This means you don’t have to obsessively babysit your barbecued chicken to prevent excessive charring. Porcelain-coated cast-iron cooking grates are best at searing foods. Though cast iron adds an extra 5 to 10 pounds to the total weight of a grill, we think the flavorful dark crust on burgers weber q and steaks makes it worthwhile. We also prefer an open grate design that allows ambient heat from the firebox to brown the areas in between the grill marks. We found that stainless steel solid grates with small perforations don’t let enough ambient heat through to brown the food properly.
This model performed exceptionally well, grilling everything we threw at it with consummate aplomb. It’s also built like a brick outhouse so it should easily withstand the bumps and scrapes of outdoor living. In fact, if you’re a family of four, it might just be the only barbie you’ll ever need.
It’s hard to beat a Weber kettle, but Napoleon holds its own and adds some unique features to make the 22″ Pro Cart a viable alternative. Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive. Secondly, you need to look out for the grill size with these portable units – as well as how much they weigh if you really are after something you can carry down to the beach.
(I was able to get up to 592 degrees off a digital thermometer.) There’s very little smoke, though I do suggest using it in a well-ventilated area if you’re indoors. I grilled everything from pork chops to asparagus and was quite happy with the results. If you want to expand the City Grill’s capabilities, you can buy a flat top surface for weber genesis 2 $135 that you can use to cook up a pancake breakfast. No thermometer is included, and Weber does not make a storage cover for the Jumbo Joe. If you want to do any indirect-heat cooking, you’ll want to buy the hinged grill grate for $35 so you can feed in fresh fuel without removing the top grill, and the $23 charcoal basket is also useful.
Like the Q 1200, the Traveler has a single gas burner and cooks over cast-iron grates. This means it can’t be used with indirect heat, but the lowest heat setting was low enough to cook our chicken drumsticks to golden-brown perfection. With its 22-inch diameter and 360-square inches of cooking surface, the Grill Ultimate Bundle is as large as a full-sized charcoal grill. Although it’s more expensive than most charcoal grills, we were extremely happy with the Solo Stove Grill’s performance on both direct and indirect heat cooking.
If you’re solely interested in cooking, lump charcoal would be a faster way to get to grilling over a bed of coals. Setting the grill bridge about four inches up worked nicely for us, with our burgers right over the coals. Chicken on the bone needs to be set a little higher to be sure it cooks evenly. With the Takibi, once the cooking is done, remove the grill bridge, throw on some more wood, and you’ve already got your campfire going. The Lodge Cast Iron Sportsman’s Grill L410 is a longtime favorite of Wirecutter senior staff writer Lesley Stockton for its intense heat.
It has two large carrying candles and latches on either side to hold all of the pieces in place. The bamboo lid doubles as a cutting board that rests on top of a plastic container where you can store grilling accessories. COBB Grill is the original, most unique and stylish of all weber charcoal grill outdoor cooking systems! Great innovative design with a classic mid-modern, yet futuristic look. It is very compact and portable, yet super-efficient and lightweight. Choose from barbecues of different sizes, as well as gas propane grills and charcoal burning grill options.
The push-button ignition and the temperature-control dial should be easily accessible and clearly marked so you can quickly start the grill and adjust the heat without fumbling. The Smokey Joe Portable Charcoal Grill is 14 inches wide and has 147 square inches of grilling surface on its steel grate. There are four vents to regulate airflow, as well as an aluminum ash catcher down below. This portable grill comes with a 10-year warranty, and it’s the clear choice for anyone who loves Weber’s full-size kettle grill. In terms of its cooking performance, the HitchFire runs on two small propane canisters, and it has two burners that can be controlled individually.
New for this year, a keenly priced single-burner gas offering from one of America’s favourite barbecue manufacturers. For a snip under £300, this barbie is a great choice, especially if you’re looking for a product that’s built better than most no-name brands. Although Traeger says its maximum temperature is 230˚C, we noticed that the actual highest temperature reaches about 241˚C and with a roaring flame beneath the heat shield. This means it could feasibly be used to sear steaks, too; something pellet grills usually don’t excel at. Although portable, you wouldn’t want to carry this model too far and, of course, you will need an electricity supply to operate it.