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Grilling season has arrived and whether you're buying the ultimate Father's Day gift, upgrading your own grill, or just getting started, there are many options available at your local home improvement store. There are charcoal barbecues, pellets, gas barbecues and smokers. Choose the best grill can be overwhelming.
We're putting together six of the best-selling grills you can buy now at CNET Smart Home to help you find the one that's right for you. Twelve squares of spare ribs, 18 whole chickens and 96 hamburgers later, here is how it was shaken.
Read more: The best way to clean gas grills and grills | Become a grill master: 5 tips for a better barbecue
Disclosure: CNET may obtain a share of the proceeds from the sale of the products presented on this page.
Best combination: 4 Dyna-Glo burners (DGE486GSP-D)
Chris Monroe / CNET
The Dyna-Glo 4 burner is my first choice for this grilling season. He scored above average in all of our test categories. Our rib tasting tests were effective, each time exceeding the Weber, Char-Broil and KitchenAid models. The chicken did not cook as fast on this grill as the others, but it's not necessarily bad news. The 4-burner Dyna-Glo burner gave us a bird with crispy skin and juicy meat.
In addition to the 40,000 BTUs of the main burners, there is also a 12,000 BTU side burner, ideal for heating sauces or side dishes. This grill also featured one of my favorite benefits: a sliding drawer of liquid propane tank inside the cabinet for easy access.
At $ 449, it's not the most affordable grill we've ever tested or the most expensive, and the warranty is not worthy of being put into perspective. Still, this grill was a solid artist that I would be happy to have on my own patio.
See at Home Depot
Ideal for hamburgers: Weber Spirit II E-210
Chris Monroe / CNET
If burgers are the mainstay of your meals, this Weber barbecue is an excellent choice. Weber's 10-year warranty applies to all parts of his grill. So you will be prepared for the years to come, even in case of intensive use. Its consistent performance in our tests provided hamburgers with a good character and a slightly pink center.
The Spirit II E-210 is also one of Weber's compatible models with iGrill, an additional line of accessories that includes Bluetooth temperature sensors that you can monitor via a companion app. If you prepare dishes that require more time on the grill, the iGrill system will help you keep an eye on things from a distance.
At $ 349, this grill is in the middle of the affordability spectrum. You will not have either a side burner or cabinet to hide your propane tank, although there is a rack to hang it with a sliding gauge mechanism. Nevertheless, I was satisfied with the cooking and even the cooking of this Weber model, and I would recommend it to anyone who dreams of a perfect patty.
See at Lowe's
Ideal for low and slow cooking: Dyna-Glo Smart Space Living Burner (DGB390SNP-D)
Chris Monroe / CNET
Dyna-Glo has proven itself once again in slow and slow cooking. The three Smart Space Living burners was the winner of our rib tasting tests every time. The chicken in this Dyna-Glo model had average cooking time, but was worth it for crispy skin and tender meat.
The Smart Space Living 3 Burner Burner at $ 329 does not do as well with burgers as with chicken and spare ribs, but if you're looking to cook larger pieces of meat, you will not be disappointed. It's also the smallest three-burner gas grill we've tested, and the lightest at just 77 pounds. This Dyna-Glo is ideal for those looking for the easy indirect heating option of a three-burner grill with no extra volume.
See at Home Depot
Best value for money: Royal Gourmet (GG3201)
Chris Monroe / CNET
This Royal Gourmet was the most economical model of our test group. For just $ 200, you'll get a grill with 413 square inches of main cooking space, 36,000 BTUs and a side burner. You'll also get an aesthetic temperature gauge on the hood, cabinet doors to hide a propane tank and the option for a powder-coated finish or stainless steel.
The Royal Gourmet GG3201 is well behaved with slow and slow cooking, coming second in our rib tasting tests. However, the high temperature burgers were extremely well cooked, almost burned, each time. If you buy this grill, I will keep a close eye on anything that is roasted above the average heat because it tends to heat up.
See on Amazon
Other grills we tested
CNET Smart Home publishers have been providing grill data for a few years now. In addition to the models above, here are the other gas barbecues we tested:
- Weber Spirit II E-310: Weber's largest Spirit II model includes three burners and is also compatible with iGrill. However, this accessory costs $ 100 and this basic model with three burners already costs $ 449.
