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7 Best Portable Charcoal Grills for Top Campers

portable charcoal grill

Portable Charcoal Grills for REAL Camping

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Best-Rated Portable Grills for the Grilling Master

PRODUCT DETAILS
  • Only one inch thin when in storage mode
  • Features 228 square inches to fit plenty of food
  • The price point makes it very affordable
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  • Features 150 square inches for ample food
  • Made of super light materials at only 2 pounds
  • Temperature control is easy with two vents for air flow control
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  • Porcelain enamel for lightweight insulation to retain heat when grilling
  • Lid locks down for portability
  • Damper vents in the lid help control the temperature
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Right off the bat, let’s assume that you are not camping at some spot that has one of those built-in BBQ grills that is crusty with the leftovers from decades of people that came before you – and is the home to squirrels and other wildlife during the winter. 

Or, if your camping spot does have one of those grills, let’s at least assume you don’t want to use it.

And let’s also assume that you’d rather enjoy the unique flavors that you get when using charcoal grills vs gas grills

This means you are bringing your own portable charcoal grill.

This means that your BBQ grill needs to be small so you can fit all your other camping supplies.

From there, we are all different and have different needs.  So, the best portable grill for me might not be the best portable grill for you.

For this reason, I am going to give ‘best charcoal grills’ awards for categories that are important to many of my readers.

Best Folding Portable Charcoal GrillFire Sense Notebook Portable Charcoal Grill

Fire Sense Notebook Charcoal BBQ Grill + KINGSFORD Heavy Duty Deluxe Charcoal Chimney Starter

Notebook is a pretty great descriptive word for this folding portable charcoal grill.  It reminds me of opening or closing my laptop, and looks oddly similar to a Microsoft Surface Pro – don’t you think?

My favorite thing about this portable grill is that it is only one inch thin when in storage mode.  That’s thin enough to act as a divider for your gear – let’s say to keep the camping chairs and the sleeping bags from getting frisky.  You will hardly even notice the amount of area these grills take up. 

The charcoal rack and a foldable stainless steel grill fit inside of the Notebook when it’s all packed up. You can’t get more portable than that!

Even with this tiny foot print, it features 228 square inches to fit plenty of food – up to 8 burgers and still have room for some hot dogs. At just over 14 inches tall when setup, it’s not too tall for a table top, but still tall enough to where you are not killing yourself to work with it on the ground. These features of size vs cooking ability are exactly what put this grill on our list of best portable charcoal grills.

Overall, they’re plain looking, but functional grills – and the price point makes it very affordable.

  • Heat retention
  • Long legs to keep it high off the table
  • Cool looking design
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Best Cast Iron Portable Charcoal Grill Lodge Cast Iron Sportsman’s Grill

Lodge Sportsman's Pro Grill, 19.38 inches, Black

I love cast iron.  It’s not camping for me without packing a gallon of ice cream in a cooler and making a dutch oven peach cobbler or apple crisp – and sharing them with everyone in sight.

Because of this, I was glad to see a portable barbecue grill by Lodge on Amazon. 

Cast iron is well known for its ability to retain heat well.  The Lodge Sportman’s Grill has two built in features to help regulate the cooking temperature:

DRAFT DOOR: Regulates air flow to raise or lower the heat.

COAL ACCESS DOOR: Flip down door to add or remove coals even while food is on the grill.

Lodge describes the Cast Iron Sportsman’s Grill as a Hibachi.  This makes sense since in Japanese Hibachi means “fire bowl”, and they are traditionally small, portable cast iron bowls that use charcoal or wood for cooking on an open grate.

If you enjoy cooking with cast iron, the Lodge Sportsman’s Grill may be the top charcoal grill for you!

