The 7 Best Portable Charcoal Grills 2023 Expert Reviews

The beauty of this pick is it functions as a portable fire pit and charcoal grill, which makes it great for camping. It has two oversized handles for carrying and its legs fold up to make moving it even easier. It can be used with firewood or charcoal – just slide on the included grill grate to use as a grill. The sides of the fire pit are perforated so you can see the flames, and it comes with an app-controlled fan to control the size of the flames. 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.

Camp Chef’s Barbecue Grill Box add-on includes convenient features such as a built-in thermometer, hinged lid, and easy to clean cast iron grate. In our test, the grill ran hot and quickly cooked chicken and steaks. If you’re searching for a gas grill you can bring on all your adventures that also performs well enough to be used at home, look no further than the Weber Q 2200. This portable grill has everything you need to cook up delicious meals, including 280 square inches of cooking space and two folding work tables to make food prep quick and easy. We tried it out, at home and on the road, to grill hot dogs, steaks, and veggies and were impressed with the final results each time. The Q 1200 remains at the top of our list of tabletop gas grills because it packs the performance of larger grills into a small form.

Most importantly, the high-powered ceramic “flameless” burner that sits below a carefully designed grate of v-shaped bars cooks steaks better than anything else in our review. For those excellent cuts of red meat that require nothing more than a touch of flame, this is the best portable grill on portable bbq the market. 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.

But stick it in the boot of your car or camper van (it folds up for portable convenience), and it’ll happily follow you on your adventures while offering a full-size experience to boot. Most balcony BBQs have limited grilling space, but some sacrifice more than others. There’s nothing quite like the sound of a sizzling supper while you’re enjoying the great outdoors.

It’s also worth noting that you’ll be getting more of a broiled result versus a traditional grill since there is no actual flame so don’t expect char marks on your oblong burgers. There are a few sizes, including this mid-size GoSun Go and the larger GoSun Survival if you’re planning on cooking for a group. 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.

portable bbq

The Weber Jumbo Joe is our pick for best portable charcoal grill for most people thanks to its affordable price, capable size, and lid locking feature. If you can stretch your budget the PKTX is larger, has greater temperature control, and comes with an excellent foldable cart. 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. With its rectangular shape and easy-carry handle, the Cuisinart Venture looks a bit like an insulated cooler, but it does the exact opposite. It’s a small grill and doesn’t have a heck of a lot of power, but it’s also extremely compact and easy to carry down to the beach or toss into your backpack. There’s a wooden cutting board/serving tray that sits on top of the grate when the grill’s not in use, but it’s completely open to the elements while cooking.

The output on portable gas grills ranges from 4,000 to over 13,000 Btu. But more heat alone doesn’t equate to better grilling performance, as a grill’s performance is based on a combination of output, design, and quality of materials. A great weber genesis 2 portable grill offers consistent heat, minimal flare-ups, a generous cooking area, and an easily totable design. We think the ideal capacity on a portable grill is enough to accommodate a full meal for two or a main course for a small crowd.