I tried to cover both the “portable” part and the “grill” part in my testing. After unboxing, I carried each one a block down from my house and a block back, noting how easy the handles were to hold, and if a grill’s size and weight distribution made it challenging to walk with. For those grills with wheels, I walked them weber q around a large, uneven lawn with plenty of divots to see how they rolled. For the charcoal options, I also smoked ribs, pork, and brisket, If you’re planning to smoke, I highly recommend investing in some kind of thermometer system. It has adapters based on your grill and offers one temp probe and three food probes.
Here are some of the best portable gas grills from CR’s tests. Our tests of portable grills are similar to our evaluations of larger models. But we place much more emphasis on key convenience factors, such as how easily a grill lights and folds up for transport, because we know that’s crucial for using a weber genesis 2 portable grill on the go. As with full-size grills, our chief consideration was how easy it was to control the flame so you can get even cooking results without a lot of flare ups. After all, just because you’re away from home doesn’t mean you have to settle for charred pork chops or undercooked chicken.
That’s covered by a two-piece cast iron grill grate that’s solid where it runs over the burner, which acts as a heat diffuser and keeps the burner from getting covered in grease. Speaking of grease, it has a slide-out grease trap that’s easy to empty. It also has a built-in thermometer that’s reasonably accurate, but I still suggest getting a separate instant-read thermometer.
But the Q2200 is a tabletop grill and it is so wide, even with the two side tables folded, that I wouldn’t want to carry it too far. The Traveler’s design is much smarter for someone who needs to take their grill on the go. This would be a good grill for someone who had a smaller outdoor space and needed something stationary, but smaller than a typical home gas grill.
Here are our selections of best ideas, all Platinum or Gold Medalists, listed by price. This particular model comes packaged with an overly slippery Teflon-coated griddle – whoops there goes another sausage – but there are plenty more grilling accessories available. A top buy for alfresco table-top feasters, boaters and glampers. This is one of the most versatile charcoal-fired mini barbecues on the market and one of the most efficient.
There are advantages and disadvantages to a grill surface that naturally presents different temperature zones. Unlike most portable grills, the nomadiQ is unique with two independent grilling surfaces. Each grilling side can be controlled individually by the knobs positioned on the front.
Among the charcoal models, the Weber Go-Anywhere scores top marks for control. Thanks to a relatively deep basin, we were able to build and stoke a substantial volume of coals to achieve the exact heat we desired. Since the area of the basin exactly matches the surface area of the grill, we were then able to spread out those coals to create targeted heat zones. The George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor 15+ may offer a huge grilling surface, but can only be operated on a single heat-setting.
Whether you’re firing up the charcoal for a cookout or gathering friends around the electric grill in your kitchen to cook together, this versatile grill has you covered. This easy-to-use grill converts from electric for indoor or outdoor use to charcoal for outdoor use. weber q The innovative grill grate covers the electric coil to reduce smoke. Portable gas grills come equipped with a coupling that fits 1-pound liquid-propane canisters . These mini propane cylinders are lightweight and packable, and they’re available at most hardware stores.
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. We learned that the coal bed can be adjusted for better temperature control — a useful feature that we find highly important in charcoal grill tests. The grill grate is narrow, especially compared to other portable grills we tested, but can still fit about four to five chicken thighs side-by-side, or two large steaks. We tried this grill out along with the brand’s grilling kit , and found the accessories to be good quality and useful.