Get big barbecue taste from a small barbecue grill.
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Not everyone has room at home to set up a grill in the backyard. If you love cooking outside, but don’t have the space for a large, semi-permanent grill, there are lots of smaller options out there, from mini portable grills you can set on a table, to options on wheels that you can put away between cookouts. Small grills are also a great choice for cooks on a budget, as they’re usually more affordable and use less fuel than their full-size counterparts.
A small grill doesn’t mean small flavor or low heat, though. We’ve cooked everything from chicken to burgers to veggie kabobs, and it’s clear that you can get great smoke and char from even the most mini grills around. And now that Memorial Day is here, there are great deals on some top choices.
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There are a large number of ways to make a small grill. Sometimes manufacturers, like Weber, make portable versions of their classic grills. Some designs sacrifice a little surface area to make a collapsible or modular, so you can stow them away between uses. While they usually can’t cook quite as much food at one time as a grill that’s made to be parked in one spot, they often work just as well.
That said, you should make sure that you pick a grill that’s large enough so you can efficiently cook the quantity of food you want, but small enough for you to safely use it in a compact space–like a small patio–or that’s easy to carry, if you specifically want a portable grill. If you plan to cook for only one or two people, a 150-200 square-inch cooking surface should give you enough room. For a larger group (or a feast), we recommend looking for a larger model with at least 300 square inches of cooking surface.
You should also decide ahead of time whether you want a charcoal grill or a gas grill. Charcoal grills create that classic, smoky flavor, but require more prep and cleaning time before and after you grill. They’re also inherently less portable, since charcoal is both heavy and creates ash that you’ll need to dispose of safely.
Gas grills, which run on propane, are easy to use and convenient for those transporting their grill from place to place. Of course, propane presents its own safety issues, so make sure you handle both your grill and fuel with care.
Our team of editors cast a wide net to test several of the most popular small and portable charcoal and gas grills on the market. The ones we feature were assessed for everything from quality of materials to temperature accuracy to ease of setup.
To kick off testing, we unboxed each grill, assembled it if required, and examined its workmanship and build quality. Next, we fired up the grills and did a quick, but thorough, evaluation of cooking-surface temperature. For gas grills, we used slices of white bread to cover the grilling surfaces to identify uneven heating. For charcoal grills, we used a glowing bed of charcoal directly underneath food, and then placed bricks to one side to see how well the grill body distributed heat. We also noted if it was easy to load up and move charcoal around inside the grill, and whether vents provided sufficient airflow.
Then came the main event: We cooked dozens of juicy, hand-formed hamburgers and pieces of marinated bone-in chicken. We covered all the cooking surfaces with food and moved down the row, from one grill to the next, checking how much attention the meat and poultry needed. To ensure everything was properly cooked, we used a professional-grade digital food thermometer.
In subsequent updates, our experts researched and tested even more grills, assessing the size, construction, and durability of a wide range of candidates, then testing each entry by cooking an array of barbecue staples, including hamburgers, brats, chicken, and vegetables.
This kettle-shaped classic is a phenomenal small grill. A bottom vent and an aluminum top damper allowed us to dial in the airflow.
Despite the Smokey Joe’s small volume, there was enough room to manipulate the coal for precise cooking—we placed mound charcoal on one side for indirect heating and rotated the lid so that the top damper drew smoke past the food.
The grill’s setup and cool down are simple, precise, and fast. Years of experience with it have convinced us of one thing: It’s a classic that would be almost impossible to improve upon.
The dual-burner Cuisinart is our favorite small gas grill, delivering nearly perfect heat distribution across its surface, which is quite large for a portable appliance. Its two burners are precisely controlled and versatile—one can be set on high and one on low for indirect cooking or to prepare different foods—say, a kabob on one side of the grill and burgers on the other.
Since the grill is fueled by a full-size 20-gallon propane container, it has substantial firepower–20,000 BTU–at its disposal. The large fuel tank is ideal if you’re cooking for a large group, since you probably won’t need to swap it out before you’re finished cooking.
On the other hand, it’s far more cumbersome than the smaller 16.4-ounce propane bottles used in other, more portable gas grills.
This is a small grill with a big heart; it had no problem when covered with hamburger patties and buns.
The Q1200 is the most convenient portable grill we tested. This one gets the job done almost entirely through conduction—its single burner provides heat to a porcelain-coated cast-iron cooking grid that functions much like a 189-square-inch pan.
Narrow slots in the grid provide a path for drippings. With the lid down, you get reliable cooking as hot air circulates over the grid. The bread test confirmed that the Weber has good middle-of-the-pack heat distribution.
But because you can’t control that heat as well, you’ll need to either carefully monitor your food or save this one for burgers and dogs (it will dry out or burn chicken and more substantial cuts of meat).
For added convenience, Weber sells a separate stand—a nice accessory when you don’t have a picnic table on which to set the grill.
With the great outdoors as your backdrop, there are few camping pleasures as rewarding as a juicy burger or steak at the campsite. However, space can be tight when packing for time away in the wilderness.
Therefore, I specifically usually pack a small, lightweight tabletop grill for camping. Camp Chef’s Rainier 2X is a perfectly compact cooking station that gives you a 14- x 9-inch flat top griddle and a stove burner for pots and pans.
It’s an versatile package, which lets you cook a much wider range of dishes than burgers and dogs, in a compact package. At 18,000 BTU, it’s powerful for its size, too.
That portable mindset isn’t always a boon, though: The Rainier 2X only works with 16-ounce portable propane canisters, which you may burn through on a longer trip. You can hook it up to a full-size propane tank with an adapter, which is sold separately.
Lastly, while we were overall impressed with the amount of cooking we could do on this small system, the grill’s compact size means it won’t be able to efficiently feed a crowd.
