Lastly, whether you’re tailgating or having a picnic at the park, one thing is certain; you want a swift and easy cleanup, and our portable grills deliver just that. These small appliances help you make a tasty meal anywhere, from the shore of a lake to your own backyard. They also lend additional firepower to your main grill when you’ve got a big cookout going. To help you select the right one, we tested the cooking capabilities of a range of grills and then ate everything we made, to make sure the fruits of our labor was up to snuff.
We grilled bone-in chicken to test for flare-ups and how well both the gas and charcoal grills could sustain a medium-low cooking temperature over 45 minutes. In addition, we promptly dismissed gas grills equipped with a coupling for a 20-pound propane cylinder. We prefer weber genesis 2 1-pound liquid-propane tanks because they’re small and lightweight enough to stash in a backpack or tote bag. In addition to performance, we test ease of use and score each grills on the types of features they have like shelves, storage space, amount of wheels, etc.
These fees do not add to the price of purchase but they do help keep this site alive. For two-person picnics, this natty barbie-in-a-case is a better bet than the disposable variety. To use, simply unclip, fill the titchy charcoal grate with a very small amount of charcoal and a couple of firelighters, and rest the steel grill on top.
The Ranger’s 176 square inches of cooking space fits about six burgers, which isn’t enough to feed a crowd but is more than enough space to feed two to four people. We actually liked the reduced cooking area compared to other portable pellet grills we tested because it makes the unit more compact. After locking down the lid, this 13- by 21-inch tabletop grill fits easily into the storage compartment of your RV or on the floor in the passenger side of a car. That said, it does weigh 60 pounds and doesn’t have any carry handles, so it is a little difficult to transport.
When the grill is cool, you can fold the cart down small enough to fit into the trunk of a car. All those other so-called “portable” grills sacrifice functionality or portability. Either they’re too heavy and bulky, or they’re too small and rickety, or they’re missing a lid.
The single 9,000-BTU burner is fueled by a 16-ounce propane canister that conveniently stores in the base. Being a single-burner grill, the Venture made it a little tricky to manage heat when cooking thicker meats like bone-in chicken, as it’s hard to get away from the heat for longer, indirect cooking. We set the burner on low for the 100 percent beef burgers we grilled, flipped them once, and then turned up the heat to imprint sear lines from the cast-iron grate. Generally, we found it relatively easy to grill thinner foods and, even better, convenient to turn on and off as needed over the course of an afternoon. One Popular Mechanics editor used it at her neighborhood block party to grill hot dogs and sausages. When it comes to charcoal, you get full control of how much heat your charcoal grill produces.
Two clips in the front hold the whole unit tightly together, and you can effortlessly carry the whole thing with one hand . Weighing over 40 pounds , the Weber Q 2200 stretches the meaning of “portable” to its limits. However, the Q 2200 is still an excellent grill for small backyard spaces. And unlike a full-size grill, it folds down small enough to stash in a garden shed or a garage.
Even after loading the Jumbo Joe with a full chimney starter’s worth of red-hot embers , we could still tamp down the temperature to medium heat. We couldn’t do that with the 14-inch Weber Smokey Joe, where the one vent and the lack of airflow caused the coals to extinguish while we were cooking. Of all the portable propane grills we tested, the Weber Q 1200 grilled foods the most consistently, with a cast-aluminum firebox that evenly held and reflected heat throughout. It had the fewest hotspots of all the grills we tried, due in large part to the U-shaped burner, which evenly heated the grate. While the high heat setting perfectly seared burgers without burning, the Q 1200 also outperformed the competition at steady medium-low heat for items such as bone-in chicken and large sausage links. In general, gas or propane grills make for the best portable grills since they’re clean, easy and fast to get fired up.
A 16.4-ounce propane tank attaches to the back of the grill with a sturdy, easy-to-secure attachment. It has two plastic temperature knobs on the front of the grill; one knob controls in the inner flame ring and the other controls the outer. The cast iron grates are easy to scrub clean with a grill brush and the drip pan removes so you can wash it before storing. This portable gas grill has been a Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab favorite for years.
For cookouts at the park, before a ballgame or at the campground, the Weber Smokey Joe is an affordable way to get multiple uses from a tried-and-true portable charcoal grill. Just like all Weber products, this little kettle cooker is quality-built and constructed with high-grade materials for long-lasting use. Grab some briquettes and cooking utensils and take off for your next outdoor BBQ grilling adventure with this 14 in. We loved that the 256 square inches of cooking area could hold up to eight burgers, which also means there’s plenty of room if you want to cook a whole pork shoulder or a spatchcocked chicken.