What Is a Collapsible Charcoal Grill?
A plain-English explanation of collapsible (flat pack) charcoal grills: how the plates lock together, why they pack flat, and what they do well.
A collapsible charcoal grill is a grill that comes apart. Instead of a welded box or a bowl on legs, it is made of flat panels that join together into a firebox when you want to cook and separate again when you are done. Packed, it is a stack of plates. Set up, it is a solid grill that holds charcoal or wood, takes a grate or griddle on top, and stands up off the ground.
The basic parts
- End pieces that form the short walls and often the legs.
- Side panels that form the long walls and the floor of the firebox.
- A bottom or spine on some designs that stiffens the body and catches ash.
- Grates that sit on or inside the top of the body, and on some grills griddle plates that swap in for a grate.
On the Slot Grill, the panels join with tabs that drop into slots (that is where the name comes from). There are no hinges, no bolts to thread before cooking and no tools. The Slot Grill's makers say most owners set it up or take it down in about 30 to 60 seconds once they have done it a couple of times.
Collapsible, hinged, flat pack: same thing?
People use the words loosely. In practice there are two families of grills that pack down:
| Type | How it packs | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Hinged grills | Legs or walls swing on hinges or pins | Quick to open when new; with use the hinges collect grease and ash and can warp slightly from heat, so the hinge becomes a failure point |
| Flat pack (knock-down) grills | Separate panels come fully apart and stack | The panels are not attached to each other, so there is no hinge to fail or get hard to operate |
The Slot Grill is a flat pack grill. The third type is the fixed, fully assembled grill. For more on the trade-offs see flat pack vs hinged vs fixed grills.
What a collapsible grill does well
- Storage. A flat stack slides behind a seat, under a bed, into a camp box or onto a garage shelf. The Compact packs to about 1" thick and the Full Size to about 1.25".
- Real fire. It is a charcoal grill, not a stove. You get direct heat, smoke and sear.
- Choice of fuel. Both Slot Grill models burn charcoal or clean cooking wood.
- Cleaning. Flat plates are easy to scrape, wipe and oil.
What it asks of you
Raw carbon steel needs a little care: season it, keep the cooking surfaces lightly oiled and store it dry. The grill has no lid, so you cook with direct and indirect zones rather than closing the cover; see two-zone fires. And like every charcoal grill, it goes on a stable, non-combustible surface outdoors.
The two Slot Grills at a glance
| Compact | Full Size | |
|---|---|---|
| Steel | 12-gauge carbon steel | 10-gauge carbon steel |
| Cooking area | 16.25" × 9" | 20.5" × 11.25" |
| Weight, grill only | About 14 lb | About 27.6 lb |
| Packs to | About 1" | About 1.25" |
| Air gap | 2⅞" | 3⅝" |
Figures from SlotGrill.com. For the full breakdown, see Compact vs Full Size.
Questions people ask
Is a collapsible grill as sturdy as a fixed one?
It depends on the steel. The Slot Grill uses 12-gauge carbon steel on the Compact and 10-gauge on the Full Size, and its makers state both are strong enough for cast iron.
Does a collapsible grill need tools?
Not the Slot Grill. It assembles by hand with tab and slot, with no tools and no hinges.