Samantha Jones is a commerce editor at Hearst Magazines, covering lifestyle, fitness, beauty and more. She has written for Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens and beyond, and she loves staying up to date on the latest viral products worth shopping. When she’s not at her desk, Sam can be found on a run in Central Park or trying out new brunch spots with friends. If you want to find the best Memorial Day deals, now is your chance to score a great price on a new grill. “While the steepest discounts on grills can be found at the end of the summer, if you need or want a new grill now, there are plenty of deals worth checking out during Memorial Day Weekend,” she says.
Most flat-top grills are propane-fueled, so you’ll want to consider how many BTUs of cooking power a grill offers. To determine the size that’s best for you, consider the number of people you typically cook for or whether you want to grill enough food to serve a crowd. We did the legwork for you by tapping experts and researching the most popular flat top grills on the market from brands like Blackstone and Pit Boss. Keep scrolling to read more about the best outdoor griddles for every budget, outdoor space, and family. The best of both worlds, you can fry on the griddle and grill on the rack simultaneously. Serve up a full meal from pancakes and bacon for breakfast to steak and potatoes for dinner this combo cooktop.
Choosing the right one comes down to how many people you plan on feeding, how often, and how much space and budget you have. The Blackstone 36-Inch Gas Griddle Cooking Station is our best overall pick because of its durable construction, ample cooking space, and powerful burners. If you’ve ever wanted to cook big breakfasts on the patio or flip hamburgers like they do at the diner, the gas grill might be irreplaceable. That’s because some gas grills, like the Grilla Grills Primate, offer built-in griddles.
You can gather around the fire, cook on a small amount, or feed 100 people. Electric grills are convenient and can be used in many situations. One of the great things about electric grills is that the only source of energy they require is a standard electrical outlet. For that reason, an electric Expert Grill Combo Grills grills are a great choice when you want to keep things simple. An induction hob can get up to 700 degrees for high heat searing twice as fast as a standard radiant heat electric hob or even a gas hob. Therefore, cast iron cookware is ideal for an induction hob, provided its enamel-coated.
This pellet grill has eight-in-one cooking capabilities at an affordable price. It offers 849 square inch of cooking Expert Grill Combo Grills space and 21 pounds of hopper capacity. Flat top grills don’t offer the smoky flavor of a traditional grill.
Stainless steel construction and a removable grease tray make clean up the easiest out of all griddles tested. You won’t need to season the cooktop as you would carbon steel, and the grease is fully contained, so you won’t have to deal with fat running down the side or leg of your griddle. If you don’t need quite as much space there’s also a 28″ model with two burners that will cost a bit less. For breakfast aficionados, you can easily cook a large volume of pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and eggs at the same time. The point of a flat-top grill is its ability to cook various items at once.
The grease traps also prevent flare-ups from occurring when cooking. Select pellet grills come with Bluetooth capability to control the grill from their phone. For instance, users can even fire up the grill on their way home from work. The flat top grill is constructed of a powder-coated steel frame, stainless steel burners, and a thick cold-rolled steel cooktop.
This griddle’s two burners provide 20,000 BTUs of heat, enabling you to cook almost anything that takes your fancy. I love this feature because it broadens the selection of foods I can grill at once. The little two-burner gas griddle is compact enough to fit almost any available space.
You can cook all sorts of food on them, they’re easy to clean and they’re portable. However, they don’t offer a smoky flavor like other grills and need to be watched to prevent overcooking or burning your food. Pellet grills, however, are a breeze to use and offer advanced technology that makes cooking efficient. But they are costly and cannot be easily taken with you on a trip.
He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This Old House magazine. You’ll typically find him in his old fixer-upper, engrossed in a DIY project or trying out a new recipe.