  • Ability to retain heat well
  • Two built-in features to help regulate the cooking temperature
  • Small, portable cast iron bowls
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Best Kamado Portable Charcoal GrillChar-Griller AKORN Jr, Charcoal Kamado Grill

Char-Griller® AKORN® Jr. Portable Kamado Charcoal Grill and Smoker with Cast Iron Grates and Locking Lid with 155 Cooking Square Inches in Red, Model E06614

Kamado style cookers are especially great when cooking food that require specific temperatures. 

It’s a two for one value because it doubles both as a barbecue grill and a smoker in one at a great price!  One day you may want to smoke ribs at 200 degrees and the next day sear steaks at 450 degrees.  Grilled or smoky, extended camping trips call for variety and fun in your meal plan!

It’s amazing how easy it is to control temperature within these grills simply by adjusting the air flow – balancing the air coming in and the air going out by turning dials both at the bottom and the top of the unit. They even have guides to help you determine the best balance for cooking your food.

Because of the amazing insulating materials of the Kamado style grills, which really make it a premium charcoal grill, you don’t need to get as much charcoal to maintain cooking temperatures. 

The Char-Griller Akorn Jr grill features a 14 inches diameter grill, that gives you 153 square inches of cooking area.

The Char-Griller Akorn Jr is about 2 feet tall, but the cooking surface is well below that.  You will want to use it on a table – preferably one made of stone or metal. 

At 37 pounds, it is one of our heaviest and bulkiest contenders in grills.  For the money, it is an incredible buy.

  • It doubles both as a barbecue grill and a smoker in one
  • Easy to control the temperature within these grills
  • Less charcoal is needed to maintain cooking temperatures
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Best New Kid on the Block Portable GrillUna Grill

Una Portable Charcoal Grill

Born and bred with European style, the Una Grill unit packs a lot of features into a small design that will protect your table top and make you look great at a price just as great! This latest addition in portable charcoal grills on Amazon marketplace would make anyone a proud owner of this quality, small portable grill.

The Una Grill is the definition of portable charcoal grill – you could even say ultra portable grill. It is so light and small, that it would be easy for a child to carry it with one hand – holding it by its integrated leather strap. 

Everything collapses and stores in a fairly small package about the size of a shoe box for easy transport. Talk about a go-anywhere charcoal grill!

When you’re ready to use it, the lid comes off and becomes the base of the grill.  This both lifts the actual grill off the surface, and blocks the heat from damaging the table top.

One of the biggest advantages of cooking with such a small, compact portable charcoal grill is that you use less charcoal to cook food.  If you are cooking for just one, two, or even four people, you don’t need a lot of space for cooking. With the Una Grill, you can use a lot less charcoal when cooking your food.

And when you are using less fuel to cook, you can even splurge and get a quality fuel for an even better smokey flavor experience cooking your food. Since charcoal doesn’t produce much smoke when cooking, these are an excellent addition to get that nice smokey flavor in your food.

Check out the Bourbon Infused Smoker Brix – available in American White Oak, Hickory, or Black Cherry. Check price on Amazon today.

The Una Grill also packs a lot of utility into the compact grill package.  One side of the grill is flat to easily flip burgers and such.  Or you can flip it for kebabs using the integrated skewer holders!

Flat side for grilling!

Raised side for kebabs!

Una grill portable charcoal barbecue bbq with kebab skewer holders for kebabs

Oh yeah, and it’s DISHWASHER SAFE!

So, if you’re looking for something scaled down for the use of just one to four people, and that is just as great for camping as it is for a picnic, day trip, or even to heat food up for a date night – the Una Grill could be the best choice to get for a portable grill for you!

  • It is so light and small
  • Ultra-portable grill
  • Less charcoal is needed to cook food
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Best Table Top Charcoal Grill (Round) – Cuisinart CCG-190RB 14”

Cuisinart CCG190RB Inch BBQ, 14' x 14' x 15', Portable Charcoal Grill, 14' (Red)

If you are just looking for plain, simple and also easy to use in portable charcoal grills, you have come to the right place. 

