Everyone has their own opinion when it comes to the charcoal versus gas grill debate. Neither side is wrong, of course, with both types of grills coming with their own pros and cons. Charcoal grills, for instance, can reach higher temperatures and give food that rich smoky flavor, while gas grills allow for faster start times, precise temperature control, and greater overall convenience.
Gas grills can also turn on and off in an instant, allowing you to get cooking without the long setup. Unlike charcoal, you can maintain specific temperatures without a whole lot work, either – simply turn the dial to the desired heat setting and the grill will take care of the rest. That means, you can set low temperatures, high temperatures, and everything in between without having to continually watch the fire and fan over the flames. Even better, many gas grills come with side burners that allow you to cook multiple food items at different temperatures, allowing for much more versatile cooking options. Not to mention, the minimal cleanup necessary, compared to all the ash you’ll have to dispose when cooking using charcoal.
Many homeowners prefer gas grills over charcoal for all of those reasons. According to a 2022 survey from the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA), 64 percent of all gas grills in American households use gas. This is why there’s such a dizzying selection of gas grills in the market, with each manufacturer trying to integrate fancy features to make their models standout. As nice as some of those bells and whistles are, we prefer focusing on the core elements, such as size, build quality, precision control, and heat output, although we’ll obviously take extra niceties into account, especially among grills that already get the basics right.
These are the best gas grills for your backyard barbecues.
Char-Broil Performance Series 2-Burner Gas Grill
PROS:
- Beginner-friendly
- Precise temperatures
- Heats quickly
- Compact
CONS:
- Cold spots along the edges
- Needs constant monitoring to prevent excess temperatures
If you want a smaller, more affordable gas grill for your outdoor space, this two-burner model offers an excellent option, allowing you to grill steaks, sausages, and more while taking up limited room. It’s extremely easy to assemble, making it a great fit for inexperienced grillers, with a pretty accurate temperature gauge on the lid, allowing you to keep close tabs on the main cooking area to maintain your desired cooking temperatures. All the basic features are onboard, from electronic ignition and responsive control knobs to folding side shelves and rust-resistant cast iron grates. The main cooking grates are on the smaller side, of course, at 310 square inches, although it still offers enough room to cook for a small family in one go. Heck, you can fit over a dozen burger patties on the darn thing pretty easily. Plus, there’s a second level of grates, so you can cook more delicate food items further from the heat (or just keep them warm) at the same time.
Monument Grills 4-Burner Propane Gas Grill
PROS
- Great value for the price
- Large cooking area
- Intuitive to use
- Quality build
CONS
- Cold spots at the front of the grates
- Takes some getting used to when cooking at lower temperatures
Yes, it’s a proper four-burner gas grill at under $500, which is incredible value for the price. It has four main burners, along with a side burner on the right shelf, so you can cook other food on the side (like a sauce or some soup). The main cooking area measures 513 square inches, while an elevated rack offers another 210 square inches for keeping food warm. How big is that? That’s large enough to cook multiple whole chickens at the same time, allowing you to cook enough to feed an entire party. It does its best work at really high heat, capably maintaining the temperature levels to cook food at speed, although cooking at lower heat will require some finesse if you want to cook food right. You won’t have too hard a time, though, since its very responsive to the burner controls and it really does maintain temperatures well, so you can master the grill in no time. Other niceties include a large two-door cabinet, LED-backlit control knobs, and sturdy stainless steel construction.
3 Embers 4-Burner Dual Fuel Gas Grill
PROS
- Pre-assembled
- Excellent viewing window
- Maintains consistent temperatures in both high- and low-heat cooking
CONS
- Heavy as heck
- Suspect casters
If you like your gas grill to be built like a tank, look no further than this one, which is an absolute pain to move around because of its sheer weight. Yeah… moving this around will make you long for the small grill you had back in the day. It requires minimal assembly, so most of the grill is already put together, which, we guess, is one of the reasons why it feels solidly put together. Grilling is a breeze on this thing, with the four burners able to get really hot and responding really well to temperature adjustments, so it can maintain consistent heat levels without much work on your part. The viewing window is a brilliant addition, allowing you to check on food without having to lift up the lid, with a temperature gauge right on the window allowing you to make sure it’s not getting to hot or too cold inside. Do note, it gets a bit hotter towards the back than out front (not by much), so you may want to keep that in mind to ensure even cooking. It also has a side burner that, sadly, feels a little too underpowered, so you might be able to use it to warm up sauces, but you can’t do much more serious cooking on it. All in all, though, this is very much worth it for the main cooking area, the viewing window, and the very solid build.
