5 Portable Grills For All Your Outdoor Cooking Needs

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These grills for tailgating are easy to use with included stands that allow them to be set up at home, or removed for easy travel. Adjustable temperature dials make it easy to get the food just right, while dome lid gauges help you keep track of the heat. Portable doesn’t necessarily mean small, with some grills featuring 240 square inches of cooking space.

portable bbq

They’re commonly constructed from thin porcelainized steel with thin wire-rod grilling grates. Charcoal grills’ simple construction is what makes them budget friendly. Portable gas grills are generally designed to be used with small 1-pound propane tanks, and with these, a regulator is not needed. However, if you want to use a larger propane tank—such as a 20-pound tank—with a portable grill, you’ll need an adapter and regulator. Most brands sell the appropriate attachment for their portable grill models.

Being able to control the airflow is important when cooking over charcoal; the bottom vents control the heat of the fire, while the top exhausts hot air and smoke out of the grill. And while it’s size may have made it bulky and hard to transport, Weber’s round, kettle design kept it from being intimidating. If you’re searching for a gas grill you can bring on all your adventures, look no further than the Weber Q2200 Propane Grill. With a large carry handle on the front and a compact design, this 2-burner grill is simple to transport from one place to another. The burners produce a total of 20,000 BTUs and are each independently adjustable. It has Piezo ignition technology for dependable lighting, as well as stainless steel flame tamers that are designed to distribute heat evenly through the firebox and minimize flare-ups.

The grilling space is large too with 226 square inches of ceramic-coated nonstick grates. To get the best flavor from your first grilling and to remove any manufacturing oils, “break-in” your grill before cooking for the first time. Break in by following the charcoal lighting instructions to start approximately 40 briquettes of charcoal.

Regarding this gas grill’s performance, it gets hot quick, cooks food evenly, and is easy to clean when you’re done. It’s a little bit heavy for a portable option, weighing in at over 43 pounds, but most of the weight is actually its cast iron grates, which can be carried separately for easier transport. This propane portable bbq grill has a 280-square-inch porcelain-enameled, cast-iron cooking grate and delivers 12,000 BTUs of heat per hour when connected to a 14.1-ounce or 16.4-ounce liquid propane cylinder. It comes with a push-button starter and removable catch pan, and it’s even compatible with the 1000-series Weber griddle .

Remarkably for a Weber – and one with such a complex mechanism – the Traveler is very reasonably priced, too. And that makes it a shoo-in as the best portable gas barbecue you can buy right now. The porcelain-enamelled lid, meanwhile, provides typically reliable indirect grilling without flare ups.

The chicken took longer to cook, although it looked beautiful and tasted great when it did get there. All in all, the Traveler is a solid choice for anyone who cooks for five to six people, or for someone who wants to routinely use their portable grill on a deck or patio. When unfolded, the grill measures 43.6 inches tall, 23 inches deep, and 37.2 inches tall. Depending on the size of your balcony, it may be a good option there, too. It’s compact, powerful for its size, easy to use and clean, and can be fuelled by a lightweight fuel canister. The high score in this category goes to the Camp Chef Portable.