The Cuisinart CCG-190RB 14-inch grill model features 150 square inches for ample burgers, hot dogs and a variety of other food. 

Made of super light materials at only 2 pounds and clamps to secure the lid on during transport.

Temperature control is easy with two vents for air flow control. 

These grills don’t pack down into a smaller size, so you will need to store its 14.5 x 14.5 x 15 inch body when not in use. 

And you’ve got to love the price on Amazon for one of these portable charcoal grills!

  • Features 150 square inches for ample food
  • Made of super light materials at only 2 pounds
  • Temperature control is easy with two vents for air flow control
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Best Tabletop Portable Charcoal Grill (Rectangle) Weber Go Anywhere Charcoal Grills

Weber Go-Anywhere Charcoal Grill, Black

Weber is one of the greatest names in barbecue grilling so of course at least one of their grills had to make its way onto our list of best portable charcoal grills. 

The Weber Go Anywhere portable charcoal grill model carries on the tradition of Weber in a small, lightweight package. 

The lid has some surprising features built in for you.

First of all, it has a porcelain enamel for lightweight insulation to retain heat when grilling.

Second, the lid locks down for portability,

And finally, the damper vents in the lid help control the temperature.

The legs raise the grill up off the tabletop and fold up for better storage. 

It easily fits 6 good-sized burgers on this Weber grill with 160 square inches of cooking space for food.

It’s heavier than it looks at 14.5 lbs and made of quality materials.

Reviews say that the Weber Go-Anywhere Charcoal Grills cook great and is amazing for camping and urban environments.

  • Porcelain enamel for lightweight insulation to retain heat when grilling
  • Lid locks down for portability
  • Damper vents in the lid help control the temperature
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Best Charcoal Grill for Large GroupsWeber 14402001 Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill, 22-Inch

Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill, 22-Inch, Green

If you camp enough, and because you are awesome, you’ll eventually find the time when you need a full-sized grill for feeding a large group of people. Whether your menu includes burgers, steaks or chicken, you’ll need a lot of area on your grill.

This calls for a full-sized barbecue grill that’s still portable!

And if you’re going to get a large portable charcoal grill, you might as well get the best and you can never go wrong with Weber grills. 

That’s why I recommend the Premium model of the Weber Original Kettle Charcoal Grills.  It is 22 inches in diameter, giving you 380 square inches of cooking area. 

For you non-math nerds out there, the average burger is 12.5 square inches – so packing them in tight, you’re looking at 20+ burgers with some hot dogs filling in the cracks!

Good thing you have lots of friends!

I recommend the Premium model of this Weber grill over the standard kettle grill mainly because of the ash catcher at the bottom, which I believe is beneficial for two reasons:

  1. You’re camping outside – quite possibly in a forest.  It’s not good enough for the ashes to fall on a platter below the grill where wind may pick up the ashes and blow them into the woods. The ash catcher in this Weber will contain the discarded ashes in the container and keep them from blowing into the forest when you’re not looking. 
  2. Easier cleanup.  Enough said! 

Of course, if you’re even considering taking a Weber Kettle grill to your camping destination, you probably have a truck and cargo area is not at a premium.  In which case – you might even want to consider a portable pizza oven for something different and really special!

  • 380 square inches of cooking area
  • Easy to clean
  • You can cook a lot of food and still portable
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Now, to wrap things up. 

I’m a self-described social eater, which means that cooking and eating food is much more enjoyable with people than it is by myself.  It also means that I eat way more when I’m with others, and that I like to eat better food.

You may find some or all of these qualities fit your personality also.  That’s why picking the best portable charcoal grill to get for camping is important. 

It also needs to have a little bit of your personality in it. Rugged or modern?  Go big or compact?

The important thing is that you are out there – living the Good Life – making memories out in the wild and around the dinner table!

Thought this article on best portable charcoal grills was great? Check out some of these great articles for more BBQ tips: