Best Portable Pellet Smoker in 2023: Guaranteed Proven Quality

Most pellet grills are quite large and difficult to maneuver. As they are getting popular, more and more manufacturers present the portable pellet grills, that are easy to pack and take anywhere with you.

We have tried a few different portable pellet grills and recommend purchasing the Z Grills Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker, 8 in 1 BBQ Grill. The best set of features, its excellent quality and portability were the deciding factor. Let’s look at the characteristics of the best portable pellet grill and what are the other portable pellet grills that made it in our Top-7 list.

What is a portable pellet grill?

A portable pellet grill is a type of wood grill that can be carried easily. Some of them look like a tabletop pellet grill that can be folded, the other ones have light weight and wheels to cart it around.

Portable wood pellet grills require a power source to be nearby. Some models can work off the battery or a generator.

Portable pellet grills are quite compact and has a light weight, that is why they are very popular to take with if you are going travelling.

Interesting fact:

Nowadays, it is very popular to celebrate various thematic holidays. For example: family day or beer day. There is also a special day for barbecue, celebrated on May 16 all over the world.

The best portable pellet grills review

We have reviewed 7 different pellet grills, so it is easier for you to make a decision based on your budget and other requirements. Check out the list of the best portable pellet grills below.

1. Z GRILLS Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker, 8 in 1 BBQ Grill – the winner

Features:

• Cooking space 553 sq in
• Hopper capacity 10 lbs
• Temperature range 180-450 F
• Weight 84 lbs
• 3 year warranty

One of the most popular portable pellet smokers on the market. It has a lot of good reviews of happy customers. It gets chosen for its quality and reliability proven over many years.

This portable pellet grill is build out of steel with a long-lasting powder coat finish.

It has pellet grilled technology, giving your food a true wood fried flavor.

A wide range of temperatures it can operate at, gives you a unique experience of cooking almost anything from juicy roast to baked veggies, e.g. asparagus or corn on the cob.

The cooking area is also large, which will save you time cooking for a big company.

There is a storage area underneath the pellet grill, so all your gear can be placed there.

The wheels are all terrain and will move anywhere with ease.

The grill comes with its own dripping pan leading to the bucket, which makes it a lot easier to clean it.

2. Green Mountain Davy Crockett Sense Mate Electric Portable Wood Pellet Grill – the best budget collapsible model

Features:

• Cooking space 219 sq in
• Hopper capacity 9 lbs
• Temperature range 150-550 F
• Weight 68 lbs
• 2 year warranty

This portable pellet grill is made out of stainless steel components and has a wide range of useful features at an affordable price.

This model has Wi-Fi. The module allows selecting the temperature from 150 degrees to 550 degrees. You can check the progress of the food cooking on your smartphone, which is quite convenient. Apart from regulating the temperature, you can set the alarm up.

The cooking area is average size. You will be able to make food for 5 people.

Green mountain grills have folding legs that easily turn into the handles, so the grills can be carried by one person.

The portable pellet grill has top quality, decent temperature range and an affordable price.

3. Traeger Grills Ranger Portable Wood Pellet Grill – the smallest pellet grill

Features:

• Cooking space 184 sq in
• Hopper capacity 8 lbs
• Temperature range 165-450 F
• Weight 60 lbs
• 3 year warranty

This small pellet grill is one of the best in tabletop pellet grill category. It has light weight and easy to carry. It doesn’t take much space at all, which is great for camping. Everything the grill comes with, can be stored inside and the lid secures on top.

The grill grates are coated with porcelain, providing excellent quality.

The temperature controller is digital and has 12 different temperature modes for any cooking idea you might have.

This one of the best tabletop pellet grill has Wi-Fi capability. It means you can control the cooking process remotely from your phone. The keep warm feature will prevent your food from being overcooked. The meat probes will let you know when the food is ready.

4. Traeger Grills Tailgater 20 Portable Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker – the best collapsible grill

Features:

• Cooking space 300 sq in
• Hopper capacity 8 lbs
• Temp range 180-450 F
• Weight 62 lbs
• 3 year warranty

The Traeger Tailgater pellet grill is one of the popular models of Traeger grills. The folding legs make it easier to pack away and carry around.

