The Best Grills of 2026

The Weber Spirit II E-310 may be the brand’s entry-level grill, but it won't act like a lesser product when it comes to performance.

It's our favorite gril, and makes char broil marks on burgers, evenly cooked chicken, and picture-perfect asparagus. It can’t hold quite as many burgers as the Weber Genesis II E-310. Still, the burgers that do fit cook evenly to perfection.

This propane gas grill is proof that British Thermal Units are not the end-all-be-all in grill choice. Its 30,000 BTUs cranks out an impressive amount of heat.

It hits an impressive 400°F. This is 25 to 50 degrees hotter than some of the higher BTU grills we found. The heat retention is also fantastic.

We also loved some of the aesthetic features. The high quality grill itself felt well put together and built to last. They thought of everything with this grill. It has a side-mounted propane tank with a gas meter, sturdy side tables, and grill grates that fit together perfectly.

It's also one of the few grills that has hooks on the side for hanging your grilling tools, and the Weber lids are the only ones designed to vent smoke away from tunneling into your face.

As a bonus, this grill is also iGrill3 compatible. iGrill3 is a Bluetooth-enabled thermometer that mounts to the grill table and can send alerts and data to your smartphone.

Compared to other grills, the Weber is significantly easier to build, too. Although there were a lot of little parts to put together, the instruction manual was clear-cut and easy to understand.

The Weber Spirit II E-310 isn’t the cheapest grill on the market, but it’s absolutely worth the price. When you take performance, ease of use, and aesthetic appearance into account, this grill was a no-brainer for our choice as Best Gas Grill.

Read More: The Best Gas Grills

The Napoleon Charcoal Kettle Grill is our favorite charcoal grill in our group. It aces cooking tasks and its design features set it apart from the competition.

For starters, it sits on four legs instead of the standard three that most kettle grills come with. This makes it both sturdy and stable. Its ash bucket is larger than most and has a wide-grip handle that keeps your hands nice and clean as you remove the ashes.

Clipping the ash bucket into place was a bit tricky at first, but once you figure it out it will stay put without problem.

Finally, there’s the grill’s wide rim that rests in the middle of the coal bed while you’re cooking. Initially, we thought the rim’s design is to keep the briquettes out of the center of the grill. However, we quickly realized that the rim’s metal heated up along with the coals. This distributes the heat evenly throughout the grill.

When it comes to the cooking area on the Napoleon, we have no complaints. It proves capable of holding 12 to 13 burgers at a time and creates a gorgeous overall char when cooking over direct heat.

Raking the coals for indirect heat is nearly effortless. Its wire cooking grate has hinges on each side that allows access to the briquettes underneath. Additionally, the vents on the top and bottom of the grill are easy to open and close.

All of this works together to create an ideal heat distribution for indirect heat cooking. Being able to control the airflow is important when cooking over charcoal; the bottom vents control the heat of the fire, while the top exhausts hot air and smoke out of the grill. It's also easy to clean by utilizing a simple grill brush.

Read More: The Best Charcoal Grills

The Traeger Ironwood Wood Pellet Grill builds off of the incredible features of its predecessor, the Traeger Ironwood 650—with even more capability. It features the same incredible functionality but boasts high-tech upgrades. This includes a full-color touchscreen, sleeker design, and customizable add-ons.

During tests, we marvel at the convenience of this smoker. Its handy Wi-Fi compatibility offers hands-off control. We also fell in love with its consistently even heating, deliciously smoky results, and ample storage.

The high-tech features included on this model didn't hurt, either. We loved taking advantage of the Wi-Fi, touchscreen, and built-in temperature control probes for easy cooking. We also appreciated the built-in lights that made nighttime cooking a breeze.

Even though the Traeger Ironwood comes with a hefty price tag, its versatility is unrivaled. It can perform as your go-to tool for smoking, grilling, baking, roasting, and more. And it will likely last you for years to come.

Read the full Traeger Ironwood review here.

The Masterbuilt Thermotemp XL Propane Smoker is—by far—our favorite smoker to use.

