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First, let me say that I'm not a believer in the whole "grilling season" thing. For me, the grilling season starts on January 1 and ends on December 31. So while many people won't take the cover off their grill until the weather warms up in the springtime, know that all of the grills in our guide can be used during the spring, summer, fall, and winter.
I've cooked up plenty of Thanksgiving and Christmas eats on our Broil King - even in driving snow. With proper cleaning and care, a good gas grill should last you at least five years and likely more than 10 with regular year-round use.
While all the grills in our guide are certainly good choices, selecting the best gas grill for your home is a personal decision. Do you have limited outdoor space but want plenty of cooking surface nonetheless? Do you have lots of room but no need for a massive grill? Are you going to hardline your grill into your home's natural gas line? Do you want a gas grill small enough to bring to the beach, park, or campsite? And for what kind of cooking is your gas grill intended, anyway? Just flipping burgers and dogs, or for slow-cooking ribs, roasting whole birds, or even for smoking brisket?
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Don't worry, we've got you covered no matter what you want from your gas grill. In fact, you're living in a golden age of gas grills, and there are all sorts of options available at all sorts of price ranges. There's been a lot of innovation in a short time, too. The first propane grills weren't developed until the 1960s. Flash forward to today, and you can order a five burner 55,000 BTU gas grill complete with expert in-home assembly off the web. That's progress, people.
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I have been grilling with a Broil King for two years now, and I'm thrilled each and every time I fire the thing up. This grill connects directly to your home's natural gas supply, so fuel is never an issue. The exact same grill also comes in a liquid propane variety, though, in case a hardline a connection doesn't suit your home.
When working in concert, the five primary burners can create a massive 55,000 BTU output, but I'm always equally impressed with how low the heat can be set. You can use a Broil King Regal S590 almost like an oven, achieving a steady internal temperature as low as 300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is ideal for slow-cooked foods like racks of ribs or roasts, or for grilled pizza.
Below the burners, a large two-door cabinet with built-in shelves offers great storage space for grill tools, grill brushes, wood chips, grilling planks, and for whatever else you want close at hand when you're cooking al fresco. The side burner on the left of the grill is ideal for cooking in a pot or pan, while the tray on the right side is large enough for food prep or serving.
The control knobs are illuminated with LED lights for nighttime grilling, too. The grill looks great when closed and at rest, so you'll be glad to have it there on your patio, porch, or deck. Which is good, because you're going to have it for a while. This grill might be expensive, but it's also backed by a lifetime warranty.
In their Broil King grill review, the products testers from The Spruce Eats noted the brand's "quality construction" and the "even heating" the tube burners created.
Most buyers love the Broil King grill as much as I do, with one echoing my sentiments in his Amazon review when he calls it an "excellent grill" that's of "high-end quality but decent pricing." Another owner called it a "fantastic grill" promising "many years of great grilling."
Pros: Huge cooking surface, side burner, LED illuminated knobs, controlled and even heating
Cons: Occasional faulty electric starter, expensive
The Weber Spirit II E-310 LP Gas Grill performs as well as grills that cost hundreds of dollars more thanks to the proprietary GS4 Grilling System.
Yes, I'm calling the $500 Weber Spirit II E-310 LP Gas Grill a value purchase. No, five hundred bucks isn't cheap. But this grill could easily sell for a couple hundred dollars more and it will last you for a decade and then some if you treat it right, so I stand by my assertion that it's a great value.
What makes this ostensibly simple grill so special? It's not the 529 square inches of cooking space, ample though that is for a relatively small grill. Nor is it the multiple tool hooks on which you can hang tongs, a spatula, a fork, and more, convenient though they are. And it's not even the durable porcelain-coated cast iron cooking grates.
What stands out about this Weber gas grill is the GS4 Grilling System, which is superbly designed and crafted. The system starts with the highly reliable Infinity Ignition System, a starter that fires up one, two, or all three of the 10,000 BTU burners. These burners blaze away beneath "Flavorizer Bars" that spread the heat evenly, and above a grease management system that catches and collects drips and spatters and makes cleaning the interior of the grill blissfully easy.
The Wirecutter called this grill an "exceptional value" that offers "exceptional performance" and that created "perfectly cooked" foods time after time.
With dozens of reviews posted, the Weber Spirit II E-310 LP Gas Grill has a solid 4.3-star rating on Amazon. An owner raved that the "ignition is flawless" and it's quick heating, reporting that it reached "500 degrees in a few minutes." Another put it simply, saying: "When you buy the best ... you get the best."
Pros: Great price for the quality, excellent ignition system, heats quickly and evenly
Want to know how I know that the Coleman Road Trip Propane Portable Grill LXE is a fine piece of hardware? Because I grilled shrimp and chicken and boiled water on one three days ago during a camping trip with my son. And because I've cooked a whole lot of other stuff on my compact, folding Coleman grill over the past few years.
