The better grills also generally ended up reading out a more consistent temperature throughout cooking. The single-rack model with the largest grilling area is the Coleman Roadtrip 285. As the name describes, it has an impressive 285 square inches of cooking space. Our team found that this is plenty enough room to cook for a good-sized backyard BBQ or backcountry base camp. The Coleman Roadtrip 285 tops the list of our favorite propane models when it comes to grill control and temperature regulation.
Grills with side table attachments, stands, and other prep areas ended up ranking higher in our tests, as we rated grills for their overall design. When cooking outside, a clean, workable surface makes prepping convenient and efficient. Cleanup was simple, and as the grill comes with no specific cleaning weber genesis 2 instructions, dumping the spent ash was a simple task. 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. It would also fare well as a supplemental grill when cooking for a crowd in your backyard.
It also has a bit of a flimsy latch which isn’t a big problem if you spring for the . While the Weber Original Kettle may have taken the top spot in CNET’s list of best 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.
Similar to charcoal grills, pellet grills take some time before they’re ready for cooking, and this model takes a while to warm up. Lastly, the Camp Chef Portable Pellet is very heavy compared to the majority of portable grills we tested. Although the wheels are helpful, it’s not super fun to drag this grill very far from your vehicle. Despite that, we loved cooking with this portable pellet grill – it is the perfect addition to an RV setup. The Weber Q 1200 remains at the top of our list of tabletop gas grills because it packs the performance of larger grills into a small form.
The stand is easy to operate, with clear indicators for raising and lowering it. Since the base is included, you won’t need to hunt for a safe cooking surface or crouch down to flip burgers, but it requires a little more storage space and room in your trunk. Most grills performed about as well as advertised, with some topping out at as much as 100 F hotter than others.
We found that between the multi-hole design of the burners and the way that they are recessed into the tub of the grill body that this model’s flames are very hard to extinguish. This Camp Chef model has a stable cooking surface that prevents any wind from getting through to the grilling grate. Wind resistance was another particularly strong aspect of the George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor, whose electrically heated cooking surface seemed completely unfazed by convective heat loss, as far as we can tell. For this metric, we had to consider how different methods of heat production compared among different grills across the board.
When on these excursions, we took into account things like the overall size, weight, construction materials, and availability of wheels, stands, or lid latches. We also evaluated how secure or not secure they were, noisiness during transport, and cleanliness on the ride home. Once the grill is going, the Camp Chef Portable Pellet’s internal thermometer and the computer then take weber genesis 2 over to regulate the flow of pellets into the burner. This process keeps the grill temperature remarkably close to the chosen setting. If all this tech hasn’t impressed you yet, this model also has two digital meat thermometers so that you can watch temperatures in real time. With this grill, barring some sort of unexpected mishap, you will likely never overcook a tri-tip again.