Grilla Chimp Review: Testing What Portable Actually Means

Being clear about it: affiliate links sit in this article and a purchase through one earns us a commission. Three of the sections below exist to talk you out of assumptions about this grill.

Portable is doing a lot of work in the marketing for this thing.

The legs fold. It goes in a truck. Both true. But this Grilla Chimp review is going to spend a while on what portable costs you in practice, because there are three details that catch buyers out and none of them appear in the product photos.

None of which is a reason to dismiss it. As a portable pellet grill it cooks genuinely well, which is the part that matters most and the part I'll get to.

The Specs

1. $559.99 through retailers
2. 460 square inches total, 340 on the main grate and 120 on the upper shelf
3. 15 lb pellet hopper
4. 90 lbs, with snap-lock folding legs
5. Runs 250°F for smoking through to 500°F for searing
6. WiFi controller with app and a meat probe included
7. Stainless steel build, side exhaust vents rather than a chimney

That 460 square inches is the number that surprises people. It's not a tiny grill trying to be cute. That's enough surface for a rack of ribs and sides at the same time, on something you can fold up and put in a car.

Reality Check One: Ninety Pounds

Read that again. Ninety.

The legs fold and there's a handle, and none of that changes the fact that lifting ninety pounds into a truck bed is a two-person job or a very careful one-person job. This isn't a cooler you swing into the boot.

Portable here means it moves between fixed locations. House to campsite. Garage to tailgate. It does not mean you'll casually carry it anywhere, and anybody imagining a grab-and-go picnic grill is picturing the wrong product.

Reality Check Two: It Needs Electricity

Pellet grills have augers and fans, and augers and fans need power. The Chimp is no exception, and this is the detail that ruins more tailgates than any other.

Grilla sells a portable power station separately for off-grid use, which tells you the company knows it's a real limitation. Budget for that, or check the campsite has a hookup, or bring a generator.

If you were planning to smoke ribs in a field with nothing but the grill, this is the paragraph that saves your weekend.

Reality Check Three: Pellet Maths

Here's a genuinely useful number that testing produced.

Over a weekend of cooking, roughly 9 to 10 hours in total, testers finished with 4 to 5 lbs still in a 15 lb hopper. Run the arithmetic and you land near 1.1 lbs of pellets an hour, which means a full hopper covers something like 13 hours of cooking.

That's a full brisket with room spare. It also means a 20 lb bag of pellets is roughly two long cooks, so pack accordingly rather than guessing.

Buy Now

How It Actually Cooks

This is the part where the Chimp stops apologising for its size.

Four different cooking styles, one small grill, and the summary from testing was that it “traveled easily, performed perfectly both in low and high heat.” The TempTamer system is designed to claw temperature back quickly after you open the lid, which matters more on a small chamber than a big one, because small chambers lose heat fast.

The App

WiFi control with a meat probe in the box, which at this price is not a given.

Practical value on a portable grill is higher than it sounds. You're often cooking somewhere you'd rather not stand around, so watching the temperature from a phone while you're doing something else is the whole point.

Chimp 1.0 or Chimp 2.0?

Both versions are on the market, so check which one a listing is actually selling before you order. The core proposition, folding tailgater with WiFi, carries across both.

Who Should Buy It

Campers, tailgaters, anyone with a small patio, and anyone who wants pellet cooking without committing a whole corner of the garden to it. On performance per square foot it's hard to argue with.

Skip it if you were expecting genuinely light, if you cook where there's no power, or if you need a bigger cooking area than 460 square inches at home. Grilla's larger models make more sense for a permanent backyard setup.

Anyone landing on a Grilla Chimp review while comparing it against the cheap portable pellet grill options on Amazon should note the gap in cooking area. Most of those sit well under 300 square inches.

Final Verdict

The Chimp cooks like a full-size pellet grill that happens to fold, which is exactly what you want and genuinely impressive at $559.99. It loses points only on the word portable, because ninety pounds plus a mains cable is a different kind of portable than most buyers picture. Know that going in and this is one of the better tailgating cookers you can buy.

Want a flat top instead of grates for camp breakfasts? Grilla's griddle covers that job, and we broke it down in our Grilla Grills Primate review.

FAQs

What is the Grilla Chimp price?

Around $559.99 through retailers, though Grilla discounts its range regularly, so check direct pricing too.

How much can you cook on it?

460 square inches across two levels, 340 on the main grate plus a 120 square inch upper shelf.

Does it need to be plugged in?

Yes. It's a pellet grill, so the auger and fan need power. Grilla sells a portable power station separately for off-grid cooking.

How long does a hopper of pellets last?

Testing worked out to roughly 1.1 lbs an hour, so a full 15 lb hopper runs somewhere around 13 hours.

Is the Grilla Chimp actually portable?

It folds and it travels, but it weighs 90 lbs. Think campsite and tailgate rather than hiking it anywhere.

How hot does it get?

Up to 500°F, which is enough to sear a steak after a low-temperature start.

Pricing was accurate at the time of writing and Grilla runs frequent promotions, so confirm the current price before ordering.