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Portable grills aren’t just great for toting to a campground, park, or tailgate. If you don’t have the space or budget for a full-size grill, they might also be the best option for your backyard. After grilling 65 burgers, 30 pounds of chicken, and 25 pounds of bratwurst on nine portable grills, we have recommendations for both gas and charcoal options. Tooth Plate
The Weber Q 1200 Gas Grill is our pick because of its no-fuss convenience and stellar performance. For charcoal purists, we recommend the Weber Jumbo Joe Charcoal Grill 18″, which is just as capable as a full-size kettle at searing and grilling food to perfection.
This propane grill is sturdy, easy to use, and big enough to grill burgers for a small crowd. It’s on the heavy side, but it has comfortable handles for transport.
This larger version of our pick offers more cooking area and higher heat output. It’s also 10 pounds heavier.
This 20-pound propane grill folds up like a suitcase, and you can carry it with one hand. But it runs hot.
Although working with charcoal isn’t as easy as turning the dial on a gas grill, this smaller version of the classic Weber kettle grill offers better temperature control than any other portable charcoal grill we tested.
This propane grill is sturdy, easy to use, and big enough to grill burgers for a small crowd. It’s on the heavy side, but it has comfortable handles for transport.
The Weber Q 1200 Gas Grill is the best of the portable propane models we’ve tested. It outperformed the competition at both high-heat searing and low-and-slow grilling, with the fewest flare-ups. And it’s well-built, with a push-button ignition and temperature control dial that are easy to use.
The cast-aluminum firebox evenly distributes heat across a grilling grate big enough to fit six large burgers or a whole cut-up chicken. The spacious dome lid has a built-in thermometer that lets you know when the grill is hot. And small fold-out side tables on either side are convenient for keeping grill tools within reach.
Though this 30-pound grill takes some strength to lift, its roomy handles make it comfortable for one person to carry.
This larger version of our pick offers more cooking area and higher heat output. It’s also 10 pounds heavier.
The Weber Q 2200 Gas Grill offers the same high-quality build and stellar grilling performance as our top pick, the Weber Q 1200, but with a 48% bigger grilling grate, it can hold up to ten burgers or two whole cut-up chickens.
As with the Q 1200, the features that set the Q 2200 apart from the competition include a cast-aluminum firebox for even heating, a push-button ignition, and fold-out side tables.
However, this 40-pound grill isn’t lightweight by any stretch of the imagination. And heating the larger grill surface will burn through propane faster.
This 20-pound propane grill folds up like a suitcase, and you can carry it with one hand. But it runs hot.
If you want a lighter, more compact propane grill, the Char-Broil Grill2Go X200 Portable Gas Grill is designed for one-handed toting. It’s slightly larger than a briefcase and weighs 10 pounds less than our top pick, but it holds the same amount of food—about six burgers.
In our tests, the Grill2Go X200 produced intense heat that was ideal for searing steaks but had us battling some flare-ups when cooking chicken pieces. Although we wouldn’t want to use it as a primary patio grill, it’s a decent dedicated portable grill for camping and tailgating.
Although working with charcoal isn’t as easy as turning the dial on a gas grill, this smaller version of the classic Weber kettle grill offers better temperature control than any other portable charcoal grill we tested.
Grilling with charcoal takes a bit more patience and finesse than gas, but if you prefer that smoky flavor, the lightweight Weber Jumbo Joe Charcoal Grill 18″ matches the searing and grilling abilities of Weber’s full-size kettle. In our tests, the well-placed vents in both the lid and the firebox provided precise temperature control that no other portable charcoal grill we tried—including two other Webers—could match.
The Jumbo Joe Charcoal Grill is lighter than our gas pick, weighing under 20 pounds, but it’s not smaller. Its cooking surface holds about seven burgers or one whole, cut-up chicken.
Other features make it pleasant to use: The tripod base is stable on uneven terrain, and the simple ash catcher keeps hot embers from falling on the ground. The heat-resistant lid handle stays cool enough to grasp without a towel or oven mitt. And the carrying handle locks the lid in place for easy transport.
Senior staff writers Tim Heffernan and Lesley Stockton spent 16 hours testing portable grills for this guide. They did so on the heels of testing full-size gas and charcoal grills, as well as grill accessories. Lesley built on her decade of experience in professional kitchens (much of it spent on the grill station) to design and run all of these tests.
Before testing, we pored over other professional reviews, such as those at Meathead’s AmazingRibs.com, and analyzed online customer reviews of dozens of models. Tim also spoke with more than a dozen experts, including Joe Salvaggio of Big Apple BBQ in New York City and senior product managers from major grill makers in attendance at the 2017 Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo.
