“This small charcoal grill features a 196 sq. in. chrome-plated grate resists rust and makes cleaning quick and easy”
“Adjustable vents offer precise temperature management for low-and-slow or high-heat grilling”
“Weighing only 4 lbs., this mini grill is perfect for camping, tailgating, and small outdoor spaces”
“Three durable lid locks keep the camping grill secure during transport for mess-free portability”
“BBQ grill features an enamel-coated firebox and convenient ash base”
Four pounds, with a lid
That combination is what makes this grill unusual on this shelf.
Everything else here either has no lid and is light — the Zarkind and the Minxchen fold flat — or has a lid and is heavy:
Cuisinart — a stated 4 lb / about 4.0 lb (1.8 kg) — with a lid
DNKMOR — 6.5 lb (2.9 kg)
Royal Gourmet — 25.4 lb (11.5 kg)
Feasto — 26.0 lb (11.8 kg)
Oklahoma Joe’s — 48.5 lb (22.0 kg)
Six times lighter than the next lidded grill here.
And the lid locks, which nobody else bothers with
Three durable lid locks keep the camping grill secure during transport for mess-free portability.
The problem is real and specific. A charcoal kettle has a loose lid, and a grill loaded into a car after a cookout still holds fine ash that has not settled. Tip it once and the ash is in the carpet, the blanket and the cooler.
Zarkind answers the same problem differently — the whole thing folds into a fitted bag. Nobody else on this shelf answers it at all.
What a lid buys at forty dollars
Everything the two cheaper grills here cannot do.
With dual adjustable vents — one intake, one exhaust — the fire can be throttled. Cuisinart puts it correctly: precise temperature management for low-and-slow or high-heat grilling.
That means roasting with the lid down, holding a temperature, and finishing a thick cut after searing it. The Minxchen at $21.99 and the Zarkind at $39.90 have no lid, so they are braziers: direct heat only.
Where it gives ground to the $99.99 grills
A fixed charcoal tray. Three grills on this shelf let you move the fire instead of the food — the Royal Gourmet with 3-level fire grates, the Feasto between two layers, the Oklahoma Joe’s with a height-adjustable tray. On a grill this small that matters more than on a big one, because there is no room in 196 square inches to push coals aside and build a two-zone fire. Vents are the only other control.
Chrome-plated wire rather than cast iron. Chrome resists rust and cleans easily, which the listing says. What it does not do is store heat: cast iron on the Feasto and the Oklahoma Joe’s holds and returns heat, so it marks food harder and recovers faster when cold food lands on it. That is also exactly why those two weigh 11.8 and 22 kilograms.
No thermometer, where three grills here have one.
The same grill, twice
Cuisinart lists CCG190RB and CCG190 on this shelf, both at $35.99, with identical bullets and identical specifications.
The catalog data differs: 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) against 4.2 lb (1.9 kg), 14 in (356 mm) against 368 across.
Four pounds is 4.0 lb (1.8 kg). So this listing’s 4.2 lb (1.9 kg) agrees with the maker’s own bullet and the other one’s 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) does not.
Warranty in the table only. The Amazon.com table lists: 90 day limited warranty.
Availability
On sale at about $40 on Amazon.com when we read the listing on October 31, 2026.
Price and availability were read on Amazon.com on October 31, 2026; both move.
Prices quoted in this text are dated readings and can differ from the live price in the buy box.
What we rate, and what we do not
Strengths
Three lid locks for transport — the only grill on this shelf that addresses a loose lid spilling ash in a car
Four pounds with a lid, which is the lightest lidded grill here by a factor of six
A real lid with dual vents, so indirect cooking and temperature holding are both possible at forty dollars
Compromises
A fixed charcoal tray, where three grills here let you raise or lower the fire
Chrome-plated wire rather than cast iron, so it sears less and cools faster when food goes on
No thermometer and no warranty in the bullets, and Cuisinart lists the same grill twice on this shelf
Specifications
Diameter
14 in
Cooking area
196 sq in, chrome-plated grate
Cost per square inch
$0.20
Stated weight
Only 4 lb, in the maker’s own words — about 4.0 lb (1.8 kg)
Catalog weight
4.2 lb (1.9 kg), which agrees with the stated 4 lb
Vents
Dual adjustable, for low-and-slow or high heat
Lid locks
Three, to keep the lid secure during transport
Firebox
Enamel-coated
Ash
An ash base
Grate
Chrome-plated, stated to resist rust
Stated uses
Camping, tailgating and small outdoor spaces
Dimensions
14.5 × 14.5 × 15 in (368 × 368 × 381 mm)
Charcoal tray height
Fixed — not adjustable
Thermometer
None
Warranty
90 day limited warranty, in the Amazon.com table; not in the bullets
Amazon reference
B00B58A0QK
EAN
0817096011588
The questions that come in
Why do lid locks matter?