A large cooking area and meat probe ensures anything you cook to turn out perfectly. Besides standard options for grilling, it has smoking as well. The vast range of temperature and 6 different modes for cooking leaves other portable grills behind.

The Keep warm function makes sure the food is not overcooked.

The hopper capacity is quite small – only 8 lbs. The folding legs aren’t quite stable.

5. Camp Chef PG24MZG SmokePro Wood Pellet Grill – the best collapsible wheel-away grill

Features:

• Cooking space 811 sq in
• Hopper capacity 18 lbs
• Temperature range 160-550 F
• Weight 144.7 lbs
• 3 year warranty

The Camp Chef Pursuit grill has a unique, optimal design to provide portability. The foldable legs can be tucked with just a button. The hopper capacity is the largest and will fit a lot of pellets at once.

The cooking area size is impressive. If you are going to be cooking for a big company, this Camp Chef Pursuit grill is an ideal option.

The wide temperature range allows you to cook different types of meals using direct and indirect heat. There are 10 smoking and cooking styles at temperature you choose. The wheels are made from durable rubber. The top lid can be secured with strong latches.

The Camp Chef smoker grill has the ash clean out system and a grease management system. It has two meat probes. It will let you know when meat is cooked.

6. PIT BOSS PB440D2 Wood Pellet Grill

Features:

• Cooking space 465 sq in
• Hopper capacity 5 lbs
• Temperature range 180-500 F
• Weight 96 lbs
• 3 year warranty

This Pit Boss pellet grill is well-known for its quality and reliability. The stainless steel construction will make your grill last a few years. The warranty is extensive as well.

Even though the size of the grill including the large cooking area is impressive, this device is quite light weighted. The legs of this grill are conveniently sliding in just one move. A sturdy handle allows you to cart the grill around no problem.

The heat options include both: direct and indirect heat, so the variety of cooking styles is vast. The auto start feature and the cooling down technology will make the cooking experience easy and enjoyable. It also has a meat probe to let you know when your meat is ready.

7. ASMOKE AS350 Portable Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker – runner up tabletop pellet smoker

Features:

• Cooking space 256 sq in
• Hopper capacity 5 lbs
• Temperature range 180-500 F
• Weight 55 lbs
• 5 year warranty

This good portable pellet grill, just like Z grills cruiser 200a, has a compact size and is portable. Easy to pack with you if you are going camping. The Asmoke was one of the first tabletop grill on the market. For the small price, it offers a wide range of cooking options.

The body of this grill is made out of steel, and the grills components are also steel ones. The top lid comes with a sturdy handle and secures with 2 strong latches.

The grill rack is small, but it will be enough to cook dinner for a family of 4. The hopper capacity is only 5 lbs. The grill comes with a tray in the coking area underneath the grill. Adding water, beer, or apple juice into this tray creates extra humidity, which is great when cooking meat. It will also help with cleaning the grill afterward.

The manufacturer offers a generous 5-year warranty. The downside is poor customer service and lots of unresponded complaints.

Check at how to grill chicken breast on a pellet grill.

How to choose the best portable pellet grill: A buying guide

What are the things you have to look at, when choosing the best portable pellet grill? This buying guide will help you to decide which parameters matter to you and which ones aren’t as important, and based on that you will be able to make your choice.

1. Size

As you are picking a portable pellet grill, its size must be compact. It should easily fit in your van and must be light weighted so one person can carry it. Check the weight of the portable pellet grill and the way it assembles and folds.

Bigger hopper capacity doesn’t always mean it is better. You will go through more pellets while cooking.

At the same time, the larger cooking area allows you to make meals for the big company faster.

2. Power options

Unlike charcoal grills, a tabletop pellet grill can be operated from the 12V battery of your vehicle. Anything larger will need a proper power outlet. Think about it when choosing your own portable pellet grill.

