If you do want something a bit cheaper or smaller, we’ve also tested and recommend the Q 1200. MELISSA COOKSTON can still remember her parents trying to cook over “a towering inferno” of fire in their Weber Kettle Grill in the 1970s. To test the grill with a midrange cook time and medium heat settings, we grill a whole chicken. We preheat the grill on high for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium and turn off burners to create an indirect heat environment. What we noticed most in testing this grill is how quickly it got up to temperature compared with other models.
The total count on three-burner grills tends to vary between 30,000 Btu and 40,000 Btu. Our research, however, convinced us that whether those British thermal units are applied efficiently, steadily, and evenly across the grates weber portable grill is just as important, if not more so. They’re compact, yet they remain big enough to accommodate a complete family dinner (say, chicken breasts, corn on the cob, and another vegetable) or burgers and brats for a party.
While a giant 6-burner grill may not be for everyone, the Monument Denali is the perfect balance of modern thinking, a good price point, and quality that I would expect from our top pick. Like any smart modern grill, the Denali has temperature probes to accurately cook your food and uses an app to connect those probes to your phone. You can set the app to alert you when your food reaches the correct temperature or after a certain time limit. Here, Meathead Goldwyn’s reference cookbook Meathead is a big help.
Thermometers built into the lid of a grill aren’t fully reliable. They’re usually positioned several inches above the cooking grate, and as a result they don’t accurately report its temperature. Consider getting an inexpensive infrared thermometer to gauge the temperature of your cooking surface. The Weber Spirit II E-310 excelled at every test, producing the best hamburgers—deeply seared, evenly cooked—among all the grills we tested. And it outdid or equaled the competition in grilling barbecue chicken and whole roasted chickens with crispy golden skin. Inside the grill, your grate material is also very important.
I often have them sent to my folks’ house in New Hampshire and put them through their paces in the summertime while feeding a hungry crowd. One disaster involved a smoker company whose rep promised someone would come to pick it up the day before I was set to fly home to Seattle. I assumed “someone” meant a dude in a truck, not the college kid in a Buick SUV who knocked on my parents’ door. For most models, the basic structure will last for upwards of 10 years, and is covered under a large warranty.
In addition to the gas barbecue models above, here are the other gas grills we’ve tested. This list doesn’t include the many models we’ve tested over the years that are no longer available for purchase. No one ever said you have to spend hundreds of dollars to be happy with your barbecue grill. This model brings 40,800 BTU of power over a generous 438 square inches of cooking space, not counting a 12,000-BTU side burner. So if you’re on the hunt for a quality gas grill, you’re in luck.
If you’re cooking for large groups frequently, you’ll need a grill with a large primary cooking surface, a warming rack and a side burner. Some of you might also have strong feelings about the cooking grates — you need stainless steel, cast-iron grates, porcelain-coated grates or even porcelain-coated cast iron. The Spirit II E-210 is good for grilling foods that are best suited to intense direct heat, such as steaks, chops, and burgers—we don’t recommend it for indirectly cooking bigger items like whole chickens. The E-210 is a great first gas grill purchase, and it’s a good option for folks who have limited outdoor space. The 22-inch diameter gives 363 square inches of cooking space within the porcelain-enameled lid and base.
For grilling, the two important rules to follow are that you’ll need about a pound of meat per person and that you’ll need 72 square inches for each of those servings. For a family of four, 400 to 500 square inches is sufficient—that allows enough room for sides, extras, or the occasionally dinner guest without being too big a grill for everyday use. We weber charcoal grill like how two of the main burners and the sear burner can form a special sear zone on command. And those who tend to cook after dark will appreciate the built-in LED lighting system. It illuminates the cooking area automatically when you pop open the hood. We’ve tested the best gas grills on the market to find the perfect one for your budget and needs.
For that reason, Weber offers generous warranties; years for the cookbox on almost all their full-sized models. Other grill parts, like the knobs, grates, and burner tubes have slightly shorter warranties, ranging from three to 10 years. Charcoal grills are much cheaper, however, and they can burn hotter than gas grills, creating a better sear. But charcoal takes time to light, and you have to be comfortable with moving around coals and fiddling with vents to control the grill’s heat. It offers the same quality as our top pick, but it’s more compact. The E-210 has a cast-aluminum firebox, an enameled steel lid and open cart, and two side tables.