Portable grills aren’t just for camping, picnicking, and tailgating; they’re also great for city and apartment dwellers with limited outdoor space. And they can be a good option if you don’t have the budget for a full-size grill.
But portable grills are generally not as versatile as a full-size grill. Our picks fit about half as much food as their full-size counterparts (six burgers versus 12) and aren’t ideal for large cuts of meat that require slow or indirect cooking, such as roasts or pork shoulder. If you have the space, you’ll probably be happier with one of our full-size gas or charcoal picks.
This guide covers both propane gas and charcoal grills. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
Get a gas grill if: You want to grill more than once a week, or you want something that’s clean, quick, and easy to pack up when you’re done grilling. And you’re willing to sacrifice a little heat and smoky flavor for convenience.
Gas grills ignite with a press of a button and preheat in minutes. A temperature dial lets you control the heat as easily and quickly as on a kitchen range.
Portable gas grills work with 1-pound liquid-propane canisters that are small, packable, and available at most hardware stores. When you’re done cooking, the grill cools quickly, and you don’t have to worry about dumping out ashes.
Get a charcoal grill if: You want a smoky flavor and high-heat searing, or you want something affordable for occasional grilling.
Grilling with charcoal does have some downsides that make it less convenient, especially with a portable grill. Briquettes are bulky and messy, staining anything they touch with soot and ash. Plus you have the added chore of snuffing out hot coals and emptying ashes after grilling.
Charcoal is also smokier than gas, a possible issue for smaller, fenced-in spaces.
We wanted to find picks that were compact enough for easy transport but could also serve as a functional home grill for folks with small outdoor spaces. So we looked for the following:
A generous cooking area: The ideal portable grill is big enough to accommodate a full meal for two or a main course for a small crowd.
Even, easy-to-control heat: On a gas grill, this means having well-designed heating elements and flame shields to help reduce the risk of flare-ups, which happen when open flames aren’t properly shielded from drippings. A cleverly designed grilling grate that channels grease away from the fire can also help.
On a charcoal grill, this means having well-placed, easily accessible vents in both the lid and belly of the grill, which allows you to control the temperature of your grill by adjusting airflow to the coals. More space between the coal bed and the grilling grate also lessens your chances of ending up with charred food and allows you to create hot and cold spots for searing and indirect cooking.
Quality construction: For a gas grill, a cast-aluminum firebox is best. Aluminum is durable, corrosion resistant, and excellent at evenly absorbing and reflecting heat, so you have fewer hot spots.
Porcelain-coated cast-iron cooking grates are best at searing foods, though cast iron does add an extra 5 to 10 pounds to the total weight of a grill. We also prefer an open grate design that allows ambient heat from the firebox to brown the areas in between the grill marks.
Materials aren’t as big a concern with charcoal grills. They’re commonly constructed from thin porcelainized steel with thin wire-rod grilling grates. This simple construction is what makes them budget friendly and lighter weight. And with proper care, a charcoal grill should still last for many years.
Given these criteria, we ruled out a few styles of portable grill from the start:
Ultimately we landed on nine grills to test. We started by loading the grates of each with 6-ounce burger patties (without crowding, of course) and assessed the evenness of the heat, the temperature control, the searing performance, and any flare-ups.
Then we grilled bone-in chicken to test for flare-ups and how well the gas and charcoal grills could sustain a medium-low cooking temperature over 45 minutes.
Finally, we enlisted fresh bratwurst links to gauge each grill’s ability to handle a grate full of fatty meat. Sausage casings can leak or break, causing major flares.
This propane grill is sturdy, easy to use, and big enough to grill burgers for a small crowd. It’s on the heavy side, but it has comfortable handles for transport.
The Weber Q 1200 is flare-up resistant and excellent at maintaining consistent heat. It’s constructed from quality materials, has some nice extra features, and is reasonably comfortable to carry (although heavy).
It holds a good amount of food. The Weber Q 1200 is roomy. It’s capable of grilling six large burger patties, a whole cut-up chicken, or 10 bratwurst links at a time. And the single-tube 8,500 Btu burner runs along three edges for better heat distribution, so all the grill space is usable.
And it cooks evenly. In our tests, the Q 1200’s heavy-duty cast-aluminum firebox was the best at evenly absorbing and reflecting heat. That, along with the U-shaped burner, provided the most consistent grilling of all the portables we tested, with the fewest hot spots.
The Q 1200’s design caused the fewest flare-ups of any model we tried, thanks to built-in channels in the porcelain-coated cast-iron grill grates. These helped keep grease and drippings away from the flames while still allowing ambient heat to brown between grill marks. In our tests, burgers from the Q 1200 had the most seared surface area of all the burgers we grilled, and more browning means better flavor.
While the high heat setting perfectly seared burgers without burning, the Q 1200 also outperformed the competition at steady medium-low heat for items such as bone-in chicken and sausage links.
It’s easy to use. The push-button ignition and clearly marked heat-control dial make the Q 1200 easy to start and regulate. Weber’s propane coupling fits 1-pound canisters (best for using this grill on the go) but also accepts an adapter for 20-pound propane tanks.
The Q 1200’s small fold-out side tables are handy for keeping grill tools within reach, though we wouldn’t feel confident resting a large tray brimming with meat or other heavy things on them. The thermometer in the dome lid is nice, but it isn’t necessary other than for letting you know when the grill is hot and ready.
Wirecutter staff who have used the Q 1200 at home have found it easy to clean both the grates and the grease tray under the grill. You don’t need to buy Weber’s specialty tins for the grease tray either—instead, just line the catch pan with aluminum foil and pull it off when you’re done.
It’s built to last. The enameled body is easy to clean and rustproof. Weber’s warranty covers most of the hardware—including the lid, firebox, burners, cooking grates, and plastic components—for five years. All other parts are covered for two years.
And in general Weber’s grills have a great reputation for performance and longevity. When we surveyed over 1,000 Wirecutter readers about their grills, a large majority said they owned a Weber. And of those Weber owners, 69% said they were extremely satisfied with their grill. Another 29% were moderately satisfied.
Be sure to clean your grill thoroughly to keep it working as long as possible. If you use the grill only occasionally, you may need to wipe down the burner tubes to make sure they light effectively.
If you plan to keep the grill outside, it’s worth investing in a bonnet cover to protect it from the elements. You can also get a collapsible cart for it if you don’t have a table that will work.
It’s not the easiest grill to move. When the side tables are tucked inside the grill for transport, the Q 1200 is about the size of a small carry-on suitcase. It weighs about 30 pounds, and you need two hands to carry it, because it doesn’t have a latch to hold the lid securely to the firebox. But the position of the side handles helps to evenly distribute its 30-pound heft and lessens the burden of hoisting and moving the grill.
It’s pricey. The Weber Q series grills are the most expensive portables we’ve tested. But the price is justified by the grill’s build-quality and Weber’s warranty and overall reputation for longevity.
This larger version of our pick offers more cooking area and higher heat output. It’s also 10 pounds heavier.
If you’re looking for a bigger portable grill, the Weber Q 2200 Gas Grill has the same features, performance, and build as our pick, but with almost 50% more grilling capacity. It can fit up to 10 large burger patties, two cut-up chickens, or 16 large bratwurst links at a time.
The larger Q 2200 is a great choice for car camping and tailgating, or even for folks with very limited outdoor space that won’t accommodate a full-size grill. But it weighs 40 pounds and is quite bulky for one person to carry—we wouldn’t want to lug it very far on foot.
Another caveat: The Q 2200 produces 12,000 Btu (significantly more than the Q 1200, which produces 8,500 Btu) to compensate for the extra grilling capacity. But that also means you’re going to burn through propane canisters faster on the Q 2200 than on the Q 1200.
This 20-pound propane grill folds up like a suitcase, and you can carry it with one hand. But it runs hot.
The Char-Broil Grill2Go X200 Portable Gas Grill is a solid compact grill for remote cookouts because it’s rugged, lightweight, and easy to carry. It’s not as good as our Weber picks at searing food, but it heats evenly and is easy to use.
It’s the easiest grill to carry. Unlike Weber’s gas grills, the Grill2Go X200 latches tightly shut with two clips on the front. This allows you to effortlessly carry the whole thing with one hand (convenient if you need to lug it a few hundred yards).
At 20 pounds, the Grill2Go X200 is also 10 pounds lighter than the Weber Q 1200, even though it fits the same amount of food (six burgers, or a whole cut-up chicken).
It gets hot—sometimes too hot—but it’s not great at searing. Like the Weber models, the Grill2Go X200 has a thick cast-aluminum body for even heat distribution. But a couple things prevented us from achieving results as beautiful as we got from Weber’s gas grills.
For one, the Grill2Go X200 has a maximum 9,500 Btu output, versus the Weber Q 1200’s 8,500 Btu. When we preheated it for five minutes on high, the Grill2Go X200 reached over 600 °F, while the Weber Q 1200 never broke 525 °F. As a result, we had to manage moderate flare-ups while cooking burgers, chicken, and brats.
The perforated stainless steel grilling grate also blocked a lot of ambient heat, so our food got seared where it touched the grilling grate but lacked the all-over consistent browning we saw from the Weber Q-series grills.
It has a decent warranty (though Weber’s is better). Char-Broil covers the Grill2Go X200’s lid, firebox, and burner for five years and everything else for one year. Weber covers more parts on its gas grills for five years and nothing for less than two years, but those grills also cost significantly more.
