If you’re looking for a heavy-duty charcoal grill that you can take camping, tailgating, and more, the PK Grills PKGO is our top recommendation. The top and bottom of the grill are crafted from cast aluminum, making it extremely Flat Top Grills Gas Grills Pellet durable and sturdy to use. Portable grills will inevitably be smaller than typical backyard grills, but they still come with enough space for a cookout (though you might need to do a couple rounds of cooking).
Whether you’re looking for a gas or charcoal grill, a tabletop, or one with a stand and wheels, we’ve tested a range of top-rated and best-selling portable grills to find the best performers in each category. We spent several days testing 14 of the most popular portable charcoal grills to help you find the best product for your next camping trip or tailgate. After firing up the grills, we measured how hot their grates got, then used each one to cook hamburgers, bratwursts, and corn on the cob. Once we finished cooking, we took note of how much of the charcoal was used up and how easy it was to clean each grill. If you’re not the camping, beachgoing, or apartment-dwelling type, you may see little value in a portable gas grill. But although the best stationary gas grills produce consistent, accurate heat, and offer the benefit of multiple temperature zones, portable grills take the cake for transportability, space-saving, and price.
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.
The MiniMax Big Green Egg is identical to its larger cousin in nearly every way, but smaller. It weighs 75 pounds, making it by the far the heaviest grill I tested, but the double-handle carrying system makes it easy for two people to carry it. The problem is that the 13-inch grilling surface of the MiniMax can only grill for about four people. But the Q2200 is a tabletop grill and it is so wide, even with the two side tables folded, that I wouldn’t want to carry it too far. (There is a smaller version, the Q1200, which I did not test, but has a similar design) The Traveler’s design is much smarter for someone who needs to take their grill on the go. This would be a good grill for someone who had a smaller outdoor space and needed something stationary, but smaller than a typical home gas grill.
It’s also pleasantly easy to clean, thanks to foil inserts that can be used to line the removable drip tray. In testing, we were most impressed with the cast-iron grate, which didn’t stick at all to fish or steak, and features a unique wave shape to keep items from falling through the gaps. With the lid shut, it was able to reach well over 600 degrees (albeit with 10 minutes of preheating), and the control dials are actually effective Expert Grill Combo Grills and reasonably accurate at adjusting the flames. While the Weber Original Kettle may have taken the top spot in CNET’s list of best charcoal grills, this newcomer is my pick for the best portable charcoal grill. A smart and solid build allows you to take this small grill anywhere, including on a long hike. In the realm of larger portable propane grills, the Coleman Roadtrip 285 is a cut above the rest when it comes to output power.
Size is a matter of your available space (storage and transport) and preference. If you’re crunched for space, look for camping grills with a small footprint or the ability to break down small (like the UCO Flatpack or Snow Peak Takibi). If you have the room and desire a larger grill, choose what you’d like and enjoy.
To help you find the best portable charcoal grills for entertaining, tailgating, camping, and more, we tested 14 of the most popular options. After grilling up all sorts of food, we evaluated each model on its design, ease of use, performance, and more. There is no mystery as to why – pellet grills offer the control of a household kitchen oven but produce the flavor and texture of charcoal grills and wood smokers. Traditionally, they are not the type of grill that you’d want to tote along with you on an RV trip or to tailgate the big game, but the Camp Chef Portable Pellet changes that. With a bit of clever design, this model collapses to a size that can be wheeled around and transported into spaces that are a fraction of the size of where most pellet grills can fit. The controls for this grill are digital, allowing you to select the exact temperature you need for the cut you’re cooking.
However, the Coleman Roadtrip 285 makes up for the portability deficiencies with top-tier grilling performance, easily earning our recommendation for a large-sized portable grill. Senior staff writers Tim Heffernan and Lesley Stockton spent 16 hours testing portable grills for this guide. They did so on the heels of testing full-size gas and charcoal grills, as well as grill accessories.
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 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.
Scores in this metric were determined by the size of the cooking surface, the surface material, and any coatings, whether the grill has any side tables or any other added features. Additional features and functions include a grill grate that can be turned over and made into a skillet or bonus features like a warming rack or smoker tray. We also took into account how simple or challenging each contender was to clean. The Cuisinart Petite Gourmet is one of the smallest grills in our tests, and the size does affect control. It has a fairly uniform temperature, but the shape of the grate and burner gives you the option to move your food around to different temperature zones in case you are needing some range for different foods.