The single 9,000-BTU burner is fueled by a 16-ounce propane canister that conveniently stores in the base. Being a single-burner grill, the Venture made it a little tricky to manage heat when cooking thicker meats like bone-in chicken, as it’s hard to get away from the heat for longer, indirect cooking. We set the burner on low for the 100 percent beef burgers we grilled, flipped them once, and then turned weber q up the heat to imprint sear lines from the cast-iron grate. Generally, we found it relatively easy to grill thinner foods and, even better, convenient to turn on and off as needed over the course of an afternoon. One Popular Mechanics editor used it at her neighborhood block party to grill hot dogs and sausages. When it comes to charcoal, you get full control of how much heat your charcoal grill produces.
The unique COBB design creates an oven heating effect when cooking with the Frying Pan and the Dome Lid closed. This allows for even circulation of heat and consistent temperature. Sign up for all the news you can use, including product launches, tasty recipes, your weekly grilling forecast, special offers, and the occasional weber q deep cut. Yes, these grills are all portable, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all fit your transportation needs. If you’ll be tossing the grill in the back of a pickup truck, any of these models will work. But if you’ve got a conventional car, make sure the grill will fit your trunk’s unique size and shape.
They’re commonly constructed from thin porcelainized steel with thin wire-rod grilling grates. Charcoal grills’ simple construction is what makes them budget friendly. A great portable grill offers consistent heat, minimal flare-ups, a generous cooking area, and an easily totable design. Aside from being compact for easy transport, a portable grill should be a functional home grill for folks with small outdoor spaces. Grills that evenly distribute the heat across the entire grate cook food more consistently. Extreme hotspots and flare-ups cause patchy charring and require you to babysit your dinner.
To evaluate these grills I assembled each one from scratch and then cooked an array of foods at various temperatures to see how they performed. Foods cooked included steak and burgers, which do best with a hot sear. While the Weber Original Kettle may have taken the top spot in CNET’s portable bbq list ofbest charcoal grills, this newcomer is my pick for the best portable charcoal grill. A smart and solid build allows you to take this small grill anywhere, including on a long hike. Setup was a snap — you simply unhinge the sides and the entire thing opens up like a clamshell.
Carrying a dusty, dirty charcoal grill around isn’t usually an attractive proposition, but the creators of the GoBQ have mostly solved the issue through intelligent design. The entire unit folds out and up in about 20 seconds and then wraps up again after you’re done, securing all the nasty cooked charcoal. Keep in mind that this is a little different than normal grilling, since it cooks from the top and bottom, which means your food cooks faster.