Traeger Ranger vs Everdure by Heston Blumenthal Cube: which portable barbecue is right for you?

As summer finally rolls around, you're most likely going to want to celebrate with friends and family and what better way than with a BBQ. To help, we've found the best small portable barbecues for every need and today we're comparing the Traeger Ranger and Everdure by Heston Blumenthal Cube to find the very best.

Unlike larger barbecues, which are bulky and very hard to move, a portable barbecue is perfect for taking places, like the beach or a campsite, and bringing the smoked goodness with you. We're huge fans of the simplicity and ease of a BBQ and making things portable quickly expands where you can have one.

Want something a bit bigger? Check out our guide to the best barbecues, which is has everything from charcoal to gas to electric. We also have plenty of helpful guides to go with your BBQ, including the best BBQ accessories and meat thermometers.

So, let's get your summer sorted and jump into our guide for the best portable barbecue, pitting the Traeger Ranger and Everdure by Heston Blumenthal Cube against each other.

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Traeger Ranger vs Everdure Cube: features

Before we go any further, it's important to note that these are two absolutely fantastic portable barbecues, both of which will cook pretty much whatever you want with ease and in style. They have their differences, but we heartedly recommend either or both. 

Of the two, Everdure's is the smaller and more compact, weighing in at just 8 kgs with a grill size of 10 inches. Traeger's is much bulkier, weighing 27 kgs with a grill size of 184 sq. inches. In reality, this means that only one of these – the Everdure – is portable in the truest sense of the word.

However, for those who plan to mount the Traeger on the back of a motorhome or RV, it's still portable enough to make the cut, especially when compared to some of the truly enormous models found in our best barbecue guide.

In terms of cooking, this is where the Ranger excels: Traeger have used a clever combination of wood pellets, electricity, and computing to give your food a clean, even cook without too much input, perfect for when you're hosting. Everdure, on the other hand, is a more traditional charcoal-toting BBQ, with all of the pros and cons that follow. 

Due to its smart nature, the Traeger sports a maximum temperature of 241˚C, above the stated 230˚C, which means you can use it to cook pretty much everything, including steaks, something that many pellet grills don't do so well on. 

• Read our five-star Traeger Ranger review

Traeger Ranger vs Everdure Cube: design and use

As briefly mentioned, the two models have somewhat similar physical dimensions but differ greatly on weight. The Ranger is, by almost all measures, not that portable, which doesn't detract from its other qualities, while Everdure's Cube could be moved around quickly easily by most people. 

The Ranger's insides are neatly divided into two sections, a 3.6kg pellet hopper and 184 sq. inch non-stick grill, and much of the actual cooking hard work is alleviated by the Digital Arc controller, which helps set the overall temperature in five increments. 

While it does take some of the fun out of BBQs – or some of the unpredictability, we should say – it makes cooking stuff, the central use of a barbecue, really quickly and easy, freeing you up to host, prepare rolls, make a salad, drink a beer, or whatever else you want to do. 

The Everdure is a lot simpler and a lot closer to what you might think of when you think "BBQ": a simple grill, two handles on the side, and a space for charcoal underneath, which provides the oomph. The design is really elegant and thought-out, a big plus for showing off to guests. Plus, the lid also serves as a cutting board.

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Traeger Ranger vs Everdure Cube: verdict

To summarise, both of these barbecues are excellent and work really well in our testing, delivering on the promise of portability without harming other important areas. 

If you want something truly truly portable, the winner is clear: Everdure's Cube weighs just 8kg and can therefore easily be moved from place to place with minimal hassle. While it doesn't have all of the fanciness inside the Traeger Ranger, it does work at its core task: cooking stuff you put on the grill. 

For those who want something fancier, the Traeger Ranger is absolutely stunning: easy-to-use and powerful, with detailed controls that govern temperatures and mean you don't have the usual panic of irreparably burning the sausages when you took your eyes off the BBQ for a moment at the end. 

We think the Traeger Ranger is one of the best barbecues going, of all types, and should be considered in this way: ideal for buying for your own home and then occasionally transporting around on the back of a motorhome. 

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