Packed up, Cuisinart’s Venture resembles a picnic basket, making it about as portable as a table-top grill can get. And, it took us less than a minute to set up its three pieces, including a wood top, grill body with handle, and base.
The top and base combine to form an attractive prep surface that clips alongside the grill. The single 9,000 BTU burner is fueled by a 16-ounce propane canister that conveniently stores in the base.
Being a single-burner grill, the Venture made it a little tricky to manage heat when cooking thicker meats like bone-in chicken, as it’s hard to get away from the heat for longer, indirect cooking. We set the burner on low for the 100-percent beef burgers we grilled, flipped them once, and then turned up the heat to imprint sear lines from the cast-iron grate.
Generally, we found it relatively easy to grill thinner foods—It’s great for burgers, hot dogs, boneless chicken, or fish at an intimate meal someplace special or tailgating at the game.
The Weber Traveler is a perfect stow-away grill for small patios and outdoor spaces, thanks to a collapsible design with folding legs and wheels. With a 320 square-inch cooktop, it’s fairly large compared to many of our other picks, which are mostly meant to sit on a tabletop.
That said, it’s almost 50 lbs and 3-feet long, even when collapsed, so it’s better for stowing in a car or a shed than carrying with you on a camping trip.
On the plus side, the Traveler’s 13,000 BTU output was hot enough to efficiently cook brats for a crowd of six hungry adults while we were ice fishing. The Traveler comes outfitted to mount a small 16 ounce propane cylinder. However, if you’re using the Traveler as a semi-permanent patio grill, we recommend purchasing an adapter hose and using a 20 pound tank.
The porcelain coated cast iron provided even heat distribution in our testing and was easy to clean. (It helps that there’s a removable grease tray, too.) It also comes with some useful extra features for grillers, including a built-in thermometer, and a prep tray/counter.
Weber knows grills and the Traveler is no exception. The convenience and performance of this collapsible grill will even make some full-size grills look like a lot of work.
PM: What’s the best way to clean a grill?
LL: For starters, you should always wait until the grill has cooled before cleaning, and remove the grates from the body of the grill.
For ceramic or porcelain non-stick cooktops, use a soft cloth and warm water to remove grease and food particles. Do not use a wire brush on these surfaces as they can destroy the enamel.
For stainless and other metal cooktops, scrub the surface with a wire grill brush to remove food particles and debris. Follow this with a damp cloth or paper towel.
Either way, finish up by emptying the grease tray, and safely disposing of the ashes if you’re cooking with charcoal.
According to Weber, keeping your grill clean is one of the most important parts of grilling. A dirty grill can build up bacteria, grow mold, and attract rodents. For more in-depth help, including recommendations on cleaners and tools, check out our full-length guide on how to clean BBQ grills.
PM: How many BTUs do I need for my small grill?
LL: Most cooking and heating gear measure how much heat their products can give off in British Thermal Units, or BTU. For gas grills, especially small ones, this is important information: It indicates how much heat a grill generates, as well as how fast it will consume fuel.
Most small grills have fewer burners and heat up a small surface area, so they need less heat to cook food than a standard grill. That said, hotter is generally better with small grills. Based on our testing and picks, we’d argue looking for a portable gas grill that can hit 10,000 BTU or higher, especially if they have multiple burners.
Options with lower heat output, like Cuisinart CGG-750 Venture, might have trouble with thick steaks and bone-in meat.
PM: How much should I expect to pay for a small grill?
LL: Small grills are usually much more affordable than a full size system. As you can see from our picks, most options tend to run from $150 to $300, though some of the best options–like the Weber Smokey Joe–cost around $50.
Rachel Klein is a Senior Commerce Editor for Popular Mechanics, where she writes about everything from garden hose reels and patio furniture to mesh wifi systems and robot vacuums. She started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and was a travel editor for more than a decade before she started testing and reviewing luggage, noise-cancelling headphones, and other travel-related products. Fast-forward another five years and her area of expertise includes home decor, appliances, tech, and outdoor adventure gear. In her spare time, you'll find her planning her next trip, reading historical fiction, and seeing as much art as she can squeeze into a weekend.
Lindsey Lapointe is a freelance writer and has tested gear professionally since 2020. Her careers have included working as a biological oceanographer for NOAA, outdoor wilderness instructor for Appalachian Mountain Club, and science teacher. Lindsey currently writes and edits on the subjects outdoor recreation, science education, and motherhood - as well as being the author of Seacoast Hikes and Nature Walks. She resides in New Hampshire where she can be found hiking, camping, and paddling in the mountains, lakes, and seas of New England. Contact her through her instagram @FreelanceAdventurer.
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Rachel Klein is a Senior Commerce Editor for Popular Mechanics, where she writes about everything from garden hose reels and patio furniture to mesh wifi systems and robot vacuums. She started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and was a travel editor for more than a decade before she started testing and reviewing luggage, noise-cancelling headphones, and other travel-related products. Fast-forward another five years and her area of expertise includes home decor, appliances, tech, and outdoor adventure gear. In her spare time, you'll find her planning her next trip, reading historical fiction, and seeing as much art as she can squeeze into a weekend.
Stainless Steel Box Lindsey Lapointe is a freelance writer and has tested gear professionally since 2020. Her careers have included working as a biological oceanographer for NOAA, outdoor wilderness instructor for Appalachian Mountain Club, and science teacher. Lindsey currently writes and edits on the subjects outdoor recreation, science education, and motherhood - as well as being the author of Seacoast Hikes and Nature Walks. She resides in New Hampshire where she can be found hiking, camping, and paddling in the mountains, lakes, and seas of New England. Contact her through her instagram @FreelanceAdventurer.