Beneath the shelf, we found that the one-pound propane tank attached easily. Weber claims that the grill is designed to optimize gas usage, which we didn’t actively test but we did notice anecdotally that it lasted longer than the other portable grills we tested. The beauty of this pick is it functions as a portable fire pit and charcoal grill, which makes it great for camping. It has two oversized handles for carrying and its legs fold up to make moving it even easier.
Plus, it clocks in at a budget-friendly $48 , making it my pick for the best cheap portable charcoal grill. Will almost certainly give you more power and cooking capacity, a proficient portable grill can still shoulder a lot of your summer grilling demands. Plus, with a reliable portable grill, you can bring all that charred goodness on camping trips, park hangouts and down to the shore for a sun-filled beach barbecue. That’s a lot of hype, and I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but the Takibi lives up to the hype and then some. It folds flat, leaving more room in your trunk; the grill top is a grid so small things won’t fall through, and when you’re done cooking it turns into a fire pit. There is an add-on cast iron coal bed ($26) that holds charcoal, but I don’t see it as necessary .
The split Y propane hose creates two temperature-controlled cooking zones, which is unique considering that most portable gas grills only have one temperature control knob. There were a lot of things to like about the Fire Sense HotSpot Notebook. It folds down completely flat and includes storage space inside for the three-hinged grill grate. Not only that, but it’s available for a fraction of the price as the other portable grills. It’s super easy to set up, and although the stainless steel grate was slightly uneven, it worked well enough for our liking.
There are no bells and whistles on this grill, so you’ll have to adjust and maintain the fire as you would most charcoal fires or campfires — with a careful flow of oxygen and good charcoal management. It’s a little more expensive than some on the market, but it’s built to last. If you want portable charcoal grilling in a truly portable package, weber charcoal grill this is the best small grill to buy. While all the grills on this list are portable to some degree, certain models are decidedly more portable than others. The NomadiQ portable propane grill folds up into a case the size of a small bag, with easy-grab handles. It also weighs just 12 pounds, making it the best truly portable gas grill I tested.
This larger version of our pick offers more cooking area and higher heat output. We enlisted fresh bratwurst links to gauge each weber charcoal grill grill’s ability to handle a grate full of fatty meat. Food grilled over charcoal has that coveted backyard-grill smoky flavor.
The Cuisinart CCG-100 GrateLifter Charcoal Grill has a convertible cooking grate that lifts when you open the lid for easier access to the coal bed. Levers on the sides of the grill adjust to keep the grate in the up or down position. During our tests, one side of the grate would get stuck in a different position than the other about a third of the time, forcing us to wrestle with hot metal. While the grill is hot, scrape the debris and stuck-on food from the hot grates with a wire grill brush. We prefer to do this when the grill is preheating and the embers are their hottest.
The flame is easy to control and keeps a consistent temperature throughout cooking, even when grilling with the flame turned low. The Char-Broil American Gourmet is a barrel-style grill with a hinged lid. While we liked the idea of its pull-out drawer to add coals, the door stuck badly and was frustrating to use. And because the drawer’s grates ran vertically, it was difficult to rake the coals from side to side to create an indirect heat pattern. The grill itself was easy to clean and sturdy as we used it, but it was difficult to see inside the grill and the rounded lid design funneled the smoke straight into your face.
We also had a few more flare-ups with the Grill2Go than with our other picks. However, this 40-pound portable grill isn’t lightweight by any stretch of the imagination. British thermal units are a measure of maximum heat output over the course of portable bbq an hour. The output on portable gas grills ranges from 4,000 to over 13,000 Btu. But more heat alone doesn’t equate to better grilling performance, as a grill’s performance is based on a combination of output, design, and quality of materials.