Weber Genesis E-325S
PROS
- Excellent temperature regulation
- High-heat searing zone crisps meat beautifully
- Solid build
CONS
- Not very reliable temperature gauge
- Only three main burners
This gas grill actually has three main burners, as well as a fourth one sitting to the left of the rightmost one, which creates a “sear zone.” What is it? Well, that burner is designed to give food a really good sear by delivering a targeted burst of high heat, making it a whole lot easier to give your food that dark and flavorful crust. It is, seriously, such a useful addition. The main cooking area is 513 square inches, so you can fit a generous load of food in one go, with an elevated layer of grates that you can fold out if you want a place to warm food or cook other items at lower temperatures. Most everything about this gas grill feels done well, from the even heating front to back and the responsive burners to the handy side tables and the excellent cart design. Do note, it uses stainless steel grates that don’t hold heat as well as cast iron, so you really need to use the sear zone if you want those really dark sears that cast iron imparts.
Monument Grills Denali 605
PROS
- Large cooking area
- Helpful display shows oven temperature and readings on up to two grill probes
- Bluetooth connectivity lets you control the grill from an app
- Wide viewing window
CONS
- Takes up a lot of space
- Limited Bluetooth range
- Tedious to assemble
Four-burner gas grills not big enough to handle all the food you’re cooking? Well, it might be time to level up to a six-burner behemoth like this one, which puts a half-dozen burners on the main cooking area and even an extra burner on the side table. As you can imagine, the size of this thing is substantial, so it’s the kind of grill that’s going to take up room – lots of it. It’s, essentially, the complete opposite of portable grills – you can barely move it a nudge. Fortunately, that also means you get plenty of room on the grates, with the main cooking area measuring 640 square inches and an elevated rack offering another 225 square inches for your more delicate food items. It heats up well, cooks evenly, and maintains temperature pretty reliably, so it would have been an excellent grill without the extra tech. If you like the digital niceties, though, you might appreciate the digital display that shows the temperature for the oven and up to two probes you can connect to ports below the display, so you can see exactly when the food is done all the way to the inside. There’s also Bluetooth app control, which we thought would be useful, but ended up not so much, since the wireless range is pretty limited and it’s just overall easier to check the digital display, then adjust on the spot. Oh yeah, the app does allow you to set the cooking time, though, which you might find useful.
Weber Genesis EX-325S
PROS
- Useful smart features
- Excellent temperature regulation
- High-heat searing zone crisps meat beautifully
CONS
- No burner control from the app
- Costs over a grand
This gas grill is, basically, the connected version of the E-325S above, so it has the same reliable performance and excellent features. That means, you get the same three main burners on a cooking area measuring 513 square inches, which heat evenly and consistently on both high and low settings, as well as the innovate sear zone that adds an extra burner specifically for searing, so you can easily give meats those dark, charred sears consistently every single time. It also retains the fold-out warming rack that’s very handy for cooking vegetables and warming food.
Of course, the reason to get this one, in particular, are all the extra bells and whistles. There’s now a digital readout that connects to two included grill probes, making it a whole lot easier to monitor doneness. The app is actually useful, giving you access to recipes and usage instructions for the grill, all of which we appreciate. Its main value, though, is the temperature alerts, since it allows you to monitor heat levels even when away from the grill. The Bluetooth connection actually feels more reliable than the Denali model above, although you definitely want to check if the connection drops when going indoors, since you don’t want to leave the grill cooking unattended without being alerted when it’s getting too hot (or when it’s time to flip the food over).
