Blackstone’s 17-inch flat top cooked a fine breakfast, but can also sear a steak if you’re looking for more conventional grilling fare. While the cooking surface is fairly small–267 square inches–I had enough space to cook burgers and dogs for a family of four. While Charcoal Grills Combo Grills most traditional grills have grates that the food is placed on, flat top grills offer a uniform griddle to cook your food. That’s perfect for situations like camping, where you may want to cook a wider array of foods than burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and steaks.
We tested popular models side-by-side, assessing each one on everything from how easy it was to set up to cooking performance to the final cleanup. This portable gas grill from trusty kitchen brand Cuisinart has foldable legs and a twist start ignition. 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).
If your grill doesn’t come with a lid, look at investing in a windscreen. If you can, set up your grill with some kind of protection from the wind. This protection can come from behind a vehicle, tent or shelter, or by blocking the grill from the wind with additional Expert Grill Combo Grills equipment. We admit the grill setup is a little funky; the grill plate balances on two legs after connecting with the stove base, which itself rests on a three-point stand. This feature makes the entire setup tricky to balance on uneven terrain.
Some portable grills are meant for tabletop use—they can also be used on the ground if you’re comfortable with that, but it may not be as convenient. They’ll often have fold-out legs and built-in carrying handles for easy storage and set-up. Grills with tall legs let you work at a comfortable standing height, but the legs add weight and bulk, so they’re not as convenient to carry. The legs also might not be as stable and wobble a bit while you’re cooking.
Best of all, the lid can be inverted onto an included base and used as a second grill. In our tests, this grill quickly cooked a steak and four chicken thighs, all of which were juicy and tender. It also has a very generously-sized Charcoal Grills Combo Grills usable cooking area, making it ideal for grilling for a crowd (we’re thinking it will be popular with tailgators). It earned points for usability, with testers commenting on the ease of setup, propane tank attachment, and lighting.
Even a thin layer of lump charcoal can reach grate temperatures of up to 600 degrees! This 7.5” X 9.25” X 4” sleeve greatly improves the C4 grate temperatures with very little charcoal. There are also many barrel-style grills, which are essentially miniature versions of larger smokers. They’re generally made from high-quality materials like cast aluminum, and while the material is durable, it makes these grills heavy and clunky, limiting their portability. If you’re specifically shopping for a grill to take on the go, portability is one of the most important factors to keep in mind.
Porcelain-coated cast-iron cooking grates are best at searing foods, though cast iron does add an extra 5 to 10 pounds to the total weight of a grill. We also prefer an open grate design that allows ambient heat from the firebox to brown the areas in between the grill marks. On a charcoal grill, this means having well-placed, easily accessible vents in both the lid and belly of the grill, which allows you to control the temperature of your grill by adjusting airflow to the coals. More space between the coal bed and the grilling grate also lessens your chances of ending up with charred food and allows you to create hot and cold spots for searing and indirect cooking. But portable grills are generally not as versatile as a full-size grill. Our picks fit about half as much food as their full-size counterparts (six burgers versus 12) and aren’t ideal for large cuts of meat that require slow or indirect cooking, such as roasts or pork shoulder.
After grilling 65 burgers, 30 pounds of chicken, and 25 pounds of bratwurst on nine portable grills, we have recommendations for both gas and charcoal options. If you’ve decided you want a portable charcoal grill, there is nothing like the Nomad—it’s expensive but worth it. Not only is it easy to pack and carry, it excelled at every cooking task I gave it.
The charcoal bin is pretty deep, letting you stack a significant amount of the fuel to reach pretty high temperatures for a portable grill. Other than that aspect, it’s a solid choice for a portable, easy-to-use charcoal grill. While the Jumbo Joe has more cooking space, the Go-Anywhere gets runner-up honors thanks to its excellent searing capability and portable design. You get the same amount of cooking space as the 18″ Kettle classic, but this grill only weighs 22 pounds and can easily be carried by one person. The collapsible Weber Traveler is basically a full-size propane grill on wheels, making it a perfect choice for small patios and times when you need to bring a grill to a cookout or a party.
You’re not supposed to remove the grate to clean it, and its small holes catch a lot of food bits, so there’s a lot of scrubbing involved. 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. If you’re in the market for a propane grill and you don’t want to worry about your flame getting blown out, our top recommendation is the Coleman Roadtrip 285. 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.