If all you want is a rugged, well-built grill to sear some dogs and frozen burgers at tailgates and picnics, though, this one is an all-star. This single-burner grill is built to handle the rugged conditions of travel cooking, with steel-rod fold-out legs and two substantial clasps securing its stainless-steel lid. With the lid down, you get reliable cooking as hot air circulates over the grid.
In such event, your total payments will equal the amount of the promotional purchase amount. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Scott Gilbertson is a senior writer and reviewer for WIRED, specializing in portable technology. He was previously a writer and editor for WIRED’s Webmonkey.com, covering the browser wars, web standards, the independent web, and all aspects of internet culture. Seven tips and 28 products for making at least one household chore less miserable. This tool can take your home pizza game to the next level—we tried top-rated models to find the best in each category.
Next, we fired up the grills and did a quick, but thorough, evaluation of cooking-surface temperature. For gas grills, we used slices of white bread to cover the grilling surfaces to identify uneven heating. For charcoal grills, we used a glowing bed of charcoal directly underneath food, and then placed bricks to one side to see how well the grill body distributed heat. We also noted if it was easy to load up and move charcoal around inside the grill, and whether vents provided sufficient airflow. 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.
A grill with telescoping legs is ideal in this situation, but if you have a tabletop grill, consider whether there will be a picnic table or other suitable surface to place it on. Finally, the beach is often windy, so you may want to look for a grill that has a wind guard—otherwise, the grill may struggle to maintain its temperature. 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.
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. For added convenience, Weber sells a separate stand—a nice accessory when you don’t have a picnic table on which to set the grill. Keep food and beverages perfectly chilled or frozen with these top-rated brands and buys.
Perhaps you are after a portable grill design that is ideal for cooking hotdogs at the campsite or shrimp kebabs on the beach. From a go-anywhere camping grill to large backyard smokers, there is something for every grill-master’s style in this collection. A Traeger wood pellet grill is the best choice for tailgating because it will give you superior cooking results and is safer than gas or charcoal. Propane gas is tasteless, so you won’t be adding any extra flavor to your food by cooking with a portable gas grill.
The simplest and most transportable portable grills are electric. They don’t provide the flame-kissed flavor of a charcoal grill, but temperature adjustments are portable bbq pinpoint. It’s even possible to use some electric grills indoors, but of course they need to be plugged into an outlet, generator, or vehicle’s 12V outlet.