Charcoal or gas: answer this first
Everything else follows from this. A portable charcoal grill is cheaper, lighter, has nothing to break, and gives food the flavor people associate with grilling. It also needs twenty to thirty minutes of lead time, a bag of charcoal in the car, and somewhere safe to dispose of hot ash afterwards.
A portable gas grill is hot in a couple of minutes, has a knob instead of a technique, and leaves no ash. It costs more, it runs on canisters you have to remember to buy, and the food tastes like the food rather than like a fire. Neither is better; they suit different temperaments. Our gas versus charcoal guide works through the argument properly.
For gift buying there is a shortcut. If the recipient already owns a charcoal grill at home, give them charcoal — they have the fuel, the technique and the preference already. If they own gas, give them gas. Buying somebody the opposite of what they use is a statement about their choices, and it is rarely received as a compliment.
And if portability is not actually the constraint — if there is a yard and the grill will stay in it — a full-size cart grill is more grill for the money. Our best gas grills guide covers that end of the range.
How the sizes compare
| Type | Roughly feeds | Best for | Carries like |
|---|
| 14in charcoal kettle | 2–3 people | Balconies, picnics, one-handed carry | A bucket |
| Rectangular charcoal | 3–4 people | Tailgates, long food like sausages | A locked case |
| 18in charcoal kettle | 4–5 people | A portable that's also the main grill | A two-hands carry |
| Tabletop gas, 1 burner | 2–3 people | Camping without the charcoal admin | A small suitcase |
| Portable gas, 2–3 burners | 5–8 people | Serious tailgating and hosting | Wheeled luggage |
The balcony question
If you are buying for somebody in an apartment, check the building rules before you buy anything. A very large number of apartment blocks and rental agreements prohibit charcoal grills on balconies specifically, and some prohibit propane too. It is one of the few gift mistakes on this site that cannot be fixed by the recipient — the grill simply cannot be used where they live.
Where charcoal is banned, an electric grill is often the only permitted option, and a small gas grill is sometimes allowed. This is worth a slightly awkward question rather than a returned present. Our gifts for apartment grillers list is built entirely around this constraint.
What portability actually costs you
Two things, and both are worth understanding before giving one as somebody’s main grill. The first is capacity. A fourteen-inch grate cooks about four burgers at a time. That is dinner for two or three, not a party, and there is no way around it.
The second is indirect cooking. Small grills are shallow, and banking coals to one side to create a cool zone needs space. On a fourteen-inch kettle there is not much room for a genuine two-zone fire, which limits what they can cook to fast, thin things. Anything that needs to cook through slowly — bone-in chicken, a thick chop — is harder. Our direct versus indirect guide explains why that matters, and the eighteen-inch models are where it stops being a problem.
Portable does not mean beginner
It is tempting to treat a small grill as a starter grill, and for balcony-sized living that is exactly right. But a portable charcoal grill is in some ways harder to learn on than a full-size one, precisely because the small firebox leaves less room for the two-zone setup that makes cooking forgiving.
If the person is new to grilling and has the space for a full-size grill, give them one. Our best grills for beginners covers that case, and the Weber kettle review covers the model that shows up in half the backyards in the country.
What to give alongside it
A portable grill creates three immediate needs, and none of them are in the box. Something to light it with — a compact chimney starter is the right answer for charcoal, and it is the difference between food that tastes of fire and food that tastes of lighter fluid. Something to clean it with, since a bristle-free brush is the accessory nobody buys themselves. And a travel-friendly tool set, because kitchen tongs at a campsite are miserable.
Any one of those turns a grill into a complete gift. All three, and you have given somebody an entire hobby in one box — which is the whole idea behind our tailgating list.