To get the most out of the Grill2Go, be sure to clean it properly and store it somewhere out of the elements (or at least covered). The carrying case (sold separately) isn’t weatherproof, but you can use a heavy-duty contractor-style garbage bag or a tarp for protection.
Although working with charcoal isn’t as easy as turning the dial on a gas grill, this smaller version of the classic Weber kettle grill offers better temperature control than any other portable charcoal grill we tested.
The Weber Jumbo Joe Charcoal Grill 18″ is the only charcoal portable we tried that can sear and cook foods about as well as a full-size backyard grill. It’s a good choice if you like cooking with charcoal or don’t want to spend a lot, but it’s less convenient than gas, especially when you’re on the go.
It’s roomy. The generous 17.5-inch diameter grilling grate holds a little more than the Weber Q 1200. It accommodates seven burgers, a whole cut-up chicken, or 10 bratwurst links at a time.
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.
And it produced the best results. In our tests, the Jumbo Joe charcoal grill made the best seared burgers, barbecued chicken, and grilled bratwurst. Plus, cooking with charcoal gives your food that smoky flavor that you can’t get from a gas flame.
It’s easy to control (for a charcoal grill). Though using this grill isn’t as easy as turning the dial on a gas grill, the Jumbo Joe’s two adjustable vents, in the lid and firebox, allowed the quickest and easiest temperature control of all the charcoal grills we tested.
Even after loading the Jumbo Joe grill with a full chimney starter’s worth of red-hot embers (about 90 briquettes), we could still tamp down the temperature to medium heat. We couldn’t do that with the 14-inch Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal Grill, where the single vent and the lack of airflow caused the coals to extinguish while we were cooking.
It’s well designed for travel. Though some things are inherently inconvenient about a charcoal-fueled portable grill, the Jumbo Joe has some design features that make it easier to travel with.
Even though the Jumbo Joe isn’t the smallest or most compact charcoal grill we tested, it is lightweight (about 18 pounds) and easy to carry. A swiveling metal arm holds the grill together for transport and doubles as a lid holder while you’re grilling. The comfortable plastic handle allows you to lift the grill with one hand, while a heat shield keeps it cool to the touch during grilling.
We appreciate the stable tripod base, which keeps the grill steady on uneven ground. And we give the Jumbo Joe points for having an ash catcher, even though it’s just a flimsy aluminum pan. But at least there’s a barrier to keep hot embers from falling on the grass or your deck.
It’s built to last. Weber’s warranty covers the bowl and lid for 10 years, the “one-touch cleaning system” (a fancy name for the simple mechanism that shovels ashes out of the bottom) and plastic components for five years, and all other parts for two years.
Weber has a great reputation for reliability, and when we surveyed Wirecutter readers about their grills, Weber owners were overwhelmingly satisfied with their choice. As long as you clean your grill properly and shield it from the elements, it should last many years. Weber doesn’t make a grill cover for the Jumbo Joe, but a contractor garbage bag or a woven poly tarp should do the trick if you want an extra barrier from the elements.
This is not a comprehensive list of all the models we’ve considered. It only includes models we tested that are still available.
The tiny Cuisinart CGG-180T Petite Gourmet Portable Tabletop Gas Grill suffered major flare-ups when cooking burgers and turned into a raging grease fire when cooking chicken pieces. Everything we cooked on this grill had a dark, sooty film and tasted like torched fat.
We were impressed with the high-heat grilling performance of the Weber Go Anywhere Charcoal Grill. But when the firebox got hot, the side vents that regulated airflow stuck in place, rendering us unable to control the temperature—critical for slow-cooking things like chicken and sausages.
Keeping coals lit in the Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal Grill 14″ was a challenge. This smaller Weber kettle comes equipped with only one vent, located in the lid. The lack of airflow meant we couldn’t keep the coal bed lit throughout a single cook, leaving us with pale burgers and undercooked chicken.
We’ve tested an older version of the Lodge Sportsman’s Pro Cast Iron Grill, a hibachi-style grill that generates an intense amount of heat and excels at searing, making it ideal for steaks. But the lidless design limits its ability to tackle slow-cooking tasks. At 30 pounds and with a long cool-down time (again, cast iron), it’s also not going to be very portable.
This article was edited by Marguerite Preston and Marilyn Ong.
Lesley Stockton is a senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds on a lifelong career in the culinary world—from a restaurant cook and caterer to a food editor at Martha Stewart. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd.
Tim Heffernan is a senior staff writer focusing on air and water quality and home energy efficiency. A former writer for The Atlantic, Popular Mechanics, and other national magazines, he joined Wirecutter in 2015. He owns three bikes and zero derailleurs.
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