This is the grill that I still have and use time after time, mostly because it looks so cute on my kitchen shelf when not in use, and it is so convenient. It gets full points from me for portability, and even more for its stylish design and colorways. To put it simply, it makes grilling a total weber q breeze, whether you’re at home or in the mountains. I managed to squeeze up to six small burgers on this grill. In review
I was very impressed with the cooking ability of this small yet mighty grill as we used it to cook everything from burgers to a Tomahawk steak plus kebabs and more.
Its cooking space is circular which gives the grill a bowl shape meaning that you can’t use it to indirectly cook foods, but no biggie. It was ready to cook within just 15–20 minutes and it stays hot for a good while, so I used it to batch cook for an entire party of people. I loved how the lid can be used while you’re cooking or it can sit on the hinge and guard the grill against wind. If you put charcoal in it for a day trip, I am almost positive it would spill out in your car. Cuisinart’s Venture portable gas grill looks like something Apple would make, if Apple got into grills.
Otherwise, check the side of the compatible gas canister (and the weight of it!). In review
I was skeptical about this one initially as it doesn’t have a lid that you can use while cooking. So, it’s definitely one for just cooking small pieces of meat and veggies, too. I used it to cook burgers, kebabs, and sausages and they all turned out perfect.
The removable snap-on tray and storage container are nice features. It’s easy to handle the grill even when lit because of the cool-touch handles. Ultimately, I found food fell in between the bars of the grate too easily and the grill itself was too small to be useful. The Weber Smokey Joe portable grill is a bargain at under $70. If price is your number one consideration, you may want to think about it.
For your other outdoor needs, check out our guides to the Best Camping Gear, Best Tents, Best Rain Jackets, and the Best Binoculars.
We don’t grill in beautiful meadows under a rainbow every day. Often, we grill after hours on a Friday while we’re also trying to set up a tent, inflate a mattress, and wrangle hungry children. And that’s when the convenience of propane trumps charcoal.
The Weber Q 2400 Electric grill raises the bar on flavor expectations and performance of an electric grill. Sear burgers, steaks and chops; grill chicken, fish, vegetables and fruit on the porcelain-enameled cast-iron grates. If it’s hard to move, it isn’t actually a portable grill; it’s just a grill that’s smaller than you’d like it to be. After cooking for a little more than an hour, I noticed fraying in the piece of fabric immediately below the charcoal basket where I had used a firestarter. If food drips on to the coals, causing a flare-up, I’d also expect some fraying.
The legs on one side of the grill become a sort of handle when the grill is folded up; you can walk with it, kind of as if you’re pulling a nice roller bag. It has some other nice design touches, like the ability to transition the grill from folded to cook-ready with one hand, and a lid that locks automatically for transport and storage. 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.
(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. Like weber genesis 2 the Traveler, the Weber Q2200 can also accommodate a full-size propane cylinder with an adapter. The push-button ignition is battery powered, which I actually found slightly easier to use. The Everdure Cube by Heston Blumenthal is a cute little charcoal grill that’s easy to carry and comes in a number of color options.