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What kind of portable grill should I buy for camping?

What kind of portable grill should I buy for camping?

Grilling in the Great Outdooors

If you love the taste of smoked food while camping outdoors, a good portable grill is what you need. The best portable grill for camping is easy to install, carry around, and wipe down. Hence, look out for these functions before buying one.

Camping and grilling go hand to hand. One isn’t ideal without the other. Whether you’re taking your family out on a camping trip, doing small trips along with friends, or soloing through the woods, some kind of grilling may take place. Grilling plays a big part in any camping experience.

But, when it comes to buying the best portable grill for camping, there are certain things you need to consider. Such as the type of grill you need, or is it going to be a charcoal or propane-powered grill. This article helps you to know what type of grill should work best while you’re camping.

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What is the difference between a portable grill and a portable stove?

Before proceeding further with the article, you should know the basic difference between camping grills and camping stoves. You can often find these two terms getting mixed with each other. But, in reality, they aren’t the same, and shouldn’t create any confusion.

Both these kinds of grills and stoves use charcoal, gas, or other fuel sources. However, the difference lies in how the heat source touches your food. On a portable grill, the flame comes indirect control with the food. Whereas, a portable stove uses a pan or pot to shift the heat from the flames to your food.

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What makes a portable grill good for camping?

A portable grill for camping needs to be lightweight as far as possible, can accommodate in a compact space, and able to cook accurately for the party. Let’s discuss them in a detailed way.

Lightweight – Weight is very crucial when it is about how portable your grill really is. It plays an integral role in determining the portability of the appliance. If the grill is heavy, it can’t be transported with ease, and it won’t get fitted in camping situations.

Even in many parks, you have to get your appliance into the camping area that may take a quarter-mile or a mile. Both hammock camping and canoe camping needs lightweight grills because these appliances have to be carried on your body.

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Compact size – It won’t matter what kind of camping you’re planning, be it lightweight backpacking, state parks, or car camping, the size of your grill has an important role to play. When you are camping along with your family, you can pack more than you could have packed on a backpacking trip.

So, space and size is a matter of big concern to anyone. You may have some great camping grills at your home. Yet, you can’t use them because they are too big. Hence, the best portable grill for camping has to be of a compact size.

Large grill surface – Despite having a lightest and smallest grill, you can’t make it useful if you can’t cook food for a few people at once. Imagine you have about 7 people on board and your grill can make food for one person at a time. Your grill needs to cook for the required number of campers.

What would you do? Therefore, other than the size and weight of the grill, you need to consider its grilling surface. Also, a different number of campers and different kinds of camping decides which one would be the best portable grill for you.

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Choosing the right kind of grill:

When it is about portable grills for camping, there are two categories. The first one is charcoal and the other one is propane. Many people believe that propane and gas grills are the same. But, it is not. The basic difference is gas grills are fueled by natural gas, and not by propane.

Almost every gas grills are propane-powered. Natural gas is not portable and convenient, unlike propane. Hence, gas grills are not a good choice for portable camping.

Portable camping grills are fueled by the lump, briquette charcoal or propane. Each of these has its own set of advantages. You may find lump charcoal easy to ignite and burn hotter rather than charcoal briquettes. Since charcoal is charred wood, the pieces would be of irregular shapes.

Therefore, it requires some experience to create a bed of fuel in the correct way. Bagged charcoal is a bit difficult to ignite, but you can work it with ease. Try to ignite a pile of charcoal in a chimney, and transfer the glowing coals into the coal grate.

Charcoal is fun and dramatic to work with. And, people are very fond of flames and smoke. Charcoal grills are also cheaper, which is great for some buyers. In short, charcoal grills need more time, skill and attention that many people enjoy. You need to keep a constant temperature and watch your food to ensure the right cooking.

Propane, on the other hand, is different from charcoal. They are available in 20-gallon and 16.4-ounce size bottles. They are clean, and you can quickly set them up and light. They provide constant and steady heat. They are also affordable and compact.

If you have other needs such as setting up, cooking, and quick cool down, then gas grills may serve you better. Watch out for its compactness and lightweight. If your sole criteria are durability and not weight, consider its features and build that result in longevity.

What are the features you need to look for while buying a portable grill for camping?

There are a few important factors you need to watch out for before buying the appliance. These have to do with how long you’re using the grill for cooking, and so on. Here are the essential factors to watch out for.

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BTU – It is used to determine the heating of the grill. Higher BTU means higher temperatures. Grills with higher BTUs have a certain advantage over their competitors even when you take other things into consideration such as construction, weight, and design.

It is quite important for your portable camping grill to have a considerable amount of heat. On the flip side, models that are equipped with lower BTUs takes up more time to heat. This way, it can become inconvenient for you.

Surface cooking area – Most of these appliances do not have a warming tray or enough holding space. Hence, it is very important to know how much the cooking surface area you may normally need. If you prefer to cook an entire meal on your grill, you may need a lot of space rather than you may use while grilling a small quantity.

Grates – These are also quite important when you are planning to buy a camping grill. Grates help to retain the heat while remaining focused on the food. They also prevent char marks from happening. However, it is recommended not to opt for a nickel-plated or a chrome-plated one. They are very lightweight and tend to rust over some time.

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Temperature control – Because these appliances are limited by their size, almost every portable grills feature only one temperature control unit. If you need dual burners, you may find such grills that have dual temperature control. They can set different temperature zones.

Burners – The ones that are made with stainless steel are the best grills. The conventional ones are made with cast iron that can rust out quite easily. The stainless steel is corrosion-resistant. It ensures that you can enjoy it for a prolonged time.

Ignition – Camping grills comes along with spark ignition system. Many models are powered by batteries, but there are some products that use a dial to make the spark. You can also find some products that allow you to have a manual ignition. You may need a lighter, a match, or a candle in a manual ignition grill.

Build quality – The build quality and the weight of the appliance is very crucial and that can impact your buying decision. Sometimes lightweight may indicate that the product is flimsy. Hence, focus more on the quality of materials used to build the product.

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Safety is also a matter of concern because you would be dealing with hot liquids and flames. The stands should be sturdy enough to bear the weight of the appliance and the food you’re cooking. This way, you can prevent the risk of hurting yourself and your loved ones.

It is recommended to consider buying portable grills for camping that are built with cast iron, stainless steel, cast aluminum, or enameled steel. You may need to check out the heft or gauge, metal, welds, nuts, and bolts as well.

Fuel tanks – Most of the portable grills are accompanied with small propane cylinders. This would be ideal if you are cooking a meal for a few persons. It may be economical to buy a conversion kit in spite of a propane tank if you’re cooking for a big group.

Conclusion:

Selecting the best portable camping grill would now be quite easier for you when you pay close attention to the features. It is highly recommended to buy a premium product that is equipped with the best features.

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