Portable gear, bought and tested by a real dad in a small apartment.

Review

PK PKTX review: one trip from the van, burgers on in about 30 minutes

I cooked burgers on it at Liberty State Park. Grill and charcoal went from the van to the table in one trip, and food was on about 30 minutes after I parked.

Mister Portable · 4 min read
Comic illustration of the silver PK PKTX charcoal grill and smoker closed on its folding cart, side shelf out

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The short version

PK PKTX charcoal grill and smoker with cart

Price
$599.99
Best for
Someone who wants to cook anywhere

What's good

  • The cart. The grill and the charcoal went from the van to the picnic table in one 10 minute roll.
  • Food was on the grill about 30 minutes after I parked. Setup at the table took 5 minutes.
  • One capsule that grills and smokes. I have done burgers, turkey wings and ribs on it.
  • Nothing went wrong.

What isn't

  • No bungee cords in the box. The cart has six bungee points, and you bring your own cords. That is the missing point.

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I cooked burgers on the PK PKTX at Liberty State Park. About 30 minutes after I parked, the food was on the grill. Ten of those minutes went to rolling the grill from the van to the picnic table, and five went to setting it up. Nothing went wrong.

That half hour is the whole review. The rest of this post explains how it happened.

The numbers

All of these come from that one cook at Liberty State Park. I timed them myself.

WhatNumber
Parking to food on the grillAbout 30 minutes
Roll from the van to the picnic table10 minutes, mixed surfaces
Grill setup at the table, before lighting5 minutes
Charcoal for the burgersAbout 5 lbs of briquettes
Grill temperature when the burgers went onAround 400 to 450 F, held there
Cool-down before it went back on the cartAbout 45 minutes

What it is

The PKTX is a single capsule that works as a grill and as a smoker. There is no separate smoker box. It is the “best overall” pick in my guide to the grills that fit in the van, and this is the long version of why. The capsule is cast aluminum, and four vent slides control the heat. With the slides open you get direct heat, which is how I cooked the burgers. Set for less airflow, the capsule holds a lower, indirect heat for a longer cook, and that is how I have smoked burgers, turkey wings and ribs on it.

Comic illustration of a roast on the PK PKTX grate with the lid open and a small skillet beside it
It smokes too. Burgers, turkey wings and ribs.

The capsule sits on a folding aluminum cart with 5 inch rubber wheels, a side tray with a cup holder, and six bungee points. There is no power cord, because there is nothing to plug in.

Comic illustration of the PK PKTX cart's folding aluminum frame and its two rubber wheels
5 inch rubber wheels on a folding aluminum cart.

The cart does not come with bungee cords. I use my own, and they come up in every section that follows.

How it rides in the van

I drive a 2011 Chrysler Town and Country. Its second-row seats are Stow ‘n Go seats: each one folds forward into a bin under the floor, and a panel closes over the bin to make a flat floor. I stow only the middle left seat. The cart folds, and the grill lies flat on that panel, not down in the open bin.

Before the grill gets anywhere near the van, I strap the capsule to the cart with bungee cords. Then it goes in through the left sliding door and slides onto the middle-left floor.

One of the kids sits in the middle right seat, right beside it. The capsule has never slid over toward that seat, and everyone in the family still has a place to sit.

Comic illustration of the inside of a minivan through an open sliding door, one second-row seat stowed and the silver PK PKTX capsule on its folded cart laying flat on that floor
Middle left seat stowed. The grill rides on the flat floor, not in the bin.

The roll

At the park the bungee cords stay on. The grill comes out of the van on its cart, the charcoal bag goes on top, and I roll the whole thing to the table. I carry the tool box and the chimney by hand.

The walk from where I parked to the picnic table at Liberty State Park took 10 minutes, over a mix of surfaces, and I made it once. The grill and the charcoal arrived together.

Comic illustration of the PK PKTX tilted back on its cart wheels and being pulled along by the handle
The roll to the table: 10 minutes, on a mix of surfaces.

At the table

At the table the bungee cords come off, and I set the grill up before I light any charcoal. Setup took 5 minutes.

Besides the grill and the charcoal, I brought a Milwaukee tool box with lighters, fire starters, gloves and thermometers, and a folding charcoal chimney to get the coals going.

Comic illustration of the PK PKTX with the lid open, a gloved hand lifting the cooking grate to show the charcoal grate underneath
Inside the capsule. The cooking grate lifts out; the coals sit on the grate under it.

The cook

I used about 5 pounds of briquettes. When the burgers went on, the thermometer read somewhere between 400 and 450 F, and it stayed there. I set the vent slides once and did not touch them again.

Comic illustration of the top of the PK PKTX lid, close on one of the vent slides and the cast PK badge
Four vent slides. Open to grill, set for airflow to smoke.

Packing up

The park has charcoal dump cans, so the coals went in there.

Then I waited about 45 minutes for the grill to cool, strapped the capsule back onto the cart, and loaded it into the van. Between trips it lives in the van or in a storage facility, and it stays on the cart.

What bugs me

Nothing about the grill itself. The point it loses is for what is missing from the box. The cart has six bungee points and comes without a single bungee cord, and as the van section shows, the cords are what make the whole trip work. I bought my own.

The specs that matter

  • One capsule that grills and smokes, cast aluminum. Direct heat for hot and fast, indirect heat for longer cooks.
  • Four vent slides for heat zones and airflow.
  • Cook top about 22.5 by 15.2 inches.
  • Folding cart with 5 inch rubber wheels.
  • Cart extras: a side tray with a cup holder and an accessory bar, six bungee points, and dual ash trays.
  • No power cord. There is nothing to plug in.
  • No bungee cords in the box. Bring your own.

Who it’s for

Someone who wants to cook anywhere. I paid $599.99 at Home Depot, and Amazon carries it too. I give it 9 out of 10, and the cart is what I like most about it.