To evaluate these grills I assembled each one from scratch and then cooked an array of foods at various temperatures to see how they performed. Foods cooked included steak and burgers, which do best with a hot sear. While the Weber Original Kettle may have taken the top spot in CNET’s list ofbest charcoal grills, this newcomer is my pick for the best portable charcoal grill. A smart and solid build allows you to take this small grill anywhere, including on a long hike. Setup was a snap — you simply unhinge the sides and the entire thing opens up like a clamshell.
At just 4kgs, it’s also easy to carry a fair old distance without your arms falling off. For a single burner barbecue that’s being advertised as portable, this handsome devil comes with a 2,065cm cast-iron grilling area and that’s big enough for 20 drumsticks or around three dozen sausages. The porcelain-enamelled lid, meanwhile, provides typically reliable indirect grilling without flare ups. In general, a charcoal grill and bags of briquets cost less than a gas grill and propane canisters.
The Casus grill can only be used once, of course, but it actually gets fairly hot in about five minutes and stays lit for over an hour. It also has enough space to cook three or four burgers, sausages, dogs, veggies or chicken. The big drawback with this nifty portable oven is its cooking capacity. weber q Since food has to be loaded into a tube, you can’t really cook many of the traditional barbecue meats such as ribs. Charcoal, with its inherent messiness, may not be ideal depending on your portable grill needs but this is a workhorse that will get the job done and last you a good while.
To transport it, simply pull out the legs and clip them underneath the chassis. There’s a good reason why most Weber barbecues are kettle shaped – the curved interior helps circulate the hot air within for perfect indirect convection grilling. And that means less likelihood of food scorching to a cinder – as long as the lid is left on without too much peeking. The porcelain-coated cast-iron grates reduce flare-ups by shielding the flames and channeling grease and drippings around them while still allowing ambient heat to brown between grill marks.
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.
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 weber genesis 2 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.
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.
Carrying a dusty, dirty charcoal grill around isn’t usually an attractive proposition, but the creators of the GoBQ have mostly solved the issue through intelligent design. The entire unit folds out and up in about 20 seconds and then wraps up again after you’re done, securing all the nasty cooked charcoal. Keep in mind that this is a little different than normal grilling, since it cooks from the top and bottom, which means your food cooks faster.
It offers 16,000 total BTUs and reaches high temperatures quickly with each burner independently adjustable. When we first set up the GoBQ Portable Charcoal Grill, we were certain it wasn’t going to work. Made from flexible flame-resistant silicone coated fiberglass, this minimalist grill rolls up into an easy-to-carry package. Fill the pouch with charcoal, light it using a fire starter cube, place the grill grate on top of it and you’re ready to cook. All in all, the Traveler is a solid choice for anyone who cooks for five to six people, or for someone who wants to routinely use their portable grill on a deck or patio.
And they liked that the propane canisters can be bought at any hardware store for about $6. More space between the coal bed and the grilling grate lessens your chances of ending up with charred food. The extra room also allows for more coals, so you have the option of longer cooking time. You can also create hot and cold spots for searing and indirect cooking. In our tests, its built-in thermometer confirmed it reached 600ºF in less than 10 minutes.