Mini & Portable Grills for Sale Barbeques Galore

Learn how we create the world’s most carefully tested and objective gear reviews on our About page. A family event, comparing grills and eating good food in March in Drictor, Wydaho. The Cuisinart All Foods Roll-Away scored the lowest in wind resistance. We grew frustrated at the number of times we had to re-light this model in high winds. The Weber Q 1200 comes with a disposable aluminum drip tray insert that you can place in the more permanent drip tray. This is nice for aiding with cleanup, but it’s not very wind-resistant, so it usually ended up on the ground after flying away in windy conditions.

This can be remedied by doing away with this disposable part or just by putting a rock in it. Between the main grill and the upper deck, the Camp Chef Portable Pellet has tons of cooking space. The legs on the Portable Pellet fold up, but the process is not as easy as some of the other wheeled models we’ve tested. The Camp Chef Portable Pellet has two digital meat probes that display a live view of your food’s internal temperature.

Not only is the ignitor electric, but so is the auger that feels pellets from the hopper into the grill, which means that this grill needs to be plugged into an AC outlet. If you’re at home, in an RV, or have a decent power bank, this isn’t much of an issue. But for folks that like to go completely off-grid, this model isn’t going to work portable bbq for you. Much like charcoal grills, pellet grills take some time before they’re ready for cooking and the Camp Chef Portable Pellet takes a while to warm up. Lastly, this model is really heavy compared to most of the portable grills in our review. The wheels are helpful, but it’s not very fun to drag this grill very far from your vehicle.

We also considered if the grilling surface presents a consistent temperature throughout, whether it includes a thermometer or push-button ignition, and how well both perform. There are advantages and disadvantages to a grill surface that naturally presents different temperature zones. Grill size isn’t necessarily tied to value — in fact, some of the smallest grills in our review are among some of the most expensive. When considering carrying dimensions, grilling surface, and overall performance, the more average-sized grills tend to fall into a more reasonable price bracket. There is a broad range of prices in this category, but two of the lower-priced models stand out. The Cuisinart Grillster has the power you need to sear steaks, but due to its lower-end price point, it lacks the overall control of better grills.

We also took into account how simple or challenging each contender was to clean. To illustrate this, we cooked plain white bread and photographed the result to help visualize the distribution of heat across these weber charcoal grill grill tops. We also took into consideration whether the lid was big enough for closed grilling, how easy the grease trap was to use, remove, and clean, and if the regulator provided a snug or loose fit.

portable bbq

To test the distribution of heat across a grill, we grilled different food types in different corners of the grill. You don’t get this uncompromising high-heat cooking performance without some drawbacks. First, the grill top is small, with space for only one or two steaks on it at a time. Finally — and this is the most significant issue — the low-heat performance is virtually nonexistent.