It's the very definition of set-it-and-forget-it. Hook up the propane, turn the dial to the proposed temperature, and hit the ignition switch. An internal sensor adjusts the flame to maintain the target temp, all without any fiddling around to keep it there.

Not only that, but the wood chip bin that infuses the smoke into your food is large enough to hold two hours of chips at a time. That means you don’t have to run outside to keep feeding the smoker every hour. This frees you up to hang with your guests at the party, or do anything else your heart desires while your food cooks.

When it comes to overall construction and design, we're pretty impressed. The smoker has four removable racks and features a large viewing window. The propane hookup even includes a tank fuel level gauge so you know how much propane is in the tank.

Overall, this thing is solid and sturdy. We have no reason to believe this smoker wouldn’t last five years or longer with proper care.

That’s not to say there aren't a few hiccups along the way. This smoker takes over an hour to build with a lot of frustrating, unclear steps. It's so complicated, we accidentally omitted an essential part of the ignition hookup.

When we got ready to season the smoker, it wouldn’t stay lit. Luckily, that provided the opportunity to test Masterbuilt’s customer service, which turned out to be top-notch.

Read More: The Best Affordable Smokers

The Weber Q 1200 immediately pulls away from the rest of the portable grills we found.

It has cast-iron grilling grates, giving beautiful, well-defined grill marks on burgers. Although it only has one burner, it delivers a surprising amount of heat and consistency. This allows for great grilling and even cooking.

This is a grill that offers enough square inches of cooking space to whip up food for a small crowd. It also packs up compact enough to disappear once your meal is done.

The Q 1200 is one of the few portable grills we found that has side tables that are sturdy enough to hold a plate full of food.

The grill’s plastic side tables fold in to keep the grill compact for portability. It’s a good idea to stow the tables when the grill isn’t in use. These grills are light enough that the wind can catch the tables and blow the whole thing over! Its weight comes in handy when carrying the grill, and its handles are cool enough to hold even after cooking over high heat.

It's the small features that make the Weber Jumbo Joe stand out from the competition.

Most of the charcoal grills we test cook delicious, smoke-infused burgers and chicken drumstick. However, the quantity of food they can handle is minimal. The Jumbo Joe, with its 240 sq in. cooking surface, allowed quantities that rival a full-sized grill.

The locking lid really puts it over the top, giving the user an easy handle to transport the grill. We felt safe enough moving the grill while it was still hot, but you’ll want to close down the bottom vents to prevent coals from spilling out, just in case.

As with its larger Weber kettle grill siblings, the Jumbo Joe’s stainless steel grates are easy to clean. The large ash catcher bucket clipped in underneath the grill is also easy to clean.

The grill’s vents are well-located and easy to open and close. And while its size may make it bulky and hard to transport, Weber’s round, kettle design keeps it from being intimidating.

For the price, you really can’t go wrong with this portable charcoal grill. It’s large enough to use as your primary grill if you have a small outdoor space. Jumbo Joe is also portable enough to bring with you to tailgating events or camping.

Read More: The Best Portable Grills

Although large and pricey, the Cuisinart Griddler Deluxe offers a lot of cooking options for your money.

In addition to being a grill, the two sides open up to form two separate surfaces. This is great for when you want to increase the number of burgers you can grill at once. The plates are reversible with a grill pattern on one side and a flat surface on the other.

With both sides open and the flat surface in place, the Griddler Deluxe turns into a griddle. However, there is a gap between the two halves which limits the number of pancakes you can cook at once. But, all in all, this is a very versatile product.

The Griddler browns quickly and evenly. Longer cooking items like paninis and chicken breasts will come out crispy with beautiful grill marks. Using the high heat sear function, burgers grill perfectly.

In addition, this Cuisinart has lots of special features. You can select different temperatures for each plate, which is particularly helpful when it’s in the open position. During preheating, the knobs glow red, then change to green when it comes up to temp.

An innovative lever on the side of the machine allows you to adjust the distance between the two plates to avoid crushing your burgers.

The plates are particularly easy to snap in and out and are dishwasher safe. In the back of the grill, a drip tray slides into place. Not only is the manual thorough, it contains recipes that you actually want to prepare.

Read More: The Best Indoor Grills