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Grilling and the outdoors go hand in hand. There’s something that just feels right about a campfire grill and delicious food while enjoying the great outdoors.
There are a few different ways you can make it happen – maybe you have a portable grill, or a smoker? But there’s another option that’s very affordable and easy to manage- the campfire grill, also known as a fire pit grill.
The campfire grill unlocks a world of possibilities for your outdoor adventures. In this article, we have a rundown of the best campfire grill choices on the market today!
What is a Campfire Grill?
Campfire grills or grill grates are designed to sit over an open fire or fire pit. They’re ideal for camping for a few reasons. First and foremost, building campfires is a pretty common activity for the outdoorsman. It’s nice to leave a little bit less of a carbon footprint by cooking over your campfire, instead of making a second fire for your grill.
Campfire grill grates offer a flat cooking surface over your heat source, which does a really nice job of providing an even cooking environment for your food.
Campfire grills are also most often highly portable and relatively lightweight. So they’re pretty easy to pack in along with the rest of your gear, and they open up a bunch of possibilities for dinner time.
The best campfire grill will allow for you to either grill foods on the grate itself with direct heat, or also use pots and pans on top of it. Be sure to pay attention to which grates you buy, as some are not designed for direct heat grilling.
Best Campfire Grill – Our Picks & Reviews
GameMaker Open Fire Camping Grill
If you’re looking for a premium experience at the campsite, then the Gravity Open Fire Camping Grill is well worth a look.
This campfire grill is king when it comes to the capabilities it gives you cooking wise over your fire. Most notably, it comes with two cooking surfaces – a grilling grate and a griddle. These two cooking surfaces allow you to cook everything from a pancake breakfast to a steak dinner.
You can also easily adjust the height and angle of each cooking surface, giving you maximum flexibility when you’re working over your fire. It also breaks down nicely for easy storage and transportation when it’s not in use.
Things We Like
- 2 cooking surfaces included – grill grate and skillet
- Adjustable height and rotatable
- Easy to set up and break down
- Durable and will last multiple seasons
Things We Don’t
- On the pricey end of the spectrum
REDCAMP Folding Campfire Grill
If you’re looking for a budget friendly choice, check out the Redcamp Folding Campfire Grill. It’s offered at a great price and can turn any small to medium sized fire into an outdoor grill in a snap.
Perhaps my favorite part about this grate is that it’s made of high quality 304 stainless steel. You have to be careful with many campfire grills – many of them are made of lower quality material and actually are painted over. You should never put food directly on these grills as paint can chip off and lead to toxins in your food.
That’s never a worry with the Redcamp. The stainless steel grate offers a generous enough 214 square inches of cooking surface area. Foldable legs are easy to set up and break down, and the entire unit only weighs about 3 pounds.
Things We Like
- Extremely lightweight and portable – only around 3 pounds!
- 304 stainless steel body and cooking grate construction
- Very durable and safe to cook on
- Bargain priced
Things We Don’t
- No adjustable height mechanism
Texsport Outdoor Camping Rotisserie Grill and Spit
For those of you who enjoy an old school rotisserie cooked meal, the Texsport Heavy Duty Outdoor Camping Grill and Spit offers the versatility of a campfire grill along with a rotisserie grilling option.
Basic thumb screw adjusters allow you to control the height of both your rotisserie and grilling surface. The downside of this campfire grill is that the grilling surface is painted and therefore not designed for direct contact with food. So you’ll have to utilize this surface by placing cookware or cast iron pots/pans on top.
Another unique feature offered by the Texsport is twin steel side arms which are in place to help keep potted food warm. Depending on your coffee canister, it’s also a viable place to hang your coffee to keep warm as well.
It’s an all around solid choice, especially if you see yourself utilizing a rotisserie around the campfire. Assembly is easy enough and can be done without having to use any tools. The entire unit weighs about 16.5 pounds, so it’s also a reasonable weight to carry around while setting up your campsite.
Things We Like
- Rotisserie design & spit included
- 384 square inches of cooking surface area on the main grate
- Adjustable height for both rotisserie and grate
- Easy set up and tear down
- Steel side arms are ideal for keeping pots and kettles warm
Things We Don’t
- Main cooking grate is not suitable for direct contact cooking, you have to use pots or pans
AmazonBasics Portable Outdoor Folding Campfire Grill
The Amazon Basics Portable Outdoor Folding Campfire Grill is a great bare bones choice. It suits the needs of many and is offered at the lowest price of any product on this best campfire grill list.
