But some portable gas grills come with handy removable drip trays, which collect grease and are easy to remove, wipe out, and wash clean. Some portable grills have dishwasher-safe components, although all we tested can be wiped down with a damp cloth, scrub brush, or even hosed down. This grill offers 218 square inches of cooking space, and its heavy-duty cast iron grates produce a beautiful sear on any food.
We found the Weber Traveler intuitive and approachable — it’s a dream to assemble, light, and use. With a similar burner and grate design to the Q 1200 but a larger cooking area and an upgrade to 13,000 BTUs, the Traveler is more suited to family-size groups than the weber charcoal grill former. The stand is easy to operate, with clear indicators for raising and lowering it. Since the base is included, you won’t need to hunt for a safe cooking surface or crouch down to flip burgers, but it requires a little more storage space and room in your trunk.
Speaking of grease, it has a slide-out grease trap that’s easy to empty. It also has a built-in thermometer that’s reasonably accurate, but I still suggest getting a separate instant-read thermometer. Of all the charcoal grills I tested, the Weber Jumbo Joe strikes the best balance of affordability, features, and ease of use. Up to 425 square inches of cooking space packed into a 28-pound portable package — great for grilling on-the-go (15x burgers per side). It has one stainless steel burner that produces 8500 BTU-per-hour to heat 189 square-inch total cooking area.
While slow-cooking on the Takibi would be challenging, you can at least adjust the grill height to control temperature. My only real complaint is that without a lid you can’t smother your remaining charcoal and reuse it, but in most cases when the food is done I load up the Takibi with firewood weber q and enjoy it as a fire pit. The Cuisinart Venture, with its picnic basket appearance, is a good entry-level grill for the uninitiated and a value model for more experienced grillers. It’s a model intended for direct-heat cooking, as there’s no lid to control humidity for “low and slow” cooking.
Lastly, the Camp Chef Portable Pellet is very heavy compared to the majority of portable grills we tested. Although the wheels are helpful, it’s not super fun to drag this grill very far from your vehicle – other top options like the Weber Traveler are much more portable. Despite that, we loved cooking with the Camp Chef Portable Pellet grill – it is the perfect addition to an RV setup.
If you’re not the camping, beachgoing, or apartment-dwelling type, you may see little value in a portable gas grill. Portable grills will inevitably be smaller than typical backyard grills, but they still come with enough space for a cookout (though you might need to do a couple of rounds of cooking). If you’ll need to carry the grill a few hundred yards or more, a lighter grill (or one that can be easily wheeled) might work better. The RoadTrip 225, unsurprisingly, offers 225 square inches of cooking space and is great for a road trip. The grill is compact and lightweight but has two separate burners that put out 11,000 BTUs of heat. But, crucially, the GoBQ also performed quite well during the cooking tests.
When choosing a grill, shoppers should focus on the quality of construction, the desired cooking area, and the ability to generate even heating across the entire cooking surface. The SPRK Portable Butane Camping Grill is a compact, all-in-one design that includes an integrated fuel compartment for an 8 oz butane canister. It has auto-ignition for easy starts and a non-stick ceramic grate, and an adjustable flame. The 7,250 BTU burner offers a 90-minute burn time and adjustable feet to stay level on any surface. The grill measures 16.6″ L x 11.5″ W x 4.6″ H and weighs 8.5 pounds.
I wasn’t a huge fan of its tuck-n-carry lid as it didn’t feel secure, hence why it’s better for use at home rather than out and about. For example, if you put charcoal in it for a day trip, I’m almost positive it would spill out in your car.The Weber Smokey Joe Premium is easy to clean and has dishwasher-friendly grates. I gave this grill to my parents to use while I tested other grills, and they’ve left it in their yard for the last year in between uses.
Portable grills cost anywhere from $50 for a simple Weber charcoal grill all the way up to $500 or more for fancier gas and propane grills with bells and whistles galore. My favorite portable grill, the Weber Q-1200, sits at about $259 but you can find it for less on sale. Most sturdy small grills should last you several years to a decade if the unit is cleaned, covered and cared for properly.
A standard sized 20-pound propane cylinder holds approximately 430,000 BTUs of liquid propane. Each gallon of propane contains 91,502 BTUs of potential heat and each pound contains approximately 21,548 BTUs. We have the Coleman and find it rather large to store and have to put it in towed, cumbersome and difficult to clean.