UK’s Best portable charcoal BBQ that are the most compact for camping

Undoubtedly, to the majority of us that won’t be hiking or bbq’ing in the remote areas who would require something like my trust foldable Notebook portable charcoal bbq, the Weber 1321004 Compact Charcoal BBQ is the best portable charcoal bbq for most situations – I’ve found it’s in good nick a couple of years on with a LOT of use:

Don’t underestimate the ease of using this bbq – the wheels move easily over rough ground, the height is pretty much spot on, perhaps from using it I might say you want a little more height if you’re 6ft and up but for a short man at 5 foot 10 like myself it’s spot on, assuming you’re using a 12 inch set of tongs – a good place to look for those would be my bbq toolset article. And as a result, that goes for seated using it from a bench too. Before I get into this in more detail and put my personal points over, let’s have a look at a pretty well rounded video:

So after spending a couple of minutes watching this video, here’s my hands on take of this. The big deal is the handle having a decent guard from the heat. All too often have I stung myself with these kettle handles, I even have a pair of bbq gloves partly because of this problem – just as you’d expect from a Weber bqq, the heat is massively reduced by this guard.

The best thing is if you’re like me and intending on using this on special occasion type days out and fancy a bbq with a difference, you can easily still fit a fish basket on this with no trouble – despite being compact, it’s still got plenty of space on the grill (half a metre), far more so than most of the picks in this list when compared, especially to the smaller foldable options.

Apart from the Weber 1121004 Smokey Joe Premium, in this article I’d say this kettle traps the smoke the best too – if you use some wood smoker chips you won’t be disappointed. Might I recommend the Jack Daniels Whiskey barrel smoker chips – yes they are no gimmick and work superb – here’s a look at how to use wood smoker chips if you need any further info. As you’d expect, the temperature gauge is bang on, I’ve had a bbq thermometer in the meat and the readings are eerily spot on – not the case with some of the cheaper food smokers I recommend, though not a deal breaker unless you’re going for long and low…

The grate is stainless steel – have to say, as usual it cleans up lovely. Sorry if this is sounding a bit one sided, it really is a cracker (unsurprising for the best portable charcoal bbq in the UK). I found it’s still in good nick a couple of years later as you can see from extensive use:

The ash section at the bottom works well – might I recommend having someone hold it up right underneath when you open the plate – otherwise it can pour our the sides. Not cool if you’ve decided to use this at home on your sandstone or decking rather than out and about…it’s a minor flaw, when you compare it to most of the bbq’s available, they don’t even have this facility!

One thing I don’t particularly appreciate is the ‘juice catcher’. It’s just an aluminium tray. I’d be surprised if they are even including them. For a start you can’t stop fat dripping on the charcoal you have to place it to the sides, and secondly no fat makes it’s way to anywhere to stain anyway. Apart from that though, this is the real deal, and don’t forget as I mentioned above there is the smaller version if you want even more compact.

If you’ve read my top pick Weber, you’ll know this is basically in direct competition with it, with one main difference – not stand and wheels. This is a table top unit of for laying down on the beach or having a picnic at ground level – and it does that superbly with three pronged base legs. that’s not the only difference, it is far smaller and more compact, but still has space for half a dozen burgers, or a dozen sausages, yet would still squeeze into a big rucksack. It makes it a top pick for outdoor people.

Before we get into other benefits, let’s have a look at this unit up close and that base I really like:

And the smaller size reflects nicely in the price, being a nice chunk cheaper than the top pick. But the cost is somewhat irrelevant, what you pick between these two kettle bbq’s boils down to what you’re trying to achieve – if it’s the beach or picnic you pick this unit. If you’re camping out in the sticks you probably pick this unit or one of the smaller foldable bbq’s – but if you’re just regular camping and pull it out of the car, then you go for the larger one. And here’s why when you compare them:

Firstly the larger one really is larger, and the smaller version is bigger with a base for the same price. You can see the smaller 47cm based version on my top listing.

You don’t have a thermostat – and that’s not really a big deal for bangers and burgers – hence the not having one, but all the same, it’s one feature less when costs are similar for the smaller model.

On the plus side though it’s super compact and perfect at its job; picnics and days out.

The grate is the same stainless steel as the top pick Weber and will last ages – here’s a bbq that’s been well used for a season and has loads of life left in it – unlike cheaper models which rust, rot, and disintegrate (the main complaint of any cheap charcoal bbq):

It’s really a matter of preference – I prefer the bigger Weber with a stand myself at the price point though.

