Be the envy of your next pregame party with these CNET-tested small and portable grills. 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. There’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, so you can keep tabs on your cook from anywhere. If flavor is your only criterion, I would argue that charcoal is superior to propane gas. Often, we grill after hours on a Friday while we’re also trying to set up a tent, inflate a mattress, and wrangle hungry children.
We prefer to do this when the grill is preheating and the embers are their hottest. Wipe the grates with a wet rag to remove the soot, and then brush them with vegetable oil. Of all the portable propane grills we tested, the Weber Q 1200 grilled foods the most consistently. Controlling the temperature in a charcoal grill is all about vent placement, since you can’t turn coal heat down. But vents are also important for the airflow required to keep your coals lit. We found that a vent in the top of the lid and another in the belly of the firebox created the best air circulation.
You can pull the grills out for easy cleaning, there’s a drip pan to catch all the grease, and if you’re not in the grilling mood, it doubles as a Panini press. It’s big enough for a family of four and strikes the best balance between ease of use and cooking performance. weber genesis 2 It has a thermometer and some side tables to hold your plates and tongs. It’s also a champ at keeping a constant, even heat in pretty much any weather conditions. A storm blew in one afternoon, but it just kept on cooking despite the high wind and rain.
A family event, comparing grills and eating good food in March in Drictor, Wydaho. All that now stands between you and mobile grilling is your final choice and a big pile of grillable grub. Crack that first tailgate can, ponder our comparative assessments, and pull the trigger on an excellent portable delicious-making machine. None of our choices are poor options and all can facilitate memorable dining experiences. We are proud of the work we’ve done to hash out all the options and honored to be a small part of your transient culinary journey. The Cuisinart All Foods Roll-Away scored the lowest in wind resistance.
You already have yoursunscreen, swimsuits,beach chairs and umbrellas ready for a day at the beach or a camping trip. Still, there’s something about the long summer days and clear skies that makes us want to grill portable bbq outdoors. Even though the Weber Q 1200 neatly folds up (albeit into a not-so-compact package), the lack of a lid latch is perhaps more annoying than anything when considering the portability of this grill.
The large surface of the Cuisinart All Foods Roll-Away gives the cook multiple heat zones to work with while grilling. The infrared burner of the Solaire Everywhere heats the entire grill surface to about the same temperature. This is good for cooking lots of one type of food, but not so good if you’re hoping to cook different foods at different rates. Even though the Jumbo Joe isn’t the smallest or most compact charcoal grill we tested, it is lightweight and easy to carry. The lid-locking metal handle tightly holds the grill together for transport and pulls double duty as a convenient lid holder. And since the spacious firebox fits a full chimney starter’s worth of coals, you can get two or three rounds of grilling per load.
It’s a perfect camping cooker except you do need sunlight for this to function so I wouldn’t rely solely on this for eating if you’re heading into the woods for an extended period. You can read more about how we evaluate portable grills in our Lab and consumer tests — plus everything you need to know to shop for your perfect grill — at the end of this guide. Check out our guide to best grilling accessories and weber charcoal grill how to clean your grill to get it ready for grilling. Like the Q above, Weber’s Traveler uses a single burner that wraps around the entire bottom of the grill. 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.