We tried this grill out along with the brand’s grilling kit (available for purchase separately), and found the accessories to be good quality and useful. We sent various portable gas grills to the homes of our expert reviewers in addition to testing in our Lab. Our Lab testers grilled and seared steak, salmon, onions, hamburgers, and hamburger buns on each model to thoroughly analyze the features and performance. Additionally, the grills were carried around our Birmingham, Alabama, campus to test portability. Our home reviewers spent weeks assessing how these grills stood up to everyday cooking and cleaning.
Compared to other charcoal barbecues, we couldn’t believe the ease with which you could cook – no need to coax the coals, simply fire it up and expect good heat for over half an hour. The charcoal is in an enclosed container, and with a fan going, you don’t get much in the way of charcoal flavour, but the efficiency and generous cooking area far outweighs this. At just 13 inches portable bbq tall by 20 inches wide, the Traeger Scout wood pellet grill won’t take up much room in the car and has enough cooking surface for 10 hot dogs, 6 burgers, or a rack of ribs. Charcoal briquette disposal is another drawback of portable charcoal grills. You’ll have to budget time to let the charcoals cool before you can safely dispose of them, and find a safe place to put them.
While we loved the impressive power of the grill, it was still pretty ferocious, even when cooking at lower temperatures. Experience the evolution of fire with Traeger’s next generation of wood weber genesis 2 pellet grills. Charcoal grills can be a good choice for wide-open spaces, but in any confined space (like the parking lot at the football stadium or a small deck or patio) charcoal isn’t ideal.
The char lines produced were good, but we definitely saw better from some of the other models in this list. That said, we found this barbecue easy to set up, save for the fiddly regulator valve. A wood pellet grill is the best option for living spaces with small yards, patios, or balconies — often, it is the only permissible option.
This model is really heavy compared to the others, and it has a short handle. You also have to lay it on its back to convert it from travel to cooking mode, which is not ideal. But if you want a pellet grill for tailgating or base camping, this is still your best option. Once the grill is going, the Camp Chef Portable Pellet’s internal thermometer and the computer then take over to regulate the flow of pellets into the burner.
Wood pellets deliver temperatures hot enough for grilling steaks and chops or can be set for low and slow cooking of ribs and brisket. You simply set the grill to your desired temperature, and it does the rest. The three main types of fuel sources for grilling are wood pellets, propane gas, and charcoal briquettes. The fuel source can make a big difference in determining which type of portable grill you buy.