I'm looking to buy a smallish portable cooker for RV'ing and hoping to get some recommendations from the Pit. Either pellet or charcoal, but not gas since I already have one. What do y'all have and what are the pros/cons. I've looked through the reviews on the free side and the GMG Trek is the only one that interests me there. I have a friend who has an older one (5 years or so) but he's not really impressed with it. I have a couple of other friends who have the Traeger tailgaters and they seem to like them. Anyhoo, thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Lodge hibachi or the Pitboss tailgaters are what dad uses...don't forget a jumbo joe! -
I really like the PKGO with flip kit, only downside is the price is stupid high now. But I like that I can smoke a pork butt, I even did 1 rack of ribs 2-zone by cutting the rack in half. It can grill quite a few burgers or steaks even before you use the flip kit which turns it into 2 hibachis! If you look at my post on the PK sub-forum labeled (I hate you guys) you can see some of the unorthodox things I've been able to get it to do! But for travel it all packs away (with room for charcoal!) into it's own body so it's quite compact.
On the pellet side, the Grilla chimp is pretty sweet, I have 2 friends with them and they are amazing little pellet grills. I'm sure the GMG trek is similar enough if that's what you're set on.
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I’m no help because I think Coconut Monkey ‘s one on order is just about the right size for a portable.🙂
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It sounds like you are really thinking of pellet grills here, since you've been looking at the GMG already. I know folks who have the Grilla Chimp, such as klflowers really seem to like it. The future of Grilla may be bright or may have a cloud on it depending on your view point of their acquisition deal. Personally I think that they will be around in some form for a while.
Charcoal choices are plentiful, and my thought is you ought to just go cheap there, but also ensure it has good air flow control. SNSGrills mini, Weber Smokey Joe series and even Weber Goanywhere are options to consider that don't break the bank like the PK Grills does.
I kinda like the shape and setup of the Weber Go Anywhere charcoal grill, as being rectangular it loans itself to 2 zone pretty well, and there are lots of hacks folks post online on how to effectively smoke on that thing, and on how to store extra stuff inside it for travel. I used to have the gas version of that grill many years ago, and I wouldn't mind the charcoal version if I wanted to have a portable small charcoal grill.Last edited by jfmorris; March 16, 2022, 02:16 PM.Comment
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For a really good pellet option, I'd sure take a REAL close look at the Grilla Chimp. FWIW, Personally, I'm not too worried about Grilla's recent acquisition by American Outdoor Brands ( https://www.aob.com ). They seem to own some pretty solid brands (like S&W, Thompson Center, Schrade, and a few more old favorites).Comment
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We have the GMG Davie Crockett or whatever their little one is. It has held up really well and seems to work with no/very little issues. We have a travel trailer and can hook it up to it to run or we've taken a generator and used it when we don't have power. Works great. Although crowded, I've fit 3 racks of ribs on it to smoke and at another time 2 spatchcocked chickens. All turned out great. Cleanup isn't too bad either. We store it in a DeWalt big box that the hopper fits right over the wheels on it and it's weatherproof seal so doesn't get moisture in the box. Can also store a bag of pellets in there too.Comment
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CampChef makes a portable called the Pursuit.Comment
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Weber Jumbo Joe,,,,,
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Chiming in for Jumbo Joe on the charcoal side. I’ve found mine very useful.Comment
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Do you (and Greygoose ) find them easy-ish to setup, clean, take down and transport? -
CaptainMike clean out is easy with an ash catcher tray underneath. You can scoop out leftover charcoal if you wish, but the lid supporting bail locks the lid down tightly for transport. -
Even created an insert for mine to make a nice wsm. Can smoke a pork but on it
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How about a Weber Smokey Mountain?Comment
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Hmmm, klflowers , looking like I might need both a little pellet pooper AND a little coal burner. BTW Kev, I'm not making the trip out to Texas this spring, but very likely in October, I hope you can swing it too. You gotta be getting close to G-baby #3 time, yes? -
CaptainMike yeah we are getting close. But with the navy being a govt institution, we don’t know where they will be. Son in law is getting moved to VA. So my plans to go to CA are kind of up in the air. TX in October should be doable though.
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For versatility I would go with the Jumbo Joe as others suggested and an appropriate sized Vortex. The snake method is easy to set up with the Vortex, and with the Jumbo Joe shouldn’t be much more than $100.Comment
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CaptainMike The Jumbo Joe is portable and will need to be set on a table or you will need to bend over for cooking with it on the ground. There are no detachable legs, and there is lock on the handle for the lid so. You should be able to store lighter cubes, the small Weber chimney, Vortex and some wood chunks. As for cleaning once it has cooled it is easy to dump ash and coals in the trash. I would bring a brush to dust it out and use an old frying pan to catch ash that falls out.Last edited by LA Pork Butt; March 16, 2022, 06:05 PM. -
Get aluminum fence posts for chain link fence. Cut the to size and slip over the legs of the JJ to give it height with not much added to your kit.
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So, there are a lot of votes fer the JJ. Since I left the Weber world & went with Dave’s SnS kettle & experienced the outstanding results from his cooker, I would have no hesitation goin with the SnS mini or what ever it’s called.Comment
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I'll lob in a suggestion for a recteq 340 only b/c im immensely impressed with my buddy's larger version of the same brand.Comment
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Last edited by Smoked Transistors; March 17, 2022, 06:20 PM.Comment
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