If your camping trips are going to include stopping at the campsites, then getting a bigger pellet grill is justified.

If you plan the adventures far by the beach or in the forest, the only source of power will be your vehicle. Unlike a charcoal grill, a pellet grill does need power.

3. A temperature range and temperature control

All portable pellet grills have different range of temperatures it can operate at. When picking a pellet smoker, note whether it can cook at a temperature you want.

Usually all the best portable pellet smokers include the feature called temperature control. It allows keeping the certain temperature for the time you set up. The PID controllers constantly check the temperature of the grill and either stop the fuel from coming in or add it up, if the temperature needs to go higher.

Such grills like the Z Grills Cruiser 200a and the Camp Chef pursuit have the PID controllers. Bear this in mind when searching for a portable grill to buy.

Check at what temp to cook burgers on pellet grill.

4. A cooking area

Even though the pellet grills are portable, they all have different size cooking areas. Check out the characteristics of the portable grills in our list to see, which grill has the biggest cooking area. The camp chef pursuit is the winner here as the cooking chamber is 811 sq on. Such portable pellet grill is perfect for cooking for a big company.

Being able to cook for the whole family at once is a great advantage. You will spend less time as everything will fit in the cooking chamber at the same time.

A portable grill with a large cooking chamber will also have a disadvantage. It is going to be heavier than any tabletop pellet grill.

5. Build quality

You want your grill to last you for a few years. That is why, paying attention to the quality of the materials the portable pellet grills made out is vital.

Choose known, reputable brands that proved the quality of their pellet grills over time. The Z Grills Cruiser 200a, the Green Mountain grills and the Camp Chef pursuit are the pellet grills that are durable and sturdy.

It is a known fact that portable pellet grills will undergo a lot of kicking and dropping, so the stainless steel frame will prevent easy damages.

Some other portable pellet grills have porcelain coated grill grates that protect them from the rust forming. It also allows the heat to spread equally.

Do not forget to inspect the parts of the pellet grills that are sticking out, as those are easy to break in the first place. If they are made out of plastic, consider looking for some other model of the portable grill.

6. The grill’s weight

Even though all the grills we are looking at in our review are considered to be portable, they all have different weight.

Think about how are you going to use the grill. If you have to cook on open air often and carry your grill with you, choose one of the tabletop grills. They are smaller and weigh less.

The grills with folding legs and large cooking surfaces are quite heavy sometimes. If that is not a problem, pick one of those.

7. Design and features

Always pay attention to the design, a portable pellet grill has. The way it is build, what materials are used, how sturdy everything is. How comfortable it is going to be cooking on this portable pellet grill smoker. Whether you can assemble it yourself or you will need some help.

The set of features is not the last thing to consider. Auto ignition, automatic temperature control, dual meat probes, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, digital control panel, ash cleanout system, all of those features will make the outdoor cooking experience easier.

If you aren’t limited in how much money you can spend, get the pellet smoker that has all of those features.

8. Connectivity

Such important features as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi will definitely make the cooking experience pleasant, as you can use your smartphone to monitor the process and regulate the temperature inside the portable pellet smoker.

Such grills will be more expensive, though.

9. Warranty

Having an extensive warranty is important, especially if your purchase is quite pricey. You can put your mind at ease with 3 or even 5 years of warranty that some brands offer. It means the quality of their products are great and there is almost no risk. If anything breaks, you will get it repaired or replaced.

10. Customer service

Always look at reviews of the portable pellet smokers to get an idea of how the manufactures are dealing with complaints. Whether they are happy to cooperate and help, if there are any problems or they just don’t respond.

FAQ

To summarize

Based on our review, the best portable pellet grill is Z GRILLS Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker, 8 in 1 BBQ Grill. It has a decent size cooking chamber, 10 lbs hopper capacity, it can be easily carried, as the weight is 84 lbs, wide range of temperatures. All of this at an affordable price will make the cooking experience pleasant.

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You may also be interested in reading our articles: How long to grill frozen burgers and How to cook kielbasa on the grill.