Camryn Rabideau is a freelance commerce writer and product tester specializing in home, kitchen, and pet products. In her 6+ years of experience as a product tester, she’s reviewed hundreds of items firsthand, and her work appears in publications such as The Spruce, Homes & Gardens, and more. For this article, she consulted tested insights and interviewed Chef Dale Talde, chef and owner at Goosefeather and host of Tastemade’s All Up In My Grill.
The Char-Broil Performance Series 2-Burner Gas Grill is another option that didn’t quite make the cut for our top picks, but it’s still worth mentioning. This grill is one of the more compact options we tested, with just two burners and 300 square inches of primary cooking space. It’s lightweight and mounted on four caster wheels, and while it was extremely easy to put together, we found it was a bit wobbly during operation.
The hinged rack measures 5½ inches deep when folded and expands to 11 inches. Weber also switched the direction of the rods on the upper rack so that they now run back to front, instead of side to side. As a company, Weber constantly refines its designs, even on its classic charcoal kettle grill, which has been around for well over 60 years. And, again, Weber’s warranty covers all parts of the Spirit II E-310 for a full 10 years.
We don’t recommend grills with side burners because we don’t think that extra feature is worth the $100-plus markup. We think you’re better off saving over $200 with the Spirit II E-310. If you want to splurge on a grill with exceptional temperature control and a dedicated searing zone, go for our upgrade pick, the Weber Genesis II E-325s, instead. Gas grills run on either liquid propane (most common) or natural gas—both fossil fuels.
It also effectively prevented any flare-ups, making it a good choice for new grillers. However, the downside of the plates is any grease that drips onto them ends up smoking, which may affect the flavor of your food. Overall, we think this grill is a great value, especially for beginners or those who don’t necessarily need an extra-large cooking area. If you’re looking for a big grill without weber portable grill a big price tag, the Nexgrill 4-Burner Gas Grill is worth considering. It has a fairly basic, no-frills design, but it has a 417-square-inch main cooking grate with four burners, giving you plenty of space to grill for a crowd. It also features a handy side burner and an electronic ignition, and it weighs significantly less than other grills, making it easy to move around as needed.
Camryn Rabideau is a freelance writer and product reviewer specializing in home, kitchen, and pet products. In her 6+ years of experience as a product tester, she’s reviewed hundreds of items firsthand, and her work appears in publications such as PEOPLE, The Spruce, Homes & Gardens, and more. Camryn is also the proud owner of a small homestead in Rhode Island, where she spends her spare time gardening, tending her many animals, and working through a never-ending list of home improvement projects.
On the other hand, gas is more convenient once you have it—you simply turn a knob to start the fire, and there’s no need to wait for coals to burn down before you begin cooking. But you’ll need a special hook-up for natural gas, or to run to the store for liquid propane. Gas-cooked foods also can lack a certain charred grilling taste preferred by some. There are two weber gas grill side tables so you can prep on the go, and they fold up easily when it’s time to pack up. Our expert found it easy to assemble and attach to a 1-pound gas canister. The grill was able to achieve high temperatures as well as larger models, and when her boyfriend brought it to work for lunchtime cookout, it was incredibly easy to transport in the back of a truck.
Though both are relatively clean-burning fuels, propane emits fewer greenhouse pollutants than natural gas—though the difference is negligible. However, propane is more efficient because it burns hotter than natural gas. Additionally, propane tanks are inexpensive, reusable, and available at most hardware and big-box stores. The gas tank mounts externally (see the top photo in this section), instead of in a cabinet underneath the grill, as is typical (such as on the previous-generation Spirit). That makes it much easier to install a new tank and unhook an old one, because you’re not scrabbling around a small, dark enclosure to find the hoses and brackets.
On the Napoleon grill, meanwhile, some of the front burgers were nearly raw in the center, while the rear burgers were well-done. If you’re a self-proclaimed grill king, you need the crown jewel of gas grills—like the Summit S-470 from Weber. This stunner of a gas grill gleams in stainless steel or looks elegant in black porcelain.