Small as this grill is, it still offers 285 square inches of cooking area, which is more than enough space to simultaneously prepare a feast for as many as four people. And with a 20,000 BTU output, you can cook up thick steaks, chops, or chicken breasts with no issue. You can choose between standard grill grates, flat griddle plates, or textured griddle plates, though you'll need to buy some of them separately.
While it's the cooking prowess of this compact grill that matters most, the Coleman Road Trip grill's ease of transport and storage is equally important. It folds down into a compact package that can be rolled along with one hand, and that's small enough to fit in the trunk of just about any car or to be tucked away in a closet, on a garage shelf, or even under your bed if space is at a premium.
In a write up from CampingStoveCookout, a reviewer called this portable Coleman gas grill "quick and easy to fold up" and noted its accurate heat control abilities.
With more than 5,000 customer reviews posted on Amazon, this classic compact grill has a 4.2-star rating. An owner said her Coleman "works like a charm every time."
Pros: Compact and easy to transport, interchangeable cook surfaces, side plates for prep and serving
Cons: Occasional uneven cooking especially on breezy days
If you love to grill but you live in an apartment with a balcony, a townhouse with a small patio-style yard, or in any other residence with limited outdoor space, then the Dyna-Glo Smart Space Living 3 Burner LP Gas Grill is a perfect choice.
This grill offers 390 square inches of primary cooking space and more than 500 square inches of total cook surface if you count the upper shelf. Thanks to the two folding side tables, there is also ample room to store foods ready to be cooked or fresh off the heat. And you can store a few grill tools and a brush inside the cabinet alongside your propane tank.
Of course, what we're focused on here isn't the ample grilling surface or the side tables, but the rather small overall footprint of this gas grill. It measures just 23 inches deep and 45 inches across, so it can fit on even the smallest patio, deck, or balcony, and it can tuck away into a shed or garage when not in use. Thanks to its four caster wheels, two of which lock during use, moving the Dyna-Glo Smart Space Living 3 Burner LP Gas Grill is easy.
A Digital Trends review praised the "maximum heat retention" of this Dyna-Glo grill's "enameled cast iron cooking grates" and noted its excellent price.
With more than 500 reviews posted on Amazon, this compact, can-do grill has a fine four-star rating. One customer calls it a "great BBQ" that was "just the right size" for two people and their smaller home. Another remarked on its many fine aspects, like a "detailed temperature gauge," an "awesome push button... ignition," and its "perfect size." The Home Depot customers gave it a 4.4-star rating.
Pros: Compact and easy to move around, great low price, easy to assemble
Cons: Uneven heating across some parts of grill surface
I was a charcoal man for many a year. In fact, it wasn't until we had kids and there were simply fewer hours in the day that I made the switch to gas, because the extra twenty or thirty minutes of getting the coals to the perfect heat just weren't worth spending. Within a few months of switching to gas, I was glad I did, the difference in flavor being so much less pronounced than ever I expected.
But I still love cooking with charcoal now and then, an itch I scratch with a tiny little half-dome Weber grill. Before I got my current gas grill, I used a big old Char-Griller charcoal grill, and I still think of it fondly from time to time. Having used that Char-Griller for the better part of a decade, I can tell you that it was one damn fine piece of hardware.
But seeing as I'm now semi-converted to gas grilling, the next Char-Griller grill I own will be this one, the Char-Griller Double Play 3 Burner Gas and Charcoal Grill, a unit that gives you the best of both worlds. For indeed, neither the charcoal nor the gas side of this grill is an afterthought. Both are large, well-made, fully functional grills.
The charcoal half has ample room for briquettes and it can even be fixed up with an added smoker box. The gas side has three powerful primary burners and a side burner that can be used for pots and pans. Each half has its own built-in thermometer and controllable ventilation chimneys, and all together, this grill gives you a whopping 1,260 square inches of cooking space.
A writer with AmazingRibs called this dual-function grill a "capacious grill" that offers a huge cook surface and calls it ideal for any al fresco chef "with a tight budget."
Hundreds of Home Depot buyers have rated and reviewed this gas/charcoal grill, and it currently enjoys a 4.4-star average rating. One reviewer hits the nail on the head for all of us when he said it's "perfect for gas grilling during the week when [he's] busy coming home from work [then he] busts out the charcoal for the weekends!"
Pros: Gas and charcoal cooking with one grill, great low price, huge cooking surface
Although you may think that one bag of charcoal is almost identical to another, there are actually many different types and styles of charcoal to choose from. Here are our top picks for the best grilling charcoal you can buy:
Charcoal grills sear meat and veggies to perfection and fill food with that perfect smokey flavor. Of all the grills we researched, the Weber Original Kettle 22-inch grill stands out because of its classic, successful design and excellent price point.
There's nothing like food cooked up al fresco and served hot off the grill. But only a thoroughly cleaned grill can properly cook smoky, savory meats and veggies that diners will devour. The Kona 360° Grill Brush is our top choice because its triple coil design allows it to scour large swathes of the grill with each pass, cleaning the surface on top and bottom.
