And with generally good cooking results, it’s an easy model for someone to get started with gas grilling. 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. The GoBQ also performed well, cultivating a steady and hot fire, and has a robust 185 square inches of grilling space. There are no bells and whistles on this grill, so you’ll have to adjust and maintain the fire as you would most charcoal fires or campfires — with a careful flow of oxygen and good charcoal management.
This sleek portable gas grill from Weber is superior in almost every category and was a fairly clear winner as the best portable grill overall. It’s easy to assemble, with just a few parts, and once completed feels solid and sturdy, even when given a few vigorous shakes. The igniter works well and, once lit, the grill got hot, reaching its advertised 500 degrees Fahrenheit after just 15 minutes with the lid closed.
It has a decently sized 145 square inches of grilling surface with an easy-to-clean porcelain grilling grate (which is a lot handier than having to buy new grates). It uses natural gas tanks and ignites quickly with a steady and consistent flame. However, it was ultimately less powerful than the Weber (just 5,500 portable bbq BTUs), topping out around 400 F. It didn’t maintain its heat quite as well but wasn’t terrible in that regard either. Weber has a reputation for building grills that gracefully blend cooking performance and reliability, and that tradition is rolled into a portable package with the impressive Weber Q 1200.
This portable gas grill has been a Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab favorite for years. It’s small and compact, which makes it quite portable, yet sturdy and powerful for good, fast cooks. We’ve tested both this model and the larger stand-up model with shelves, and were impressed with the sear marks we got on chicken, steak, burgers and hot dogs. Like most of Weber’s grills, the Q1200 has a disposable drip tray below the grill, which makes clean-up much easier than some portable grills with drip trays that need to be washed out periodically.
It’s only nine pounds — the lightest of any on this list — and with the fitted carrying case can be slung right over your shoulder and taken out for grilling on the go. This take-anywhere charcoal grill is probably the most portable of all the grills I tested and is perfect for campers or hikers who need a small, portable grill while on the move. A portable grill could be just mobile enough to load it in and out of your truck bed with a friend, or it might be compact enough to weber q fit inside a large backpack. Such a wide range of sizes and shapes of “portable grills” presents a real challenge to our testers, but that’s why we take time to analyze the entire marketplace and select the best options available today. We then put ourselves in your shoes and put each model through an array of creative real-life cooking scenarios. Our thorough testing process began with scouring the internet for the latest and greatest products across the portable grill market.
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 Solaire Everywhere infrared grill is a unique product on our roster and performs very well in a few categories. First, it is very small and compact, and its construction is tight and carries quietly. Most importantly, the high-powered ceramic “flameless” burner that sits below a carefully designed grate of v-shaped bars cooks steaks better than anything else in our review.
And if your home or apartment features a small outdoor space, there are small grills made for city dwellers and those who have small balconies. A portable grill is essential for a great tailgate before the next game or concert. While we don’t want to get ahead of summer so fast, football season will be on ya before you can say, “Blue 42.” She’s an experienced product tester and recipe creator, trained in classic culinary arts and culinary nutrition. She has worked in test kitchens for small kitchen appliance brands and national magazines, including Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal.