To help you keep the good vibes (and good food) going, we cooked burgers, barbecue, and chicken on seven top-rated grills—and researched dozens more—to find the best. No grill matches its combination of exceptional performance, durability, and value. If you want to use a wood pellet grill, you’ll definitely get great-tasting food, though you’ll have to plan in advance to have pellets on hand.
If other parts of the grill, like the knobs or ash catch, break, they can be replaced. Even if those parts are no longer under warranty, it’s more affordable to replace them than to buy a whole new grill. You can increase the longevity of your grill by keeping it covered when not in use, and storing it inside during harsh weather. A good gas grill should weber gas grill last a decade or more, provided that you clean it after every use and protect it from the elements. Weber, which makes all three of the grills we currently recommend, guarantees all major parts on our picks for at least 10 years. We can only imagine the crawling and contorting one must do to hook a full tank of liquid propane in that small cabinet.
Gas grills are simple to use, making them perfect for newbies. Most have plenty of room to fix a feast for the entire family too. If you’re worried about limited backyard space, it isn’t hard to track down a compact weber gas grill model to fuel your outdoor cooking adventures. Some of today’s best gas grills also come jam-packed with nifty extras, from side burners to special sear stations to built-in lighting for evening cooking.
And one of this guide’s writers, Lesley Stockton, owned the Spirit II E-210 for years; in her experience, it held a consistent temperature across the cooking grate, and flare-ups were never an issue. We had no issues with the meat sticking to the flat, porcelain-coated iron grates or problems with flare-ups, grease fires that produce charring and acrid smoke. We looked for flare-ups, excessive charring, or patties that were still unacceptably raw. A firebox—the lower half of the grill body, where the burners and grates are mounted—made from cast aluminum is rustproof and highly durable, likely to offer a decade or more of service. The Weber Genesis E-325s is a whole foot longer than the company’s Spirit II E-310, with 20% more cooking area.
If you have limited outdoor space or don’t want to commit to a larger grill, the Weber Spirit II E-210 is a smaller, two-burner version of our pick, and it’s a great choice. Somewhat sheepishly, Mark called Weber and told the representative exactly what had happened. We are definitely not saying that you should leave your grease trap full. But if you do, the warranty and customer service are absolutely worth the small premium you pay for Weber grills over cheaper models from other brands. We brought the grills to temperature with their two outer burners lit and the middle burner unlit. Then we placed a chicken weighing 3 to 4 pounds in the center of the grate and closed the lid.
With probes in place, I could track what was happening without even moving from my rattan rocker, only getting up when the thermometer alarm beeped. Pretty much all I had to do was set the left dial to medium, close the lid, and crack a cold one. This puts the indirect zone—albeit a smaller one—in the center. The Broil King Signet 320 offered the highest British thermal unit figure (40,000 Btu) of the grills we tested in the $400 to $900 category, but this didn’t prove to be an advantage. In our burger test, the grill topped 700 °F after 15 minutes of heating, and as a result it blackened the patties. (“Tastes like a Marlboro,” said Sam Sifton.) It also ran too hot for our barbecue chicken, topping 450 °F on the lowest setting when our goal was a steady 375 °F.