It puts out a tremendous amount of heat, doesn’t require a huge amount of charcoal to load (given its 18-inch cooking surface), and remains lightweight. At just 18 pounds, the Jumbo Joe is easy to carry from garage to car to campsite. The bar clip creates a handy holder for the lid when it’s not in use. Choosing a portable grill can often come down to ease of use and the amount of heat produced. Many of the best portable gas grills make adjusting the temperature incredibly easy with dials that clearly indicate low, medium, and high temperatures. For pellet-fueled grills, temperature adjustment is related to the speed at which pellets are fed into the grill.
Portable grills come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including barrel-shaped and flat and rectangular. I bought this for use in our travel trailer trips, but when I did a trial grilling on our deck I was so pleased with the performance that I have used weber charcoal grill it for grilling almost all our meals since. It lights up immediately and maintains the grilling temperature very well. We have grilled Italian sausages, halibut fillets, London broil, chicken thighs, chicken breasts and tri tip, all done perfectly.
The GoBQ also performed well, cultivating a steady and hot fire, and has a robust 185 square inches of grilling space. It’s a little more expensive than some on the market, but it’s built to last. If you want portable charcoal grilling in a truly portable package, this is the best small grill to buy.
The George Foreman comes with a dome-shaped lid, which we used when we roasted our kabobs. The vent problem was minor given that we could fine-tune the temperature with a turn of the control knob, which allowed us to produce juicy chicken and evenly cooked veggies. Weber is portable bbq highly regarded for the quality and performance of its products, and its grills come at a premium price, so we had high expectations for the Q1200. The best portable grills are all about utility, and they come in a variety of different styles to suit user preferences.
To find the grill that best suits these demands, we tested a variety of different portable grills, including gas, charcoal and electric-powered models. This portable gas grill has been a Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab favorite for years. It’s small and compact, which makes it quite portable, yet sturdy portable bbq and powerful for good, fast cooks. We’ve tested both this model and the larger stand-up model with shelves, and were impressed with the sear marks we got on chicken, steak, burgers and hot dogs. The Smokey Joe Portable Charcoal Grill is 14 inches wide and has 147 square inches of grilling surface on its steel grate.
There’s also electronic ignition and a built-in dome thermometer for knowing exactly how hot the grate is. The NOMADIQ Grill offers 226 square inches of cooking space across its two nonstick grates, which are heated by individually controlled stainless steel burners that deliver 9,200 BTUs per hour. This means you can only turn on one burner if you are cooking for a smaller crowd or you can cook burgers on one side and warm up the buns on the other. This sleek portable gas grill from Weber is superior in almost every category and was a fairly clear winner as the best portable grill overall. It’s easy to assemble, with just a few parts, and once completed feels solid and sturdy, even when given a few vigorous shakes. The igniter works well and, once lit, the grill got hot, reaching its advertised 500 degrees Fahrenheit after just 15 minutes with the lid closed.