Because the alternative is gray ash through everything you own. A charcoal kettle has a loose lid, and a grill thrown in a car boot after a cookout contains fine ash that has not finished settling. Tip it and the ash goes into the carpet, the picnic blanket and the cooler. Cuisinart is the only maker on this shelf to address it: "Three durable lid locks keep the camping grill secure during transport for mess-free portability." Zarkind solves the same problem a different way — the whole grill folds flat into a fitted bag — and nobody else solves it at all. On a grill sold specifically for camping and tailgating, it is a more useful feature than it sounds.
Is 196 square inches enough?
For two to four people over one load of charcoal, yes. It is the smallest published figure on this shelf, but the spread is narrower than the prices suggest: 196 here, 218 on the $199 Oklahoma Joe’s, about 197 calculated from the Minxchen’s dimensions, and 265.5 of actual grilling on the $99.99 Feasto. Oklahoma Joe’s puts a usable number on roughly the same area — "up to 6 burgers, 6 steaks, or 12 bratwursts" on 218 sq in — which is a sensible way to picture it. The Feasto claims 16 burgers on 265.5 sq in, which works out at 16.6 square inches each against Oklahoma Joe’s 36.3; one of those two is optimistic, and it is not the one with the warranty.
Why is this grill listed twice?
Because Cuisinart sells it under two references, and the pair are worth comparing because one of the weights is wrong. CCG190RB and CCG190 both appear on this shelf at $35.99, with word-for-word identical bullets, the same 196 sq in, the same three lid locks, the same dual vents and the same "Weighing only 4 lbs". What differs is only the catalog data: 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) against 4.2 lb (1.9 kg), and 14 in (356 mm) against 14.5 in (368 mm) across. Four pounds is 4.0 lb (1.8 kg) — so the 4.2 lb (1.9 kg) figure on this listing is consistent with the maker’s own bullet, and the 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) on the other one is not. Buy whichever is cheaper on the day; they are the same grill.
Our score
8.1/ 10
Four pounds, a locking lid and 196 square inches for forty dollars — the only grill here that addresses the thing that ruins a car boot: three lid locks for transport. Cuisinart sells it twice on this shelf under two references.
This one against the other cookware and knives
Close prices, same category: comparable cookware and knives. We keep only the specifications all of them publish, because a column with gaps compares nothing.
Model
Price
Cooking area
Thermometer
Warranty
Cuisinart CCG190
$40
196 sq in, chrome-plated grate
None
90 day limited warranty, in the Amazon.com table; not in the bullets
1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty, in the Amazon.com table; not in the bullets
What sets the models apart, in cookware and knives
If price decides: Cuisinart CCG190RB, at $36.
What use this one answers, among cookware and knives
Tailgating and camping — a proper lidded kettle that travels without making a mess
Sources
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for cookware and kitchen knives and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
218 sq in tabletop charcoal grill in heavy-duty steel with thick cast iron grates, a height-adjustable charcoal tray, a professional temperature gauge with glow-in-the-dark accents, a rubber-gripped lid handle, a full-size removable ash pan and a 2-year warranty
The only grill here with a warranty — two years on all parts — plus cast iron grates and a glowing gauge.
Best for: A grill that travels by car and is kept for years — the only one here with a warranty behind it
14 in portable charcoal kettle with a 196 sq in chrome-plated grate, dual adjustable vents, three lid locks for transport, an enamel-coated firebox and an ash base, at a stated 4 lb
The 14-inch Cuisinart kettle under a second reference — same price, same specification, a different catalog weight.
Best for: The same job as its twin — buy whichever of the two references is cheaper on the day
Tabletop portable charcoal grill and smoker in solid metal with premium chrome wire mesh, a chimney in the lid, a fitted thermometer, a wood top handle, one chrome cooking grid and one charcoal pan
A lidded tabletop smoker with a chimney and a thermometer at 6.5 lb (2.9 kg), for forty-four dollars.
Best for: A tabletop smoke — a lid, a chimney and a gauge without the eleven kilograms
