For this reason, wood pellet grills are often permitted on patios or balconies — while gas and charcoal grills, which do use open flame for cooking, are prohibited. Cast-aluminum fireboxes are durable, corrosion resistant, and excellent at evenly absorbing and reflecting heat, so you have fewer hotspots. This means you don’t have to obsessively babysit your barbecued chicken to prevent excessive charring.
The 320-square-inch grilling surface is big enough to grill for a crowd. It’ll still fit in the trunk of most cars, but it definitely takes up a considerable amount of space. I haven’t used the fancier models, but this portable bbq basic four-serving one served me well for years. You can pull the grills out for easy cleaning, there’s a drip pan to catch all the grease, and if you’re not in the grilling mood, it doubles as a Panini press.
For gas, we looked at the number of BTUs (British thermal units) each product generates. For charcoal, electric, and pellet options that cannot be measured the same way, we drew upon evidence from testing and an infrared thermometer to measure internal grill temperatures. We also factored in the number of burners of each product, how well the grill body insulated heat and the volume of the coal bed.
The standalone stove is quite large, but features collapsible legs and two fold-out prep tables, so it packs down to a stowable 36 x 15 x 10 inches that tucks easily into your car’s trunk. With the attachments and propane tank, we’re talking about a lot of gear, but you have a portable kitchen at your disposal, so it’s great to have for long camping excursions. The GoBQ grill is a great option for traveling, tailgating, or even for folks with small apartments, given its ease of packing, stowing, and carrying. We loaded the firebox with charcoal from The Good Charcoal Company, which was a consistent medium size and perfect for the small, 1.5-pound-capacity firebox. We lit the charcoal with a torch for about 60 seconds, turned the fan to medium, closed the firebox, and in 15 minutes we were grilling burgers.
The Char-Broil Grill2Go’s best features are its compactness and its easy-to-carry design. Two clips in the front hold the whole unit tightly together, and you can effortlessly carry the whole thing with one hand (super convenient if you need to lug it a few hundred yards). 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.
Finally, we should note that, at 40 pounds, this grill is more suited to car camping or picnicking, where it’s only a short walk to where you’ll be cooking. We found the Traveler “intuitive and approachable,” as one tester weber genesis 2 put it, to assemble, light, and use. With a similar burner and grate design to the Q 1200 but a larger cooking area and an upgrade to 13,000 BTUs, the Traveler is more suited to family-size groups than the former.
The magnetic grates stay in place when transported, are slightly domed for strength, and can invert for use as a vegetable cooker basket. First, assembly is a non-issue, as it consists of lining up the grates after taking the grill out of the box, and it took longer to unpack than to make it ready to cook. The cast aluminum body, top, and cast iron grates are built to last, and the included Flipkit turns the two-piece top and bottom into two hibachi grills that double your cooking area. Performance-wise, it cooks consistently across the grates, without hot or cool spots. While it is one of the heavier grills we tested, the wheels make moving the grill around a simple task.