It’s made of high quality welded steel but is painted so it’s not designed for direct contact grilling. You’ll need to bring your pots and pans to utilize this grill.
But, if that doesn’t bother you this grill has a lot to offer. It’s sturdily built and has a foldable leg design, which makes it incredibly convenient to transport and store while it’s not in use.
Last but not least, it’s offered in two different sizes. The smaller version measures 18.5″ x 12″ for a cooking surface area of 222 square inches, whereas the larger version measures 37″ x 18″ for a cooking surface area of 665 square inches.
Things We Like
- Entry level price point
- Very lightweight
- A foldable leg design means minimal storage footprint
Things We Don’t
- No adjustable height
- Due to the paint it’s not suitable for direct contact grilling
Adjust-A-Grill Camping Grill
The Adjust-a-Grill Camping Grill simply has all of the features that you love to see, and it’s incredibly easy to take on the go. Design wise, it’s assembled by placing a 36″ long stake into the ground. From there, a 15″ x 22″ stainless steel grill grate (330 square inches of cooking surface area) slides onto the stake.
You can easily adjust the height level of the grill grate thanks to a locking handle, which comes in handy when you might have built your fire a little too hot or not hot enough. The locking mechanism is strong enough to hold up lots of food and heavy dishes or full coffee pots.
Installation is easy, and the entire setup process can be completed in less than a minute. When it’s time to pack up, the grate can easily be washed and stored with the stake in a heavy duty nylon bag for storage and transport.
The last feature of the Stromberg Stake and Grille that we love is the presence of up-turned edges on the grill grate. It’s a nice safety measure that ensures your rogue hot dogs or sausages won’t roll off of the grate even if the grate was set up at a slight angle.
Things We Like
- Adjustable height stake and grate design
- High quality stainless steel material used for construction
- Heavy duty nylon bag for easy storage and transport
- Large grilling grate with 330 square inches of cooking surface area
- Up-turned grate edges
- Direct heat grilling & also will support cast iron pots and pans
Things We Don’t
- Relatively speaking, the price is above average for a campfire grill
What to Look For In the Best Campfire Grill
When comparing different campfire grills, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not know which features are actually important, and which are just marketing nonsense. Here’s our quick no-nonsense list of the features you should look for when comparing one best campfire grill to another.
Mounting Style
Some campfire grills are designed to be stand alone and some are mounted on a stake. Freestanding ones are probably a tiny bit more user friendly, but lack the ability to adjust the distance your grates rest above your fire.
Stake mounted grates on the other hand are generally more versatile, as you can easily adjust how high and far away they are set over your fire.
Generally speaking, we definitely prefer stake mounted grates simply because they offer more versatility – but they typically cost more. So if you’re on a budget or don’t mind a simple and straightforward grate, then a freestanding grate could be a great fit for you.
Direct Surface Grilling
Pay attention to whether or not the grate is safe for direct surface grilling. You’d be surprised to know that many campfire grates actually aren’t safe for food to cook directly on them. The reason is typically because a cheaper type of metal is used for the grates which are painted during the construction process.
Even though the paint might not be dangerous per se, you most definitely don’t want it coming off of your grate and getting into your food. It’s gross at a minimum and potentially toxic.
Painted grates are fine, you just need to understand that you’ll be cooking your food in pots or pans that sit on top of your grate.
If you prefer the luxury of direct cooking, make sure your grates are food safe – and most preferably made of stainless steel or cast iron.
Size
This might sound like a “duh” thing to bring up, but size is important. Think about how many campers you’ll typically be cooking for, and ensure that you have enough grilling surface area to accommodate.
It’s not a big deal if you have to make a few batches of hot dogs or burgers, but I promise the last thing you want to do all day is be on grill duty while everyone else enjoys the outdoors.
Price
This one might also sound obvious, but think about your budget. For reference, you can get an extremely cheap freestanding, non-direct grilling grate for around $20. On the more expensive end for premium campfire grills, expect to pay closer to $200. There also are many options in between those two price points!
Final Thoughts
I hope this round up of the best campfire grills has been beneficial to you! Camping and cooking go hand in hand as far as I’m concerned, and well cooked campfire food is sure to make a great meal and great memories.
Which campfire grill did you end up with? We’d love to hear which one you got in the comments section below!
Check out our reviews of the best portable propane fire pits next if you want to take a look at another great camping accessory!
