The 10 Best Portable Charcoal Grills of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Talk about versatility — this grill gives you a traditional propane grill grate, a cast iron flat top griddle, and a pizza oven wrapped into one. Our tester loved how easy it was to switch between the pizza oven feature and the cast iron grill with one flip of the grate, and appreciated its self-storage rack (for the grill top not in use) even moreso. You can open the pizza oven door to slide in your pie, or use the handle to lift the entire lid like a traditional grill. Some of the best portable grills come with carrying bags as part of the cost, too.

The highlight of this top-quality construction is the porcelain-enameled cast-iron cooking grates, which comfortably retain the heat evenly distributed by the U-shaped stainless steel burner underneath. Simply put, this model let us grill with more precision, predictability, and control than most of the other models we bought and tested. I often start these lists with some variation Charcoal Grills Combo Grills of “when I was young,” and I don’t mean to — it makes me seem like a curmudgeon. It’s just that, as an elder of Gen X, it’s hard to believe the grilling technologies on the market have replaced the often life-threatening pieces of equipment that were commonplace in my youth. They also happen to be easy to move, light, cool, clean, and repack on top of that performance.

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.

Grills Portable Grills

It also wasn’t as easy to move as the GoBQ because…nothing was as easy to move as the GoBQ. We tested and reviewed camping grills to bring wherever you go, giving you access to flavor-filled, seared, and BBQ’d food to keep you out in the wild longer. There Charcoal Grills Combo Grills are several different styles of portable charcoal grills that you’ll encounter as you shop. Kettle grills, such as the Weber Smokey Joe, have a circular design and are often very lightweight, but they can also be unstable and inconvenient to transport.

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 Expert Grill Combo Grills 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.