There were some minor sticking issues with the grates and flare-ups towards the hotter back of the grates. The grill performed well, considering its price, and is a good starter model or one for folks not expecting longevity out of the grill, based on its construction. Yes, it’s possible to find a larger-sized grill at a $300-or-less price point, and it’s possible to find one with cooking power. The Nexgrill boasts 40,000 BTUs for the relatively large primary cooking area. Assembly was challenging, taking a little over an hour to complete, mainly due to the quality of the pictogram-heavy instructions. Getting the proper placement for the propane tank took time, too.
Two spacious tables provide extra space for prepping and serving, while the ergonomic side handles ensure easy transport. Since the grill has cast-iron grates, it is a bit heavy, weighing over 43 pounds, but it’s a small sacrifice if you want a grill that’s extremely reliable and simple to operate. When it comes to portable grilling, you need enough room to make enough food before your fuel runs out. For each person, make sure to allot about 72 inches of cooking space for each serving. On smaller grills where you might have to do two or three rounds of cooking, make sure you have enough fuel before you head out.
That flexibility allows you to build different heat zones, which broaden the scope of the foods you can cook on the grill. The grills with the highest scores moved on to our next round of testing. To assess the grill’s nonstick properties, we cooked skin-on center-cut fish filets, a delicate protein. We then cooked strip steaks to assess how each model handled indirect weber portable grill heat grilling and searing at high heat. As with our previous tests, we looked for sticking and flare-ups, as well as how well easily we could regulate the temperature of the grills and clean them after cooking. Most portable grills are designed to be used with small 14- or 16-ounce propane tanks, which simply screw onto the side or bottom of the grill.
The base comes off and features a flip-out propane bottle holder (we discourage you from using those; see why below) as well as serving as a place to cut. The integrated bamboo cutting board fits on top of the base, which gives you somewhere to prep your meal even if there’s no picnic table around. A BTU is the measure of energy necessary to raise 1 pound of water (essentially 1 pint) by 1°F.
Simply place the water over the grill’s burner and turn it on high—if you’re able to shut the grill’s lid over it, you’ll be able to speed up the process. If you can’t shut the lid, it will take significantly longer, but the water will eventually reach its boiling point. She’s an expert on all things home, including kitchen appliances, grills, and other cooking gadgets. 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.
Since the grill is split into two parts and the trays are half the size of the grill, you simply remove one of the grates and replace it with the trays. For steaming, you would fill the lower tray with water and use the top-mounted perforated tray to cook the ingredients on or replace the water for wood chips if smoking. At this juncture I should add that there are actually two Weber Lumin models available – a larger 66cm wide model with 1,562 square centimetres of cooking space and the smaller Lumin Compact model I’m reviewing here. No matter how you measure it, the Traveler’s 13,000-BTU burner gets plenty hot and really shines when searing. The 320-square-inch grilling surface is big enough to grill for a crowd. It’ll still fit in the trunk of most cars, but it definitely takes up a considerable amount of space.
Whether you’re an avid tailgater or off-roading enthusiast, the HitchFire Forge 15 is a worthwhile splurge for those who are always grilling on the go. This heavy-duty propane grill can be used on a table, but what makes it special is its included mount, which attaches to a 2-inch vehicle hitch. Once installed, you can drive, off-road, and cook with the grill mounted to the rear of your car. We were truly impressed at how secure the HitchFire felt when mounted to a truck, and it never budged on a 350-mile drive. Ever wish you could get your grill on outside of your backyard?
It doesn’t necessarily mean that heat will be used, but it can be. In general, the hotter a grill burns, the better the results for searing and even cooking. Still, a portable grill with about 8,000 BTUs (the equivalent of a larger stove burner) can get hot enough heat to produce nice grill marks.
They expected a smaller grill or did not like the fact they could not add lava rocks, a rotisserie, or thought the plastic parts felt a little cheap. Some people tried to compare it with a summit grill, but I think that is wrong.The summit is much higher priced and is a totally different grill. Most people give this grill very good ratings and are happy with it.