If you’re looking to cook a whole lot of food at once, you can’t top the Camp Chef Portable Pellet. Between the main grill and the upper shelf, this model offers 500 square inches of cooking space. If you like the idea of grilling large hunks of meat on one shelf while roasting veggies on the other, this is the grill for you.
The Green Mountain Trek Prime pellet grill is the new branding of a very popular grill, the Davy Crockett. If you’re looking for a mostly smokeless, apartment/condo-friendly porta indoor grill option that you can take car camping or use a a portable RV grill, this is a great one. Our testers loved the dishwasher-safe grill plate, the easy storage, and the flexibility of an indoor grill. This portable grill has the elegance of a more permanent grill, so it’s ideal if you want one grill to use at home and while camping. We set it up on a portable camping table on the porch at a garden level apartment in Boston, and it was almost indistinguishable from a permanent grill. Be warned—this combination is not light with the cast iron topper, which alone weighs about 20 pounds.
Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). Weber has a great reputation for reliability, and when we surveyed Wirecutter readers about their grills, Weber owners were overwhelmingly satisfied with their choice. As long as you clean your grill properly and shield it from the elements, it should last many years. Weber doesn’t make a grill cover for the Jumbo Joe, but a contractor garbage bag or a woven poly tarp should do the trick if you want an extra barrier from the elements. And since the spacious firebox fits a full chimney starter’s worth of coals, you can get two or three rounds of grilling per load.
Add to that the spacious cooktop area (320 square inches), and the Weber Traveler is a great grill, period. It’s definitely on the hefiter side—we wouldn’t recommend strapping it to your back for a mountainside hike—but that makes it ideal for new and sometimes-grillers who don’t want to invest upwards of $1,000. As one of the sturdier models we tested, one tested noted it was a good option for Flat Top Grills Gas Grills Pellet apartment dwellers and those looking to grill occasionally. It packs up efficiently, and when fully assembled has two wing-like side tables that are helpful for prep and tool storage. We particularly liked the nonstick coating inside the firebox, which made it easier to clean (a removable drip tray did, too). This grill is refreshingly easy to light, with an indicator button on the knob.
The dimensions and weight of a grill are key here — it’s best to opt for a model that you can comfortably pick up and store in your vehicle. However, there are certainly some downsides to using charcoal grills as opposed to other options. Now let’s Grills Portable Grills look at why cooking with charcoal is an excellent choice for portable grilling. 300 Square inches of cooking space is enough to feed around four people at once, with smaller surface areas obviously being better suited for feeding smaller groups.