The Valiant FIR551 Portable BBQ is in direct competition with the Notebook Folding Portable Grill that i always go on about. And in my mind has it covered all the way. If not for the fact I’ve known and personally used the Notebook for many years, I’d rate it top. It’s hard to pull a known entity out of top spot, one I’ve tested and used. But with that said, this has some real benefits over the Notebook when they are compared directly. Here’s what you can expect out the box:

In terms of getting going this is a 30 second thing – their demo video highlights one massive thing – use a chimney starter to get this going easily:

It’s really hard not to like this unit – I have picked the Notebook on the basis this wasn’t for sale at the time, and now I’m sold on the design. If this was around a few years ago when I first started using portable charcoal bbq’s, I might well have picked it and here’s why.

Firstly this legitimately fits in a rucksack. You could head off with a cooler bag and a standard rucksack for a camping weekend and be totally set. That’s not something you can do so easily when you compare to the Weber kettle compact bbq’s.

This sits on the ground or a tabletop – I have to say I would definitely go with the floor, whilst the legs are pretty sturdy, it’s just that bit safer.

Apart from that, I say this is definitely worthy of the top picks and have no hesitation recommending it.

Portable charcoal grills have to be lightweight, and they don’t come much lighter than this.

The Portable BBQ Grill Folding Charcoal Barbecue Desk would barely register if you put it on some bathroom scales as it weighs just 1.6 kilograms. This makes it perfect as a barbecue you can just throw in the boot of your car and head on down to a nice quiet spot for a bit of lunch.

Despite its lack of weight, it actually stands very stable on its wide, L-shaped metal legs that also give enough ground clearance so that you don’t damage the foliage or surface underneath. Just make sure that you position the BBQ on a very flat surface to avoid wobbling or tipping, but this is a common problem with most portable models.

For ease of transportation and storage, these legs handily fold away neatly under the main frame, and the bottom trough, barbecue grill, and carbon grill can all be easily removed for the same purposes. This also makes this portable charcoal grill incredibly easy to clean after you’re done whipping up a feast.

Its 15.35”x11.41”x2.95” grilling area easily gives the user enough space to cook for three people, and could probably quite feasibly handle enough food for a group of five if needed, but much will depend on what was being cooked. Still, for a super lightweight portable BBQ, it is very practical when it comes to the cooking area size.

Made from iron and 430 stainless steel, it has been designed to fight off rust and also not deform from the intense heats that charcoal barbecues can produce. The makers have made sure that there are no toxic fumes coming from the paint, chrome plated mesh, or any other part of the BBQ too.

To ensure even heat distribution throughout the grill, there are 12 small air vents in the sides that allow a good flow of air from all directions, and this makes cooking multiple pieces of meat evenly a lot easier than with some other portable grills out there.

Easy to carry, quick to set up, and cooks well, this is a good option for campers, fishing enthusiasts, hikers, or anyone who wants a compact portable charcoal barbecue they can keep in the boot just in case they fancy a quick cook up.

It’s called the notebook folding grill for a reason- that’s exactly what this portable charcoal grill resembles once it’s fully folded away, a computer notebook or laptop to most of us – I prefer it myself over the Valiant on price and I feel the design is far more robust – have a look at what it looks like a few years after I start using it:

Not many budget bbq’s will put up with this much use, not when you compare the pricing anyway, it’s just robust steel plate, that’s all there is to it and the griddle holds up pretty well as you can see.

Its clever design means that it folds up to only 3cm thick with a nice integrated handle to carry like a small briefcase and is easily as convenient as any gas bbq. Actually for my mind, it’s probably the best charcoal bbq design of all.

At only 3 kilograms in weight, this certainly deserves to be called a portable charcoal barbecue, and it can easily transported anywhere you like and by pretty much any kind if transportation. You could simply slip it in your back pack if you wish. You’d have to make sure it had cooled down properly before putting it back in there, mind, or the journey home could be a little more eventful than originally planned!

Once fully opened, it actually has a surprisingly large cooking area of 45cm x 30cm, certainly enough to get a pack of sausages and a few burgers on there at once.

It is also sturdier than expected and I think that’s because of the way legs are shaped, having a large contact area with the ground.

This portable charcoal barbecue has 2 chrome plated steel grills, a smaller one that you place the coals on and the larger one that sits on top for cooking.

It is ideal for taking down to the park or local beach or lake for a picnic, as long as there aren’t too many people or you might get a few hungry (or hangry) looks. For 2-4 people though, it is big enough to keep enough food on the go to keep everyone happy.

