Portable pellet grills are the best way to impart that super tasty and smoky flavor to your food while you are on the go. There’s plenty of options, but we want to show you some of the best portable pellet grills on the market. We will look at how portable pellet grills work, what features are essential, and offer some suggestions that encompass them.
How Does A Pellet Grill Work?
It is quite simple. Wood pellets are fed into a storage box, called a hopper. A circular screw called an auger transports the pellets to a small box called a firepit, where they are then burned in a regulated way. This controlled burning causes the grill’s main body, or cooking chamber, to heat up and imparts a smoky taste to your food.
When you select a temperature, the auger turns to deliver a set number of pellets over a given amount of time. By regulating the pellets’ flow to the firepit, you can accurately control the heat produced in the cooking chamber.
What Features Go into the Best Portable Pellet Grill?
Portability
Well, we hope this one is obvious. Traditional pellet grills tend to be relatively large and are often designed to be left ‘in situ’ once assembled. You will need a set of sturdy wheels to allow you to move the grill as a bare minimum.
Bigger grills tend to have a fixed frame making them great for loading on a truck or the back of an SUV ready to transport to your favorite spot. They certainly aren’t suitable if you are looking for a greater degree of mobility.
Alternatively, if you choose a grill with folding legs and a lighter body, then you can gain a little more freedom in where you use it.
Cooking Area/Size
A grill is for cooking, obviously. How much food you want to cook will dictate the size of the portable pellet grill you will need. For a considerable crowd or family, you will want a bigger cooking area. If you use the grill infrequently or prefer a smaller gathering, then small will suffice.
Choosing the cooking area is a little bit of a balancing act. You’ll generally find that the larger the cooking area, the more your pellet grill will weigh, ultimately making it less portable.
Movement of Air
Pellet grills are a little unique in the way that they cook. The primary method in which they cook is by convection. If this sounds technical, let’s put it like this… Your oven at home cooks using convection. It uses the hot air circulating around the food to cook it.
There was a clue in the last sentence there; did you spot it? We used the word circulate. Heat rises. To get it to go around something, you will need features such as a fan to ensure the hot air and smoke within your cooking chamber is continually moving around your food.
Temperature Control
The only way you can hope to achieve good results in your cooking is through consistency. Wouldn’t it be a shame to produce the best rack of ribs ever, only to find that you can’t create the same conditions next time you cook?
The best portable pellet grills will offer excellent control of their internal temperature to allow you to cook consistently. Look for features like digital displays and electronically controlled boards that regulate the temperature without you having to do anything.
Cooking Styles
Let’s face it. If you are looking for the best portable pellet grill, you want it to be an investment. It stands to reason that the more ways you can use it, the better. Most good pellet grills will let you smoke, roast, barbecue, and bake. A fair few may also allow you to cook using the firepit’s direct heat. This feature is useful if you want to get a good char on your meat.
Green Mountain Grills Davy Crockett WiFi Controlled Portable Wood Pellet Grill
Best Pellet Grill for:
- Consistency
- Portability
- Smaller Gatherings
If you are looking for the best portable pellet grill, you may want something with many features. If you want a grill packed with good things, then this could be for you. It’s versatile too!
Let’s talk size.
A portable pellet grill must be small enough to transport and stow, but not too small that your ability to cook your way is limited. Fortunately, this grill ticks both boxes. Whether you are grilling at home or prefer to take it down to your favorite picnic spot, you should be covered. It weighs just 26KG and has a cooking area of 217 square inches. It’s smaller, but it is more than adequate if you don’t try and do too much. A pair of foldaway legs give you plenty of options for storage.
One neat space-age feature is the ability to program and control the grill on your mobile device. Using WiFi connectivity, you can save a cooking ‘profile’ and use it again and again. Consistency is vital when grilling; with this feature, you can get the same result every time!
Cuisinart CPG-4000
Best portable Pellet Grill for:
- All-round use
- Various cooking styles
- Medium-large sized crowds
If you are looking for an excellent all-around pellet grill, then you are in the right place. The Cuisinart CPG-4000 can do it all, whether straight grilling, slow roasting, barbecuing, smoking, or even baking!
Remember, we are talking about portable pellet grills. This grill is undoubtedly portable. 2 all-terrain wheels mean you can easily and quickly position the grill, making it great for a large patio or maneuvering it to where you need it.
It isn’t the smallest portable grill, but it is ideal if you are looking to cook for a crowd. The cooking surface is a capacious 450 square inches. That’s a decent amount of space.
Cooking on the grill is pretty easy too. Fill the hopper, set the temperature, and let the automated auger do the work to maintain a perfect temperature. You’ll be able to keep an eye on what is going on under the hood with an easy-to-see backlit digital display.
Ozark Grills – Razorback Wood Pellet Grill
Best portable Pellet Grill for:
- Budget
- Medium-sized gatherings
Traditionally, wood-burning pellet smokers are expensive bits of kit; however, you can now get something great at a relatively low price point.
For the money, this pellet grill offers good value. It isn’t massively high tech and laden with lots of features, but if you are looking for something that ticks all of the boxes regarding cooking styles, you are in the right place.
The cooking area of this grill is 305 square inches. That represents a nice compromise as it gives you plenty of room to cook without becoming too cumbersome when transporting. It’s big enough that you could use it as your home grill, with the added bonus of taking it for an outing every now and again, provided you have a roomy truck. For a tailgate party, it could be ideal.
Regarding portability, it has wheels, but this comes at a cost as it has a permanently fixed frame. We’d guess it all depends on how ‘portable’ you need. It is undoubtedly more comfortable to move than a full-sized wood-burning pellet grill.
Z GRILLS ZPG-6002B 2020 New Model Wood Pellet Grill
Best portable Pellet Grill for:
- Ease of cleaning
- Searing/Reverse searing
- Huge crowds
An area where pellet grills often fall is in their lack of ability to sear meat. Think of them more like an oven that imparts a smoky flavor. However, you might want those signature black stripes crisscrossing your food when cooking things like steak or corn.
The Z Grills ZPG-6002B gives you the option of doing just that. A slide plate flame broiler means that you have direct access to a flame heated grill, making it perfect for cooking reverse-seared food.
When it comes to the cooking area, this grill is excellent. It boasts a total of 573 square inches. The grill has a fair bit of space for cooking various foods in several different ways.
Ease of cleaning is also essential. Things to look for are porcelain grills; they are generally non-stick and wipe clean.
PIT BOSS PB440D2 Wood Pellet Grill
Best Portable Pellet Grill for:
- Durability
- Even Cooking
- Large Gatherings
One area that you really should focus on is build quality. This pellet grill is about as solid as they come. The main body of the grill is constructed from corrosion-proof porcelain-coated steel. When combined with an equally durable cooking grid, it is built to last. This grill occupies the upper end of the scale when discussing cooking surface area; 465 square inches. While this is great for cooking, there is a bit of a downside in that the grill is rather heavy.
Another critical attribute you will want to look for in the best portable pellet grills is even cooking. The best way to achieve this (aside from a rotisserie) is by looking for models that contain a fan for convection cooking.
In tandem with this, the key to successful cooking is accurate temperature control. Using digital control is the best way to achieve this. The PIT BOSS PB440D2 contains an electronic control board that monitors temperature and adjusts the pellets’ burn rate to meet the desired temperature setting.
Summary
Some grills are more portable than others, but the best portable pellet grill will at least allow you some degree of freedom. Ultimately you will want the ability to cook delicious food in a location of your choosing, consistently, time after time. The ability to control temperature is vital. When combined with a degree of portability, you have the ultimate solution for parties, picnics, and days out. What are you going to cook today?