The Best Grills of 2023

The Weber Spirit II E-310 may be the brand’s entry-level grill, but it won't act like a lesser product when it comes to performance.

It's our favorite grill to use, and produces perfect sear marks on burgers, evenly cooked chicken, and picture-perfect asparagus. It can’t hold quite as many burgers as our upgrade pick, the Weber Genesis II E-310, but the 18 or so burgers that do fit will be cooked evenly to perfection.

This propane gas grill is proof that BTUs are not the end-all-be-all in grill choice. Its 30,000 BTUs (or, 71 per square foot) cranks out an impressive amount of heat— it hits an impressive 400°F (which is 25 to 50 degrees hotter than some of the higher BTU grills we found).

We also loved some of the aesthetic features, and the grill itself felt well put together and built to last. They really thought of everything with this grill: a side-mounted propane tank with a gas meter, sturdy side tables, and grill grates that fit together perfectly.

It's also one of the few grills that has hooks on the side for hanging your grilling tools, and the Weber lids are the only ones designed to vent smoke away from tunneling into your face.

As a bonus, this grill is also iGrill3 (a Bluetooth-enabled thermometer that mounts permanently to the grill table and can send grilling alerts and data right to your smartphone) compatible. As compared to some other grills, the Weber is significantly easier to build, too. Although there were a lot of little parts to put together, the instruction manual was clear-cut and easy to understand.

The Weber Spirit II E-310 isn’t the cheapest grill on the market, but it’s absolutely worth the price. When you take all the factors into account—performance, ease of use, and aesthetic appearance—this grill was a no-brainer for our choice as Best Gas Grill.

Read More: The Best Gas Grills

The Napoleon Charcoal Kettle Grill is our favorite charcoal grill in our group. It aces cooking tasks and its design features set it apart from the competition.

For starters, it sits on four legs instead of the standard three that most kettle grills come with; making it both sturdy and stable. Its ash bucket is larger than most and has a wide-grip handle that keeps your hands nice and clean as you remove the ashes. Clipping the ash bucket into place was a bit tricky at first, but once you figure it out it will stay put without problem.

Finally, there’s the grill’s wide, round rim that rests in the middle of the coal bed while you’re cooking. Initially, we thought this rim was designed to keep the briquettes out of the center of the grill. However, we quickly realized that the rim’s metal heated up along with the coals, distributing the heat evenly throughout the grill.

When it comes to cooking on the Napoleon, we have no complaints. It proves capable of holding 12 to 13 burgers at a time and creates a gorgeous overall char when cooking over direct heat.

Raking the coals for indirect heat is nearly effortless; its wire cooking grate has hinges on each side that allows access to the briquettes underneath. Additionally, the vents on the top and bottom of the grill are easy to open and close.

All of this works together to create an ideal heat distribution for indirect heat cooking. Being able to control the airflow is important when cooking over charcoal; the bottom vents control the heat of the fire, while the top exhausts hot air and smoke out of the grill.

Read More: The Best Charcoal Grills

The Traeger Ironwood Wood Pellet Grill builds off of the incredible features of its predecessor, the Traeger Ironwood 650—with even more capability. It features the same incredible functionality, but it also boasts high-tech upgrades, like a full-color touchscreen, sleeker design, and customizable add-ons (like shelving, storage bins, and more).

During testing, we were blown away by the convenience provided by this smoker—which has only been enhanced by the handy Wi-Fi compatibility, offering hands-off control. We also fell in love with its consistently even heating, deliciously smoky results, and ample storage.

The high-tech features included on this model didn't hurt, either. We loved taking advantage of the Wi-Fi compatibility, modern touchscreen, and two built-in temperature control probes for easy cooking. We also appreciated the built-in lights that made nighttime cooking a breeze.

Even though the Traeger Ironwood comes with a hefty price tag, its versatility means it can perform as your go-to tool for smoking, grilling, baking, roasting, and more. And it will likely last you for years (or decades) to come.

Read the full Traeger Ironwood review here.

The Masterbuilt Thermotemp XL Propane Smoker is—by far—our favorite smoker to use.

It's the very definition of set-it-and-forget-it: Hook up the propane, turn the dial to the proposed temperature, hit the ignition switch, and away you go. An internal sensor adjusts the flame to maintain the target temp, all without any fiddling around to keep it there.

