Legs, Rings or Backpacks: The Best Campfire Grill Grate

A campfire grill grate is the plainest piece of outdoor cooking gear there is: a steel or titanium rack that holds food, or a pan, a few inches above a bed of coals. In a Mexican kitchen that is close to the oldest way of cooking there is. Carne asada over mesquite, blistered chiles for salsa, a comal of tortillas warming at the edge of the fire: all of it needs nothing more than steady heat and something solid to set the food on.

What separates one grate from another is less obvious than it looks. Size, legs, how it folds, what it is made of and whether it will sit on the fire ring at your campsite all matter more than the brand. This guide names the grates worth packing, sets out what each maker actually states about them, and explains how to cook over a fire safely and within the rules.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a restaurant kitchen looks for in live-fire cooking gear, the makers’ own specifications and the Amazon listings, which we cite.

Quick verdict: which campfire grill grate to pack

The other four cover cast iron cookware over the fire, backpacking, a height-adjustable griddle on a stake, and the lightest grate we found.

Five campfire grates side by side

Five of the seven, one for each kind of camper, with the details each maker or listing gives. All seven are described in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Sizes are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best campfire grill grate

These seven cover the main ways people cook over a campfire: a big grate on legs, a smaller one on legs, a round grate that rests on a fire ring, a stand made for heavy cast iron, two pocket-sized plates for backpackers, and a griddle that adjusts up and down a stake. For each one we give what the maker or listing states and one honest reason to skip it. We have not cooked on these grates ourselves; where we describe how one works, we say whose information it is.

How to choose a campfire grate

Five questions decide which grate suits you. Work through them in order, because the first one rules out half the field.

1. How you get to camp

If you drive to the site, weight hardly matters and a big grate on legs such as the Camp Chef or a folding round grate is the most useful. If you walk in, look at folding plates such as Branded Boards or iBasingo, and accept that you will cook for one or two.

2. What the fire sits in

A campground steel ring suits a rimless round grate, as long as it is wider than the ring’s opening; measure first. Open ground or a rock circle needs a grate with legs, or one you can rest on rocks. A grate on legs also works inside a large ring, provided the legs fit within it.

3. Legs and height

The height of the grate above the coals is your heat control. Fixed legs, like Rome’s 12-inch ones, give you a known height and you build the coal bed to suit; an adjustable stake like GameMaker’s lets you raise and lower the food instead. Where a maker does not state leg height, as Camp Chef does not, set it up at home before your trip.

4. Material and gauge

Plated and chrome-plated steel are the classic camp grate materials: strong and inexpensive. Stainless steel resists rust better, and titanium is the lightest and does not rust at all. Thickness matters as much as metal; Rome openly says its small grill uses thinner gauge steel than its large one. If you plan to set heavy cast iron on a grate, choose the heaviest grate you can carry, or a stand built for the job, such as Lodge’s.

5. Bars, mesh or solid

Wide bars give the best sear and smoke but drop small food. Close mesh, like REDCAMP’s diamond pattern, keeps sliced vegetables and shrimp on top. A solid griddle keeps everything out of the fire, which suits eggs, potatoes and tortillas but gives up the grill marks.

How we chose these seven grates

We started from what a kitchen asks of any cooking surface over live fire: a stable base, enough room for the meal, a material that will survive the heat, and a way to control that heat. We then searched Amazon US for campfire grates and over-fire grills from identifiable makers, and checked every pick’s stock with the Amazon product data when we wrote this page. We took specifications from the makers’ own stores where we could read them (Camp Chef, Rome Industries and Lodge) and otherwise from the brand’s own Amazon listing, and we say which in each review. We left out listings from sellers with no identifiable brand, grates that were low in stock, near-duplicates of a pick, and products sold only as multi-packs. We have not cooked on these grates ourselves, and we report what the makers state rather than claims we could not check.

Cooking over a campfire, safely and within the rules

Before you pack a grate, check whether you can have a fire at all. The Forest Service’s Smokey Bear campaign advises calling or checking online for fire restrictions where you are going, and not building a fire where campground rules or local laws prohibit it. Restrictions change with the season and the weather, so check close to your trip.

Where fires are allowed, Smokey Bear’s guidance is to use an existing fire pit with a metal ring or rock circle, keep the fire small, and clear the area around it. The U.S. Fire Administration advises building campfires at least 25 feet from tents, shrubs and anything that can burn. Keep children and pets back, and never walk away from a fire; as Smokey Bear puts it, “If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave.”

Cook over coals, not flames. Let the wood burn down to a bed of glowing embers, which give steadier, more even heat than a roaring fire and are the bed Camp Chef tells you to build under its grill. Good leather gloves and long tongs make moving a hot grate much safer; see our guide to the best grill glove.

When you are done, put the fire out completely. Smokey Bear’s method is drown, stir, drown and feel: pour plenty of water on the fire until the hissing stops, stir the ashes and embers with a shovel, add more water, then hold the back of your hand over the ashes to check they are cool before you leave. Let the grate cool fully before you pack it, and brush it clean once it is cold.

Campfire grate questions, answered

Can you put a grill grate directly on a campfire?

Yes, if it is supported above the coals: on its own legs, on the rim of a fire ring, or on stable rocks. Do not let it sit directly in the fire, which leaves no room for air and puts the food in the flames. Let the fire burn down to coals before you cook.

What size campfire grate do I need?

For one or two backpackers, a 6 by 12-inch plate is enough. For two or three people, something around 16 by 11 inches, like the Rome. For a family or a group, 24 by 16 inches or a 24-inch round grate gives room for meat and a pan at once.

Will a grate fit a campground fire ring?

A rimless grate has to be wider than the ring’s opening. Rome Industries notes that many campgrounds use 24-inch truck rims as fire rings, so measure your ring before relying on a 24-inch grate. A grate with legs avoids the problem if the legs fit inside the ring.

Can you put cast iron on a campfire grate?

Yes, on a sturdy one. Camp Chef suggests a skillet on its Lumberjack grill. For heavy pans and Dutch ovens, a stand made for the job, such as Lodge’s, is the steadier choice. See our guide to the best cast iron skillet for the pan itself.

How do you clean a campfire grate?

Let it cool, then scrape and brush off the residue. Ash and soot rinse off with water at home. Store plated steel dry so it does not rust, and keep a soot-blackened grate in its own bag, away from the rest of your gear.

Our final pick for cooking over a campfire

Buy the Camp Chef Lumberjack if you car camp with family and want one grate that grills and holds a pan. Choose the Rome Pioneer if you want legs in a smaller, lighter grate, the REDCAMP round grate if your sites have steel fire rings, and Lodge’s stand if you cook in cast iron. For backpacking, the Branded Boards plate folds into a pack, and the iBasingo titanium plate is the lightest of all.

If you would rather keep the fire contained, our guides to the best fire pit grill and the best fire pit cover backyard options, and the best camping charcoal grill covers portable grills that burn charcoal instead of wood. For the backyard, see the best charcoal grill.

Related guide: Best pie iron.

And when you are back from the campsite and would rather someone else did the cooking, see the menu or call to order.