The notebook folding grill stands only 30cm tall, so you’ll probably have to lie down to do the cooking, or sit it on top of a bench or something to make it more comfortable.

As this model is so compact, there are no shelves or anywhere to put plates or sauce bottles or anything like that, it is just a portable charcoal grill. It does come with tongs though that are used for lifting the metal grills when hot and obviously also for handling the food while it’s cooking.

A great thing about this portable charcoal barbecue I found is that it can be easily cleaned in a dishwasher or sink once you’ve emptied out the coal – given the size it slots into the lower compartment of my dishwasher no problems at all. It’s a very convenient feature.

The paint on the other hand isn’t the best and started to wear off in the parts with the most heat – that happened after just a few uses but it’s kept on going. It’s not going to affect how the grill works but it would have been nice for the makers to have made it a bit more long lasting, but it is just aesthetics. The notebook folding grill is a steel construction that has been powder coated with heat resistant paint. For such a low price you can’t expect titanium level toughness but this little portable charcoal barbecue isn’t at all flimsy.

The first thing that struck me about this portable charcoal grill from Uten was the way it looks. The stainless steel design looks fantastic, especially when the sun hits it.
However, the stainless steel is not just for looks, it also serves the dual purpose of being anti-rust and heat resistant, which will reduce the chance of the metal warping at high temperatures. It’s long foldable legs mean that you get the benefit of being able to cook standing up and still be able to pack it up and take it camping with you.

Also, because the steel isn’t painted, you don’t have to worry about any potentially toxic fumes that may occur if it burns.

One of the main selling points of this portable charcoal grill, is the length of the folding legs. Once they are unfolded, the barbecue stands 76cm tall which is a much more comfortable height than having to stoop down or sit on a low ledge like with a lot of portable barbecues.

The legs have rubber feet on the ends to give you a little more traction and there is a support bar halfway up the leg to aid in stabilising the unit. This is a good thing because, while I wouldn’t say the legs are flimsy, they do seem a little thin when you think about the size of the grill they support so I’d recommend only using this on a flat surface or maybe doing something to add more support to the legs if not.

The grill itself measures 28.7 inches by 13 inches, so you can cook a ton of food on there, and thanks to air vents on each side, the heat gets well distributed across the whole grill. These same ventilation holes also come in handy when cleaning this portable charcoal barbecue as they let water drain out.

Despite its large cooking space and long legs, this model is still only very lightweight at only 4.6 kilograms and once the legs are folded under it can be carried with ease.

There are two mesh grills that come with this portable charcoal barbecue, a small one and a large one. Being mesh, the grills allow you to cook smaller portions of food on them without the fear of it dropping through the bars, but on the other hand it does make them a little more difficult to clean, but a good hose or pressure washer will make that much easier.

Assembly of the Uten stainless steel barbecue is very straightforward as it comes with the legs already attached, so all you really need to do is fit in the grill.

One thing I didn’t like though was that it arrives with a lot of that thin blue plastic film covering it that needs to be peeled off and this takes a while initially. Luckily my kids loved pulling it all off and it kept them quiet for a while so it was a win-win for me.

The La Hacienda fire pit and portable charcoal grill is a very handy thing to take with you when you are sleeping out. Whether it be on a fishing trip by the lake or on the local beach, this mobile, multi-purpose product will make the night a lot more comfortable.

Used as a fire pit, it will help to warm you and the family when the all too familiar night chill kicks in after a nice day of activities, and the mesh cover helps to keep wind from affecting the flames while still letting the smoke drift out and away.

When you put the grill rack on, you have a good sized circular cooking platform to cook your bacon and sausages on, or boil the kettle for a nice cup of tea. The La Hacienda portable charcoal grill measures 56cm in diameter so you can quite feasibly do both at the same time.

The unit is delivered without the legs attached so you will have to spend a few minutes bolting them on but it’s very straightforward and easy. Once the legs are on, this compact barbecue is actually very stable on them and they can be folded away for easy transportation and storage after you’re done.

The steel construction of this portable charcoal barbecue is good quality and it all feels very durable so you should get a decent amount of use out of it.

Of course there are always negatives and with this model, it is the fact that because it sits quite low, it will scorch your grass if you stand it on it.

Also the grill rack moves around a bit too much if you’re not careful with it, but if you have a little bit of DIY savvy you could easily secure it better.

The La Hacienda Portable charcoal grill comes with a free carry bag but I personally found the material a bit thin, and it is not really needed to carry this barbecue around anyway. Still, it’s free so I’d be silly to grumble about that.

