The damper on top allows for fine management of the heat, and a large, easy-to-read thermometer made monitoring the temperature simple. As far as portability, this table-top grill doesn’t break down to take up less space—what you see is what you get, and it might be difficult to transport in smaller cars. That might seem a tad heavy, but it has cast iron grill grates and is fabricated from thick-gauge steel, instead of cheap stamped sheet metal. It’s built to last, though we wouldn’t suggest hiking into the woods with it. With 189 square inches of cooking surface, this grill was not the biggest on the list, but it’s plenty big enough to cook burgers, chicken, fish, and veggies for a group of six hungry people.
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.
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(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 $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.
They’re built with #8 high polished 304, 18-8 stainless steel, which is ideal for resisting the extra corrosion brought on by saltwater exposure. This Cuisinart grill features a 5,500-BTU burner, a twist-start electric ignition, and a temperature gauge. The grate gives you 145 square inches of cooking space, accommodating four to six people at once. What makes this grill special is that the telescoping VersaStand holds the grill at ideal cooking height, yet shrinks down for easy transport and storage. Our tester did find the grill was a bit wobbly at its full height, but it put great sear marks on a variety of food with minimal sticking. This propane grill has a 280-square-inch porcelain-enameled, cast-iron cooking grate and delivers 12,000 BTUs of heat per hour when connected to a 14.1-ounce or 16.4-ounce liquid propane cylinder.
In my testing, the Mini Big Green Egg has excellent heat control and, like the larger version, is extremely fuel-efficient. To test this I marinated some chicken in lemon juice and olive oil and laid it on the grills. Every grill flared somewhat, but the Q have heavy enameled cast-iron grates that are closed over the burners, which helps keep the flaring under control.
Most grills performed about as well as advertised, with some topping out at as much as 100 F hotter than others. The better grills also generally ended up reading out a more consistent temperature throughout weber q cooking. Single-use grills exist, and while they may not be the most practical option for everyday use, if you have one long hike planned and want to do some grilling, this is a good option.
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 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.