We were skeptical, but tests found it stayed within 10 degrees of the set temperature all the way from 250 to 500 degrees, where we were able to get nice char on both burgers and ears of corn. That’s a lot of hype, and I was prepared weber gas grill to be underwhelmed, but the Takibi lives up to the hype and then some. It folds flat, leaving more room in your trunk; the grill top is a grid so small things won’t fall through, and when you’re done cooking it turns into a fire pit.
Whether it’s the salty sweetness on that lightly charred corn or the rich smoothness of smoked meat, warm weather begs us to get outside and light a fire. This grill is a good starter model for someone, but the construction is pretty shaky, and the heat is very inconsistent, with multiple hot and cold weber charcoal grill spots across the grill. As with all new grills start it and let it get hot for about 20 minutes to burn off all the oil and grease that is used during the manufacturing process. Most of the lower ratings are in my opinion from people who did not read the specifications of this grill too well.
Finally, we judged the grills on how easy they were to clean up after cooking. We vetted standalone and portable gas grills for more than a month to find the best value buys. In fact, the only caveat is that you need an electricity weber gas grill supply that can handle up to 2.2 kilowatts of continuous output. For my first test, I whacked the heat up to the highest setting, threw on some chicken wings with a good dose of Nando’s hot rub for good measure and closed the lid.
In testing, we found this unit especially stable and tough to knock over with light jostles and bumps. Unless you’re looking for a portable grill, you’ll want a grill with the most cooking area available in your price range. Indeed, the best standalone grills we tested have large surface areas and multiple burners for indirect heat cooking. A larger cooking area gives you more flexibility in your cooking style.
In addition to our research, we tested a few top models in our own backyards to help you find the best portable grill. In terms of its cooking performance, the HitchFire runs on two small propane canisters, and it has two burners that can be controlled individually. There’s 335 square inches of cooking space, as well as two spacious fold-out prep tables, and the grill arm can be locked at either 90 or 180 degrees, allowing you to access your trunk or tailgate as you’re cooking. Plus, we found the grill easily reached high temperatures with both burners running, delivering plenty of heat for cooking all types of food, such as steaks, fish, and grilled fruit. We sent various portable grills to the homes of our expert reviewers in addition to testing in our Lab. Our Lab testers grilled, seared, baked, and smoked to thoroughly analyze the features and performance.