The Casus grill can only be used once, of course, but it actually gets fairly hot in about five minutes and stays lit for over an hour. It also has enough space to cook three or four burgers, sausages, dogs, veggies or chicken. Well, it is and these GoSun solar-powered grills actually work pretty well. When I tested it, it got scorching hot and cooked chicken thighs, sausage, fish and veggies all in under 25 minutes or less. The 31-pound Weber Q 1200 is still surprisingly portable due to its useful handles.
If you can operate the controls of a modern kitchen oven, then this model is a no-brainer. This grill can be set from “low smoke” to “high smoke”, and for temperatures ranging up to 550 degrees. We were impressed with the high-heat grilling performance of the Weber Go Anywhere Charcoal Grill. But when the firebox got hot, the side vents that regulated airflow stuck in place, rendering us unable to control the temperature—critical for slow-cooking things like chicken and sausages.
Similar to charcoal grills, pellet grills take some time before they’re ready for cooking, and this model takes a while to warm up. 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.
Once erected, you have a large cooking space–320 square inches–and a prep table. It also features some nice bells and whistles, including a removable grease tray, built-in thermometer, and removable cooking grates, which were easy to clean between uses. You don’t have to compromise much when grilling away from home, either. We’ve tested and picked out the best portable grills for every type of cook just in time for some great Memorial Day deals. Cuisinart is better known for kitchen appliances than grills, so it makes sense this petite model is designed with an eye toward food prep, not just grilling.
However, the value of such an easily carried, easily portable grill can’t be beaten, even with a few minutes of work at the top. All of the portable charcoal grills were then rated on their assembly, design, performance, ease of use, ease of cleaning, and value. We ran the numbers, and the PK Grills PKGO earned the top spot with a score of 4.8 out of 5. The Everdure CUBE was right behind it with a 4.78, so we named it our runner-up as a less-pricey alternative. Any grilling enthusiast will tell you that charcoal grills deliver better flavor than gas models, which is why they’re a favorite among so many chefs — even Bobby Flay swears by them!
For this metric, we had to consider how different methods of heat production compared among different grills across the board. For gas, we looked at the number of BTUs (British thermal units) each product generates. For charcoal, electric, and pellet options that cannot be measured the same way, we drew upon evidence Charcoal Grills Combo Grills from testing and an infrared thermometer to measure internal grill temperatures. We also factored in the number of burners of each product, how well the grill body insulated heat and the volume of the coal bed. Unfortunately, the uncompromising high-heat cooking performance means there are tradeoffs.
If you can’t face the prospect of going without your Big Green Egg for a weekend, the MiniMax Big Green Egg is much smaller, but it still isn’t terribly portable. However, if you want to smoke, grill, and bake outdoors, this ceramic cooker is a strong choice. If flavor is your only criterion, I would argue that charcoal is superior to propane gas.
Once you’re finished cooking, allow the grill to cool down slightly, then brush grease and food pieces off the grates with a damp grill brush. You may also need to wipe down the interior of the grill and empty or dispose of the grease tray at the bottom. That said, the nonstick grate didn’t stick, even to delicate fish filets, and was able to brown and crisp the skin nicely. The grill was simple to assemble and fire up, making it easy to attach a 1-pound propane tank; this was notably difficult with some of the other models we tested. Plus, we figured out the drip tray can be used as a water basin for steaming and could add a herbaceous quality by simply adding herbs or foraged greenery. But we also didn’t love the construction of the RoadTrip 225; it feels a little cheaply built, and the lid doesn’t have a lock to hold it in place when you’re moving the grill around.