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 weber charcoal grill 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.
To start, the grill is embedded within an easy-to-move cart that features an extra-large side table and enclosed charcoal storage. Look carefully at each description to be sure you get what you’re looking for. If you plan to use your grill to flip a few burgers occasionally, stick with a less expensive or smaller gas grill model. And, of course, if you’re looking for a portable gas grill or an indoor grill, these won’t be right for you. We also compared each grill’s average cooking time for chicken and burgers over three identical tests. We run the clock until the last burger reaches 145˚F and the lowest chicken breast reaches 165˚F.
If time allows we continue cooking until the ribs are completely done and make note of the total cook time. Lesley Stockton is a senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds on a lifelong career in the culinary world—from a restaurant cook and caterer to a food editor at Martha Stewart. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd.
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.
Two aspects we didn’t like are the smaller hood can translate to too-high heat when kept closed, and the built-in thermometer was consistently inaccurate. You’ll want to make sure you have a second thermometer on-hand and be prepared for a small learning curve. BBQGuys does more than test and sell grills — we show you how to weber bbq use them, too. Our experts provide the recipes and skills you need to be a grill master. Our outdoor kitchen design experts have helped thousands of customers transform their backyards at no extra cost. Weber Connect is a step-by-step grilling assistant that turns any grill into a smart grill, and any griller into a master.
More than a steakhouse and BBQ, Weber chefs are the grilling experts for seafood and vegetable specials as well. The Hess Collection Shirtail Ranches wines are carefully crafted for restaurants. A collaboration between Winemaker and Chef,these wines were crafted with food pairing in mind. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the perfect pairing of Hess wines and Weber grilled cuisine.
Case in point, I cooked a cowboy (rib) steak, a thick ribeye with a bit of actual rib, that puttered along in the indirect zone at 225 degrees until the internal temperature came up to 110 degrees. At that point, I cranked up the left burner and sear burner on the direct side and put the steak over the hot spot to give it a dark crust. If you grill regularly or you enjoy grilling on weeknights, when time is at a premium, you should invest in a gas grill. A good one costs $400 to $900, but it will serve you well for years. That’s more than twice the price of a quality charcoal grill, but if you prioritize speed and convenience, the higher price is worth paying.
An average 15- or 20-degree difference across the quickest and slowest patties in a batch was the norm in our testing. Red flags are raised when we begin to see differences in the 30- to 40-degree range. We measure out 5.3 ounces of 80/20 ground beef and press them into uniform patties. Those patties go into a grill basket and we insert a temperature probe into the center of each patty at a 45-degree angle. Weber’s feels like a cash grab at $90, but I own one, and it has suffered several years of the crazy heat and sun of my porch in the summer and Seattle’s wet winters.
Through Bread Pay™, we offer easy and affordable financing options so you can pay for your purchase over time. A full line of flavors to fire up the best tasting grilled meals. Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade. With its thick, rustproof cast-aluminum firebox, this grill will last for years.
That doesn’t mean each grill is set to the same preheated temperature. It simply means we turned the knobs to what each grill indicated was medium heat. To keep our results as fair as possible, all the chickens are as close as possible to 5.5 pounds. When space is limited, finding the right grill to give you the taste you want can be hard. This gas grill from Monument is compact on the outside but surprisingly large on the inside. It’s big enough to cook a spatchcocked turkey or several large steaks, and because it’s a gas grill, it’s ready as soon as you want to use it.