used an inverted pan to help retain heat around the meat. I cooked it farther from the coals until it approached 120°F, then lowered the grate and flipped frequently to build a deep mahogany crust.

I finished the tri-tip at 130 to 135°F, my preferred medium-rare range.

In this particular test, getting the lump charcoal ready did not save much time compared with producing embers from the small wood splits. It did, however, need less tending to as the charcoal heated up in a Weber charcoal chimney.

Adding a griddle surface

For my final test, I decided to add a little versatility to Bronco’s grill grate by adding two 9.375-inch-wide GrateGriddle griddle plates from GrillGrates I had kicking around.

By doing so, I had instantly converted the Bronco Open Flame Grill into a sizable griddle, perfect for griddle grilling smash burgers, bacon, eggs, or, in my case, two beautiful filet mignons.

Since the GrateGriddle griddle plates are thin (1/4-inch), they were hot and ready to use within a couple of minutes. And since they are super lightweight, there was no risk of overburdening Bronco’s grate lifting cables or wheel locking mechanism.

Cleanup

The removable ash tray made cleanup convenient. After the fire, coals, and cooker were completely cold, I brushed fine ash through the firebox openings into the tray and emptied it.

Larger spent pieces were also easy to remove, using a fireplace shovel or the included coal rake to pull them forward and out through the drop-down door. As always, be sure to dispose of ash in a suitable metal container, as charcoal can retain heat long after it appears extinguished.

Conclusion

The Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Grill makes a persuasive case for backyard cooks who want to try open-fire grilling without breaking the bank. Across my tests, the adjustable grate let me move easily between gentler cooking and high-heat searing, while the brasero made turning wood into usable embers an engaging part of the process. The included rake, front access door, and removable ash tray make the hands-on work more manageable. Most importantly, cooking on it was a ton of fun!

The trade-off is the attention that an open fire requires from the cook, especially when burning down logs into coals, then moving them around with the coal rake. But I personally found that to be a big part of the appeal. The Bronco’s open flame design also lacks the heat-trapping versatility of a conventional lidded grill, although an inverted disposable aluminum pan worked well enough in my tests. And while they aren’t included, the addition of griddle plates added to the Bronco’s versatility.

For someone who enjoys tending a fire, the Blackstone Bronco Open Flame Grill offers appealing control and value at around $500. We give it a Platinum Medal.

Warranty

The Blackstone Bronco carries a one-year limited manufacturer’s warranty from North Atlantic Imports LLC for original purchasers in the United States. With proof of purchase, it covers defects in materials, workmanship, and finishes under normal household use. Blackstone may repair or replace defective parts at no charge. Exclusions include commercial use, misuse, accidents, alterations, unauthorized repairs, consequential damages, and purchases from unauthorized resellers.