From a super lightweight portable charcoal barbecue in the Uttora model, to this substantially heavier, but far sturdier model from BBQ Toro. It is also a bit pricier but the quality of the two portable charcoal barbecues can’t really be compared fairly – and just to say this is currently out of stock but it’s built to last so I’ll leave it in for now as you may find it elsewhere.

The BBQ-Torro is a heavy duty, cast iron barbecue grill that feels so solid, it’d probably survive world war 3, let alone a few hard summer’s worth of grilling. The makers have kindly put it through a treatment process prior to selling too, so you can use this to cook on as soon as it’s set up.

Getting this awesome barbecue assembled is a doddle and only takes a couple of screws and bolts to be tightened up and your ready to cook. The whole process took about 5 minutes.

One thing to consider is the same problem with all cast iron products, and that is that they are prone to rusting if left out in the rain too often, but with this being portable, and having a good sized handle to get a grip off, you should have no problems whisking it to a dry spot until the rain subsides. Yes, it is a little bit heavy at 12kg but any able-bodied adult can easily lift it.

This Hibachi style grill looks wonderful and somehow seems to look traditional, rustic, and slightly modern all at the same time. The curved sides and oval shaped grill giving it a nice overall aesthetic that is pleasing to the eye.

At 50cm (W) x 25cm (D) x 23cm (H) cm this BBQ-Torro grill is quite large for a portable charcoal barbecue and you’ll be able to feed a group of 4-5 people. The only problem I found with the raised, oval cooking grid is that it doesn’t have any sides and so I had to be careful when rolling my sausages so that they didn’t fall off.

the cooking performance of this model is really good, it heats up to high temperatures very quickly, and the heat is distributed very evenly all across the cooking platform. There is a ventilation rail found on the front that you  can use to regulate the air flow, and you can also flip the grate to adjust the height and get nearer to the hot embers..

Above the ventilation rail, is a good sized shutter and this makes it possible to add or remove charcoal without the need to remove the grill or any other of the components. This keeps things nice and simple, just the way I like them.

So, if you are looking for a strong and sturdy portable charcoal barbecue with excellent cooking performance, and you don’t mind a little extra weight, I would strongly suggest taking a closer look at this wonderful little product.

If you are looking for a barbecue that gives the right mix of being easy to get in and out of the garage and to move around the garden, but with a good sized coal capacity and sturdiness, the Cosmogrill portable charcoal barbecue might be right up your street. We actually reviewed the CosmoGrill Portable BBQ as the best charcoal barbecue as well.

With dimensions of 124 x 66 x 113.5 cm, it is quite a bit larger than our other reviews, but with the extra size comes some benefits. For example, you can stand upright while cooking without needing to place it on top of a table or other surface, and the extra width comes from two side shelves that come in very handy for storing plates, utensils, and other things on.

These shelves are strong and sturdy but fold away neatly when it’s time to pack up giving you a more streamlined unit to make storing it away easier.

The large metal hood has a warming rack built into it and a thermometer so you can keep an eye on the temperature, and a chimney for when you’re using this portable charcoal barbecue as a bbq smoker. There is also a large stainless steel handle which is both practical and adds to the overall aesthetic of this portable charcoal barbecue.

A great feature of the CosmoGrill portable charcoal barbecue is the adjustable coal tray that lets you raise or lower it via a crank handle to give you better control of the heat. There is also an easily removable ash tray to help with cleaning up. This tray isn’t the deepest though so you’ll need to make sure you empty it after each cooking session.

With a little bit of practice, you can use this portable charcoal grill as a smoker to cook deliciously tender meat, such as racks of ribs or a nice piece of brisket. Just the thought of it is making my mouth water. It’s fairly easy to do, and this model has some features that make it even easier like the fact that the grill rack is in two parts so you can remove one of them and push the coals to one side, then replace the rack and cook meat on it. This way you can slow cook as it’s not over the direct heat.

The cooking grill is a decent size and you can simultaneously cook a fair bit of food on it. The coal tray doesn’t sit under all of the grill however, but this is a purposeful design feature that gives you a 2 inch space at the front to cook things that need less heat.

Putting the CosmoGrill together wasn’t the easiest thing as there are quite a few parts, but you should still get it up and ready in about an hour or so. Once it’s assembled, you won’t have to take it apart again, so it’s worth spending an extra bit of time getting everything just right and all the bolts and nuts tightened properly. Properly put together this is a very sturdy portable charcoal grill.