Like most portable gas grills, it uses small propane canisters, but it can also use a full-size propane tank with an adapter, so it’s backyard ready if you want to use it as your primary grill. There’s so much to love about this lightweight, versatile portable gas grill. The compact design is easy to bring to a sporting weber charcoal grill event or out camping, yet the porcelain-enameled cooking grate can still fit up to eight burgers at a time. 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.
But, it’s less portable than the smaller 16.4-ounce propane bottle some other grills use. This is a small grill with a big heart; it had no problem when covered with hamburger patties and buns. The dual-burner Cuisinart is our favorite small gas grill, delivering nearly perfect heat distribution across its surface, which is quite large for a portable appliance. A bottom vent and an aluminum top damper allowed us to dial in the airflow. Bring a little of that sizzling, smoky magic in tow wherever you go with a portable grill. We’re sharing the top portable grills to shop based on budget, fuel and lifestyle needs below.
Portable natural gas grills can’t provide the flavor of charcoal grills, are not as common as other types of portable grills, and tend to cost more than propane models. For smoking and other forms of low and slow barbecue, portable wood pellet grills give you more cooking surface area than portable gas or charcoal grills do. On a gas or charcoal grill, you’d need to weber genesis 2 set up a 2-zone cooking system with the heat on one side, and the food on the other. On a Traeger, you can use the entire cooking surface to barbecue. The grill functions like a smaller version of a full-size gas grill. We loved that we could light it by simply turning each burner’s knob to the ignition setting—there was no need to fiddle with an ignition button.
We appreciate the naturally non-stick porcelain-enameled grilling surface, and that the cast iron grates distribute a consistent temperature across the entire cook surface. Control is the criteria that most distinctly separates the highest performers from the rest of the contenders. For gas and electric, this metric was scored based on how many burners portable bbq each product has and whether they can be adjusted to high, medium, and low temperatures. For charcoal, we assessed how easy it was to maneuver the coal bed to create heat zones. We also considered if the grilling surface presents a consistent temperature throughout, whether it includes a thermometer or push-button ignition, and how well both perform.
Camping trips, road trips, tailgates, closet-size outdoor spaces—there are a lot of scenarios that call for a portable grill. But unfortunately, many of the factors that make a grill portable can also keep it from working well. For more details on how we tested and what we looked for, scroll down to the bottom. With its all-stainless steel body and cooking grates, the Pit Boss weber q Grills Stainless Steel Portable Grill is certainly one of the most handsome portable grills on the market. While it doesn’t heat as well as other gas grills, it differentiates itself with a vast cooking surface and the ability to create multiple cooking zones. To kick off testing, we unboxed each grill, assembled it if required, and examined its workmanship and build quality.
Green Mountain Grills does suggest removing the legs and using the Davy Crockett as a tabletop grill. While we didn’t have a chance to test it as a tabletop, raising it to table height would certainly make using it for grilling much easier. George Foreman’s extensive line of indoor electric grills have a great reputation for the ability to grill food while extracting unhealthy grease. This model extends that tradition while providing the option to grill outdoors. The Pit Boss Grills Portable Grill is clearly designed to go on the road.