If you’re choosing between Hasty Bake and PK grills, you’ve come to the right place!
In today’s article, I’ll provide you with a brief comparison that puts Hasty Bake vs PK Grill, so you can choose the one that suits you best.
If you want to enjoy the authentic smokey flavor in your steaks and meat, you should always go for a charcoal grill!
The thing is, there are plenty of options on the market, which makes it difficult to pick the right one for your needs.
So without further ado, let’s dive in and see what these two charcoal grill brands have to offer!

Brief Overview of Hasty Bake Grills
Hasty Bake is one of the pioneers in the outdoor grills industry.
The company was founded by Grant Hastings in the late 40s of the last century and produced their first charcoal grill around the same time.
The company specializes in making charcoal grills and was the first to introduce popular concepts to this day, such as portable and hooded grills to make grilling more efficient.
The company was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, all their grills remain manufactured there to this day.
Hasty Bake is known for its design quality and using premium grade stainless steel in its manufacturing process.
Brief Overview of PK Grills
Similar to Hast Bake, PK Grills also has over 70 years of experience when Hilton Meigs made his iconic barbecue grill in Texas back in the early 1950s.
The grill was made from cast aluminum and had the name of “Portable Kitchen Grill”, hence the name of the company.
During that time, the grill has seen a huge success thanks to its combination of material quality, ease of use, corrosion resistance, and heat retention.
In fact, this model is so legendary that it remains one of the most popular charcoal grills on the market to this day.
How Do Hasty Bake and PK Grills Compare?
Now that you know more about both Hasty Bake and PK Grills, it’s time to take an in-depth look at what both brands offer in their products.
Ideally, the best way to choose between two brands of grills is to compare them according to the following aspects, so here’s what each of them has to offer:
Durability and Materials Used
Let’s start with one of the most obvious differences between the two, which is the materials used to build their grills.
On one hand, Hasty Bake mainly uses premium stainless steel to make their grills. This one is known as “304 stainless steel”, which is the same one used in stainless steel cooking pans.
On the other hand, PK Grills are made of high quality cast aluminum. Both stainless steel and cast aluminum are excellent when it comes to rust resistance and being easy to wipe and clean.
Stainless steel is more durable than aluminum but is equally durable to cast aluminum. In other words, both of these grills will stand the test of time and continuous use.
Heat Retention and Distribution
Another property that the material used can control is the heat retention.
What you should know here is that aluminum is a much superior material when it comes to heat conduction, especially when compared to stainless steel
This means that PK Grill is more reliable when it comes to creating different heat zones and allowing the grill to heat up much faster.
This also makes grilling and searing, cooking, and temperature control far easier when compared to stainless steel.
Models Available
When it comes to the variety of models, Hasty Bake offers more options to choose from.
For instance, Hasty Bake makes over 15 different models of charcoal grills. The most popular ones are:
- The Legacy 131
- The Gourmet Pro 258
- The Suburban 414
- The Hasting 290C (most expensive model)
- HB250 Pro (most affordable model)
On the other hand, PK Grills has a smaller range of grill models, offering 7 different options, including:
- The Original PK Grill along with its enhanced modern edition
- The Original PK 300AF
- The PK TX
- The PK 360 (most expensive model)
- The PK GO
- The PK Go Hibachi (most affordable model)
Design and Portability
In terms of size and design, each one has its own style. However, most Hasty Bake grills are relatively larger than PK Grills.
For instance, the average cooking area in most Hasty Bake Grills are around 500 to 600+ square inches vs the average area of around 300 square inches in PK Grills.
However, PK grills are mainly designed for portability, which is one of the main reasons why they have a smaller cooking surface.
On the other hand, Hasty Bake is quite heavy and bulky to move around easily.
Value and Warranty
According to the pricing of both brands, PK Grills are remarkably more affordable and come at a reasonable price for its performance and build quality.
Hasty Bake makes excellent grills but they’re a little pricey for what they offer.
PK has a 20 year warranty on their cast aluminum body, which is one of the industry’s highest.
Hasty Bake offers a 10 year warranty on the stainless steel body and 5 years on parts and labor.
The Bottom Line: Which One is the Winner?
With that said, you now know all the main differences and similarities between Hasty Bake and PK Grills.
As you can see, the two brands are excellent choices for anyone looking for a smokey, juicy steak with a crusty exterior.
However, if I have to pick a winner here, I believe that this one should go to PK Grills for multiple reasons.
For starters, PK Grills are made of cast aluminum, which has the same corrosion resistance properties of Hasty Bake’s 304 stainless steel, except that it’s much lighter and even more affordable!
This makes PK Grills more practical and efficient, especially if you want to move them around and clean them properly.
In addition to its affordability and portability, aluminum conducts and distributes heat much better than stainless steel.