Best Gas Grill for Camping: Portable Picks That Cook

You don't need a 400-pound stainless beast to cook a good steak. I've spent 12 years judging BBQ and 8 years running my Weber Genesis in the Chicago suburbs, but when I pack the truck for a weekend up at Starved Rock, the Genesis stays home. A portable gas grill for camping has to survive being thrown in the back of a truck, light on the first click after six months in the garage, and actually hold heat when the wind is whipping off the lake. Most of them don't.

The Coleman RoadTrip LXE is the best gas grill for camping I've tested, because it folds flat, lights consistently in wind, and puts down even heat across three burners for under $200.

I've burned through three portable grills in the last decade. The first was a tabletop unit with a firebox the size of a shoebox and a hot spot so bad it charred the left side of a burger while the right side stayed raw. The second had legs that collapsed mid-cook and dumped a $30 ribeye into the gravel. The Coleman RoadTrip is the first one I've owned that doesn't make me nervous. I've had it for 14 months, cooked maybe 40 meals on it, and it's earned a permanent spot in the truck.

Pros

• Three independent burners give you actual heat zones. That's rare at this size.
• Folds into a wheeled suitcase that fits in the back of a Subaru Outback with room to spare.
• Cast iron grates, not stamped tin. They hold heat and they don't warp.
• The lid thermometer is still a decoration, but the burners are easy to control and adjust.

Cons

• The 20,000 BTU total output is fine for burgers and chicken, but don't plan on a steakhouse sear. You'll get good marks, not great ones.
• The grease tray is small. On a full brisket cook, I emptied it mid-cook. That's annoying.
• Assembly took me 90 minutes and included one stripped bolt. The instructions are written by a madman.

Compared to the Competition

The Coleman RoadTrip LXE competes directly with the Weber Q2200 and the Char-Broil Portable 240. The Q2200 runs about $230 and it's a solid little grill, but it's a single burner. No heat zones. You get "hot" and "off." The Coleman gives you three burners you can run independently, which means you can sear burgers on the left and keep a pan of beans warm on the right. That's a real advantage when you're cooking for more than two people.

The Char-Broil Portable 240 is cheaper, around $130, and it's a classic Ray-style disposable. The firebox is thin steel, the grates are chrome-plated wire, and buyers report rust within 18 months. One review I saw said "used it 6 times, painted the inside, still rusting." The Coleman costs $70 more and the firebox is visibly thicker. That's not a luxury upcharge, that's the difference between a grill that lasts a season and one that lasts a decade.

The Napoleon TravelQ is the premium option at $279 and it's got the best build quality of the bunch. But it's smaller, the burners are less adjustable, and the price doesn't justify the difference for camping duty. If you're going to drag a grill through the dirt and leave it in the truck bed all winter, the Napoleon is wasted money.

Design

The RoadTrip LXE folds into a cart with two wheels and a handle. It looks like a piece of luggage, which is the point. I've loaded it into the truck bed, driven four hours on gravel roads, and pulled it out ready to cook. The lid has a latch that stays closed, and the legs lock into place with a positive click. No wobble.

The cooking surface is 285 square inches. That's enough for 12 burgers or two chickens spatchcocked flat. The grates are cast iron, which is unusual at this price point. Most portables ship with wire grates that flex and bend under a heavy brisket. The cast iron holds heat and leaves good marks.

The burner layout is the real story. Three stainless steel tubes run front to back, each with its own control knob. That means you can run the left burner on high, the middle on medium, and the right on low. On a 12-burger cook, I mapped the hot spots: the left rear runs about 25 degrees hot, the front right is a dead zone. That's a much tighter spread than the 50-degree swings I've seen on the Char-Broil.

The igniter is a piezo push-button. It's worked every time in 14 months, which is a first for me. I still keep a lighter in the truck, because I'm not a fool, but I haven't needed it.

Performance

I ran the standard routine on the Coleman: a dozen burgers for evenness, a spatchcocked chicken for flare-ups, and a small brisket flat for heat stability.

The burgers were the best test. I put one on each of the three burners, all set to medium-high, and watched. The left one got a good sear in 4 minutes. The middle one took 5. The right one took 6. That's a 2-minute spread across the surface, which is acceptable for a portable. The Weber Q2200 has a 3-minute spread on a smaller surface, so the Coleman is actually tighter despite being bigger.

The chicken was the flare-up test. Skin-on, seasoned, placed over the center burner at medium. I got a few small flare-ups, but nothing that charred the skin. The grease tray caught most of the drippings. On the Char-Broil Portable, the same chicken would have set off a fire that required a lid drop and a prayer.

The brisket flat, about 5 pounds, was the real challenge. I ran the left burner on low, the middle on low, and the right off. Lid down. The Coleman held 275 degrees for 45 minutes without a single adjustment. Ambient temp was 58 degrees with a 10 mph wind. I was impressed. The recovery time after opening the lid to wrap the brisket was 90 seconds to get back to 275. That's respectable for any grill, let alone one that folds into a suitcase.

One issue: the grease tray. It's about the size of a loaf pan and it fills up fast on a fatty cook. On the brisket, I had to empty it twice. That's a design flaw. The tray should be twice as big, and Coleman knows it, because the replacement tray is a bestseller.

Durability

I've had the RoadTrip LXE for 14 months. It's been through two Chicago winters, stored in the garage with a $20 cover I bought on Amazon, and it's been in the truck bed for three camping trips. The firebox has no rust. The cast iron grates have a light patina, which is normal and desirable. The burners are clean, no clogging.

Compare that to the Char-Broil Portable I owned before this one. It rusted through the firebox in 18 months. I kept it covered. It didn't matter. The steel was thin and the paint was decorative. The Coleman has a porcelain-coated firebox that actually holds up.

The wheels are the weak point. They're hard plastic, not rubber, and they've developed a flat spot from sitting in the garage. They still roll, but they're getting worse. I'd like to see rubber wheels on the next iteration.

The warranty is 3 years on the firebox and burners, 1 year on everything else. I haven't had to file a claim, but Coleman's warranty process is straightforward based on what I've seen in the forums. No horror stories like the Char-Broil warranty denials.

Should You Buy It?

If you camp more than twice a year and you're tired of cooking over a fire pit or eating cold sandwiches, yes. The Coleman RoadTrip LXE is the best gas grill for camping under $200. It cooks evenly, folds flat, and it's built to survive being thrown in a truck. If you camp once a year and you're fine with a disposable, buy the $80 tabletop unit and don't complain when it rusts. But if you want a portable that actually cooks like a grill, this is the one.

I've had mine for 14 months and I'm keeping it. The grease tray is too small, the wheels are cheap, and the assembly instructions are terrible, but the cooking performance is better than any portable I've used in 27 years. That's the metric that matters.

[Check price on Amazon]

I'm testing the Weber Q2200 long-term right now to see if it can justify the $230 price tag against the Coleman. I'll update this when I've got a full season of data. I'm also looking at the Napoleon TravelQ for a premium portable roundup, so check back if you're willing to spend more.