Gas or charcoal camping barbecue: what the pitch allows

You are standing at the open boot on a Friday evening, choosing a gas or charcoal camping barbecue, with a foil tray still in the supermarket bag. The booking said barbecues were welcome. On a Camping and Caravanning Club pitch, the site policy is the page that decides. Read it again in the week you travel, because wording that runs until further notice can stay up for a season.

In short

On a Club pitch, cook outside on a portable barbecue raised off the ground, and treat disposable barbecues as not permitted until the Club changes that notice. A reusable charcoal tray is a separate product from a foil tray, and both fuels stay out of the awning. Choose charcoal where the site allows coals and you want smoke; choose gas where you want a flame without that wait, with a valve you have already matched to a cartridge.

What the pitch actually restricts

The Camping and Caravanning Club site policies allow a portable barbecue outside, raised off the ground, and they forbid taking that barbecue into the unit because of carbon monoxide. Campfires are prohibited, and disposable barbecues were not permitted on Club sites until further notice. A farm field, a Certificated Location or a forestry car park can publish a stricter sheet, so pack for the pitch on your booking and read its current page the week you leave.

Outdoor barbecues remain allowed in a smoke control area, where GOV.UK treats chimney smoke as the restricted part. In England the published ceiling is up to £300 for chimney smoke and up to £1,000 for buying unauthorised fuel for a non-approved appliance. A Club pitch still runs on its own notice, and smoke that fills the next awning can be a statutory nuisance.

Bradford's moorland order is a different map: barbecues are banned on the mapped moor until 30 June 2028, with a stated penalty of £100. A valley pitch can allow a raised grill while the path onto that moor does not. Your pitch, that moor and a neighbour's chimney are three permissions.

Keep both fuels out of the awning

Rain is when the cooker creeps under the canvas. The Club's camping safety advice keeps cooking out of the tent and the awning, because barbecues produce carbon monoxide. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service says open flaps are not enough, and the Health and Safety Executive describes carbon monoxide as colourless and odourless. If the wind blows the flame out, or if you smell gas, shut the fuel off and leave the burner outside to cool. If a cartridge is venting or on fire, move people away and call 999. A camping cartridge stays unmodified. Fixed caravan pipework is for a Gas Safe engineer.

Portable charcoal grill vs gas, once the pitch allows both

A portable charcoal grill vs gas, once the pitch allows both, is a choice about smoke, waiting and mess. A search for charcoal or gas bbq for camping is usually that Friday shop. Coals produce the smoke on a smoky flavour camping grill; an LPG burner heats the plate without it. These listings contain no taste panel, so flavour gets no score: charcoal when the site allows solid fuel and you want smoke, gas when you want a visible flame straight away.

The England fire-safety leaflet, updated 25 May 2022, is the sheet to follow with charcoal. Keep the barbecue out of tents, awnings and caravans, use about 5 cm of charcoal and no more, and keep petrol and paraffin off the lighting. Cold ashes go on bare soil once the grill has cooled. A plastic bin is the wrong container. On a tiny tray, Charmline's note of below half the tray is tighter than 5 cm.

Reusable trays in that set state about 0.4 kg to 2.81 kg. The George Foreman shows 10 kg in one field and 7.5 kg in the bullets, and the Attitude2go bullets say 13 kg, so plan the lift on the heavier figure. UK reviews of the smaller Party Grills say sausages slide on the domed plate.

Campsite barbecue fuel the notice actually names

Campsite barbecue fuel, including the disposable bbq or gas stove choice, is three products people bag as one: a foil tray, loose coals and a canister. A disposable barbecue is charcoal sealed in a single-use tray, which is what the Club notice names. On 14 August 2026 the Office for Product Safety and Standards asked suppliers not to supply those trays while the guidelines stand. The page was still up on 15 October 2026, with no withdrawal date in what we read. A folding tray you cool and take home sits outside that definition.

The portable grill comparison holds eleven reusable charcoal listings from amazon.co.uk, saved on 15 October 2026, from £8.99 to £34.99, and every kept listing is charcoal. The Odoland at £34.99 is a fire-pit bowl, a poor match on Club pitches, where campfires are prohibited. Loose coals suit a folding tray when that pitch still allows a reusable solid-fuel barbecue. A sheet that says gas only, or no charcoal, means the bag stays at the shop, and if the sheet is silent you ask before you light.

Match the gas fitting before you pack

The camping gas barbecue set is twelve listings from the same day, from £34.99 to £322.01, and a fitting is named only when the copy names one. A Campingaz Party Grill follows the gas notice, and a charcoal tray follows the solid-fuel notice. Party Grill models name CV 470 Plus, and the 200 instructions allow only CV 470 Plus or CV 300 Plus, warn that other brands may be dangerous, and tell you to screw the cartridge about one sixth of a turn until it clicks. A CV cartridge and an EN 417 screw canister are different parts.

The Greenfields YC8501, B0CX535H9S, was £34.99, and its fuel field says only Gas, so match a photo of your canister to the unnamed valve. The ROVSUN, B0D1X5R7GH, was £74.99, with a propane hose and regulator in the bullets, and fuel is extra unless a components line includes it. The Party Grill 400, B01MDQYA48, was £96.01. UK reviews of that ASIN say the cartridge the components line mentions was missing, a retailer matter under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22, and its 30-day short-term right to reject. Below 0 °C butane struggles, so check the mix before a cold weekend.

The one dual-fuel listing in this gas set

One row in the twelve offers both fuels: the CAMPLUX FoldGo FG16GB, ASIN B0GHQFBW1M, at £99.99 on amazon.co.uk on 15 October 2026, rated 4.6 from 24 reviews. The bullets say 2.8 kg, a fold to 10.5 cm, a grid of 32 by 23.5 cm, and standard gas canisters or charcoal, with the thread unnamed. One review describes a walk to Loch Muick and a folded size of about 34 by 17 cm, which is that reviewer's measurement. The current UK page is the CAMPLUX FoldGo FG16GB.

At 2.8 kg it sits with the heavier folding charcoal trays, up to about 2.81 kg, while the lidded gas grills at 10 kg and 13 kg are a different lift. The pitch still decides whether you may light charcoal. Standard is not a thread name, so match the valve to a cartridge you already own. The bullets say assembly takes about 60 seconds with no tools; one review says five minutes with poorly translated instructions. A Campingaz cartridge that does not seat leaves the same unnamed valve as the Greenfields.

Where to compare next

Open the camping gas barbecue comparison when the pitch allows LPG and you want fitting, plate and weight in one table. The cartridge or cylinder page separates CV 470 Plus, an EN 417 screw cartridge, a disposable propane cylinder and a UK hose. The campsite page covers permission and carbon monoxide for a gas cooker on a pitch.

Open the portable grill comparison for a reusable charcoal tray in the £8.99 to £34.99 band from 15 October 2026. The small charcoal barbecue comparison is the compact solid-fuel set. Shelf prices are amazon.co.uk figures from 15 October 2026, with no separate lab cook. None of the listings prints a UKCA mark or a British Standard number for the model. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.