11 best portable BBQs for summer-long sizzling

Weber’s portable barbecue fits all the features of Weber’s beloved kettle grill into a portable appliance. It’s elevated off the ground for extra ventilation, but it also has a damper vent so you can control airflow, temperature, and smokiness. This made for some of the best food we tested, ensuring all the functionality of a full-size grill on a smaller footprint. You can just about squeeze six burgers onto this grill at once.

The charcoal burner is super-efficient, and the gas version is quick and mess-free. Easy to assemble and quick to fold up, this is a nice portable barbecue for a family of four. However, it’s pretty pricey for a portable – you could get a decent full-size barbecue for £100.

A great little portable barbecue for less than £20? Argos knocks it out of the park with this cherry-red charcoal grill. Described as ‘ideal for barbecues or for grilling on the go’, this should make a great companion for weekend camping trips with mates or gathering at home for patio feasts.

This is a much more sustainable alternative to disposable barbecues, too, as you can use it again and again. It’s a little fiddly to put this grill together from its flat-pack kit, but it’s well worth it for a simple but effective charcoal burner with a grill on top. Let the al fresco suppers commence.

This clean-lined, fuss-free portable barbecue is pleasingly quick and easy to assemble and use – just unfold it and you’re ready to go. Pop charcoal into the V-shaped cavity and cook over the grill on top – there’s limited space, so we found it worked best when whipping up a feast for two. Because it uses charcoal, it tastes just as good as a full-sized barbecue, and much better than some of the more expensive grills we tested.

Fold the portable barbecue flat again when you’re heading home – there are nifty carry handles and its thin shape makes it easy to pop in small car boots and store in a cupboard.

This rather attractive portable barbecue has been endorsed by chef Heston Blumenthal, king of cooking innovation, and there are definitely some fresh ideas inside this grill. Unpack the cube and there’s a storage tray for stashing your ingredients, a sturdy bamboo chopping board for food prep and the firebox itself. When you’re done, you can pack it all together for easy transportation.

The handles of the cube stay cool, so you can haul it to the beach or move it mid-fry-up, if needed. Setup is quick, and we had great results with this one during testing. That said, it’s a lot of money for a portable barbecue.

Weber’s portable barbecues have clocked up plenty of fans, but the cream of the crop might just be the slate griddle, which will suit serious chefs who don’t want to compromise when they go camping, or just fancy investing in a proper barbecue that will fit on the tiniest of patios. The slate is designed to heat food evenly edge-to-edge, and we found food cooked consistently, no matter where it was placed on the griddle.

We liked the stick-resistant, porcelain-enamel cooktop, too – no more charred or overcooked burgers here. A stand is sold separately, and we think it’s worth considering investing in it, to turn this mini powerhouse into a proper standalone barbie. As ever, a griddle can’t quite match a charcoal barbecue for flavour, and this is also the most expensive model we tested.

Small but perfectly formed, Campingaz’s party grill comes in a portable package but unfolds into a versatile stove with five surfaces. Not only is there the usual grill, but there’s also a griddle and plancha, and the lid can be used as a wok. We had great results on every surface during testing. It’s ideal for weekends when you don’t want to take a huge barbecue away with you, but still want to get creative with your campsite suppers.

Despite having the capacity to work as a full-blown barbecue grill, the 400 weighs just 4.9kg, so it’s easy to carry. All those different surfaces, plus the legs, pack down easily inside the stove, and the wok pops on top and clips into place as a lid.

Egg-shaped barbecues (aka kamados) have a fervent, almost cult-like following in the barbecue world. Their shape and the use of ceramic make them brilliant for smoking and grilling, holding heat with little to no temperature fluctuations, so they’re perfect for smoking and slow-roasting brisket and pork shoulders. While you’ll usually find these huge egg grills on large patios, American brand Kamado Joe also offers this small number, the Joe Jr.

At a whopping 31kg, this doesn’t count as portable. However, the size means it's a good option for a small patio. It would also be great for grilling up some tasty food for summer garden parties at home. With a wide 34cm surface area and an ash drawer for quick cleaning, this grill was a delight to use during testing.

Combining fire pit, grill, oven, and stove in a single stainless-steel unit, the atago is ideal for wild campers, foragers and explorers who fancy cooking a feast far from the nearest plug socket. This model is also designed to be compatible with Petromax’s Dutch ovens, woks, pans, and even a coffee percolator, but you’ll have to buy them separately.

Overall, we loved the multi-use design and were particularly impressed by the fact that it converts into a fire bowl – a great way to have a campfire without causing any damage. A mini mobile kitchen that helped us create some tasty meals, the atago is worth investing in if you’re serious about food. However, it’s pretty expensive.

Primus has the size and shape of the kuchoma just right – it is small enough for camping but hefty enough to use at home for a garden barbecue if you pop it on a table or a stand. We found the surface of the grill has enough space to cook up a tasty supper for a family of four, and, when dinner is done and dusted, the barbecue’s legs can simply be folded down, making it easy to carry when you want to chuck it back in the boot of the car. We also found this portable barbecue easy to clean, which is always a bonus. It does run on gas, though, which means we missed out on that classic griddled taste. At £220, it’s also fairly expensive.

We found this camping-stove-meets-grill is ideal for family suppers. Two grill surfaces sit on top of hobs that operate independently, so we were able to adjust the temperature of different ingredients as they cooked simultaneously. There’s also a handy built-in igniter. This Cadac model folds down into its carry case and then pops into a storage bag for fuss- and mess-free storage in a van, car boot or a cupboard back at home. It sits nicely on tabletops, but it might not be the best choice for camping, as it can blow out in the wind.