The $117 wheeled stand is worth a look if you plan to transport it a lot. (Also be sure to check out the new Weber Traveler below.) Other nice accessories include the griddle for $65 and a storage cover for $22. Nomad does offer some custom charcoal ($36 for 10 pounds), and it is very nice, but it’s expensive. Some folks opt for the easy route and spray their charcoal in lighter fluid. While we understand the desire for an easy, fast burn, we just can’t get past the taste of lighter fluid on our food.
This grill is the holy grail of versatile camping firepits-turned-grills. Solo Stove’s portable Bonfire fire pit design boasts rave reviews about its lightweight, dynamic airflow design that keeps your fire burning in an easily-contained and maintained fashion. The Solo Stove Bonfire Cast Flat Top Grills Gas Grills Pellet Iron Grill takes this design and adds a classic cast iron grill reminiscent of cowboying out West. The modification of the grill hub adds enough height to keep your food from burning in the intense heat of the fire pit (as our testers found out very quickly, don’t forget that hub!).
We cannot guarantee that the Go-Anywhere will boast the same heat output as its gas-powered competitors — that’s up to you and your coal-stoking abilities. There is certainly a learning curve to mastering different heat zones, but cooking over charcoal potentially offers an accuracy that cannot be matched when cooking with gas. The tightly fitting vents are tough to adjust without gloves, and it takes time to skillfully manage these adjustments for perfect airflow. But we can assure you that with practice, this portable grill can allow you to master the art of cooking over an open flame and produce delicious food in the process, even on the go.
And, if you want to mix things up, the grill grates swap out for griddle or stove grates (available separately). The burgers came out with fantastic coloring and that “cooked over charcoal” taste. To cook chicken more slowly, we shuffled the coals to one side, put it in away from them, and closed the lid. The damper on top allows for fine management of the heat, and a large, easy-to-read thermometer made monitoring the temperature simple. These point you in the direction of a small, sheet-metal kettle or 16.4-ounce propane model.
Control is the criteria that most distinctly separates the highest performers from the rest of the contenders. For gas and electric, this metric was scored based on how many burners each product has and whether they can be adjusted to high, medium, and low temperatures. For charcoal, we assessed how easy it was to maneuver the coal bed to create heat zones.
While the standard fare was quite easy, the chicken cooked over indirect heat required a little more manipulation of the charcoal, which wanted to settle to the middle of the basket. Nevertheless, once we sorted out how to strategically set the charcoal, we could reliably create an indirect heat zone. Once open, the outside carrying case becomes a hood to cover the grill and contain heat. In our testing, we grilled burgers, hot dogs, and bone-in chicken on the GoBQ, all of which culminated with the expected, delicious results.
The sides of the fire pit are perforated so you can see the flames, and it comes with an app-controlled fan to control the size of the flames. Camp Chef’s Barbecue Grill Box add-on includes convenient features such as a built-in thermometer, hinged lid, and easy to clean cast iron grate. You should clean your portable grill the same way you would clean a full-size gas grill.
This roundup was put together by The Spruce Eats commerce writer Jason Horn, who’s been writing about food and drinks for almost 20 years, and grilling for a lot longer than that. He chooses gas over charcoal for control and ease of use, plus he’s Charcoal Grills Combo Grills come up with a pretty solid method of smoking on a gas grill. Single-use grills exist, and while they may not be the most practical option for everyday use, if you have one long hike planned and want to do some grilling, this is a good option.
The Weber Traveler heated up quickly, and I met no resistance when turning food on the porcelain-enameled cast-iron grates. Of all the grills I tested, the Traveler was the easiest to set up and use. Like most portable gas grills, it uses small propane canisters, but it can also use a full-size propane tank with an adapter, so it’s backyard ready if you want to use it as your primary grill.
Portable gas grills are generally designed to be used with small 1-pound propane tanks, and with these, a regulator is not needed. However, if you want to use a larger propane tank—such as a 20-pound tank—with a portable grill, you’ll need an adapter and regulator. Most brands sell the appropriate attachment for their portable grill models.