Not only that, but the wood chip bin that infuses the smoke into your food is large enough to hold two hours of chips at a time. That means you don’t have to run outside to keep feeding the smoker every hour, freeing you up to hang with your guests at the party, stay inside and watch football, or do anything else your heart desires while your food cooks.

When it comes to overall construction and design, we're pretty impressed. The smoker has four removable racks and features a large viewing window. The propane hookup even includes a tank fuel level gauge so you know how much propane is in the tank.

Overall, this thing is solid and sturdy, and we have no reason to believe this smoker wouldn’t last five years or longer with proper care.

That’s not to say there aren't a few hiccups along the way. This smoker takes over an hour to build with a lot of frustrating, unclear steps. It's so complicated, we accidentally omitted an essential part of the ignition hookup.

When we got ready to season the smoker (turning it to high heat for an hour to remove any odors and coatings from the production process), the smoker wouldn’t stay lit. Luckily, that provided the opportunity to test Masterbuilt’s customer service, which turned out to be top-notch.

Read More: The Best Affordable Smokers

The Weber Q 1200 immediately pulls away from the rest of the portable grills we found.

It has cast-iron grilling grates, giving beautiful, well-defined grill marks on burgers. Although it only has one burner, it's able to deliver a surprising amount of heat and consistency that allows for great grilling, cooking food evenly over its entire grilling surface. This is a grill that offers enough of a cooking area space to whip up food for a small crowd and packs up compact enough to disappear once your meal is done.

When it comes to features, the Q 1200 is one of the few portable grills we found that has side tables that are sturdy enough to hold a plate full of food.

The grill’s plastic side tables fold in to keep the grill compact for portability. It’s a good idea to stow the tables when the grill isn’t in use; these grills are light enough that the wind can catch the tables and blow the whole thing over! This light weight comes in handy when it comes to carrying the grill, and its handles are cool enough to hold even after cooking over high heat.

It's the small features that make the Weber Jumbo Joe stand out from the competition.

Most of the charcoal grills we found have no problem cooking delicious, smoke-infused burgers and chicken drumsticks, but the quantity of food they can handle is minimal. The Jumbo Joe, with its 240-square-inch cooking surface, allowed quantities that rival a full-sized grill.

The locking lid really puts it over the top, giving the user an easy handle to transport the grill. We felt safe enough moving the grill while it was still hot, but you’ll want to close down the bottom vents to prevent coals from spilling out, just in case.

As with its larger Weber kettle grills siblings, the Jumbo Joe’s stainless steel grates are easy to clean, as is the large ash catcher bucket clipped in underneath the grill. The grill’s vents are well located and easy to open and close. And while its size may make it bulky and hard to transport, Weber’s round, kettle design keeps it from being intimidating.

For the price, you really can’t go wrong with this portable charcoal grill. It’s large enough to use as your primary grill if you have a small outdoor space and portable enough to bring with you to tailgating events or camping.

Read More: The Best Portable Grills

Although large and pricey, the Cuisinart Griddler Deluxe offers a lot of cooking options for your money.

In addition to being used as a closed grill, the two sides open up to form two separate surfaces for those times when you want to increase the number of burgers you can grill at once from six to 12. The plates are reversible with a grill pattern on one side and a flat surface on the other.

With both sides open and the flat surface in place, the Griddler Deluxe turns into a griddle, although there is a gap between the two halves that limits the number of pancakes you can cook at once. But, all in all, this is a very versatile product.

The Griddler browns quickly and evenly. Longer cooking items like paninis and chicken breasts will come out crispy with beautiful grill marks. Using the high heat sear function, burgers are grilled perfectly.

In addition, this Cuisinart has lots of special features. You can select different temperatures for each plate, which is particularly helpful when it’s in the open position. During preheating, the knobs glow red, then change to green when the selected temperature is reached.

An innovative lever on the side of the machine allows you to adjust the distance between the two plates so that you can avoid crushing your burgers or press down on a grilled cheese sandwich.

The plates are particularly easy to snap in and out and they can be washed in the dishwasher. In the back of the grill, a drip tray slides into place. Not only is the manual thorough, it contains recipes that you actually want to prepare.

Read More: The Best Indoor Grills