- Char-Broil Performance XL Last year, the $ 299 Performance XL was our first choice because of its exceptional performance and reasonable price, but this five-burner model (# 463243518) is no longer available on the website of Char- Broil nor at Lowe's, although the Char-Broil told me that a nearly identical model was replacing it.
- Char-Broil Double Business Header: This $ 700 barbecue is a good choice if you are looking for a large capacity. Four burners, two separate fireplaces and a side burner allow you to be ready for any crown.
- Broil King Baron S520 (not available): The Baron S520 tended to heat up in our tests and we ended up burning food too often. You will not have any additional items, such as side burners or temperature probes, and this does not appear to be available on the Broil King website.
- KitchenAid 720-0891C: KitchenAid's style and color options are impressive, but the performance of this two-burner grill has been disappointing in all three tests. If you are looking for a two-burner grill, the Weber Spirit II E-210 is a better choice.
- Char-Broil Signature Series 4-Burner This well-built and practical Char-Broil model was in the middle of the road during our tests. It comes with plenty of cooking space, a side burner and cabinet doors. If you are a Char-Broil grill fan, this model is a safe bet, but there are better grills of other brands priced at $ 500.
How we test
To get an idea of how these grills work in various cooking scenarios, we perform three tests. Based on different meats, methods and heat settings, these tests show us the efficiency and regularity of grilling.
Ribs
Our first test is the ribs. It is an anecdotal tour, so there is no temperature probe or software capturing specific data. We preheat each grill on high for 10 minutes before reducing to low indirect fire. Depending on the size of the grill, this means that one or two burners must be completely extinguished.
We remove the outer membrane on a Saint-Louis style rib cage and we wipe it with an all purpose scrub that we use for ribs and chicken. Then the ribs are placed on an aluminum foil and roasted for three hours.
The rib test takes three hours at low indirect heat.
Chris Monroe / CNET
Lovers of spare ribs may not agree with this relatively short, smoke-free cooking method, but it allows us to see how much an ordinary grill can cook on low heat. Even with the three hour cooking time that can be discussed, the ribs at the end of the test can be tender and juicy.
A blind tasting test conducted by five selfless and dedicated colleagues (and certainly not just for free food) gives a ranked list with the lowest scoring grid having been declared a winner. We repeated this test twice, you know, for science.
chicken
To test the grill with medium cooking time and medium heat settings, we grill an entire chicken. We preheat the grill on high for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and turn off the burners to create an indirect heat environment.
Once we have cut and seasoned the bird, we place it in a roasting pan and insert a temperature probe into each chicken breast, for a total of two probes per chicken. For our results to be as accurate as possible, all chickens are as close as possible to 5.5 pounds.
Whole chickens are cooked over medium heat until both breasts reach 165 degrees.
Chris Monroe / CNET
These temperature probes are connected to a data logger and laptop computer with software that records the internal temperature of each chicken breast every two seconds. Each chicken cooks until the temperature in both breasts reaches a food safety level of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
The well-grilled chicken should have crispy skin and fully cooked but not dry meat. This test is done in three rounds, giving us a solid average cooking time for each grill.
Hamburgers
Burgers are our final test of the grill. We measure 5.3 ounces of 80/20 ground beef and roll them into uniform slabs. These slabs enter a grill basket and we insert a temperature probe at the center of each slab at a 45 degree angle.
When the grill is preheated for 10 minutes, the basket goes on the grill. After six minutes of cooking, we return the basket and monitor the internal temperature. Once the last hamburger in the basket has reached 145 degrees, the batch is over. A good hamburger in this test is one that has both a beautiful outdoor character and a slightly pink center.
The burgers go on the grill over high heat.
Brian Bennett / CNET
The burger test highlights hot spots on the grill's cooking surface if a burger consistently reaches 145 before each other at every turn.
An average difference of 15 or 20 degrees between the fastest and slowest patties of a lot was the norm in our tests. The red flags are raised when we start to see differences in the range of 30 to 40 degrees. In this group of grills, only the Royal Gourmet gave us a real hot spot problem.
A closer look at the specifications
The comparison of these gas barbecues is not limited to apples. With different grill sizes and BTU levels, a different performance is expected. However, there are some observations to make.
Our test data highlights how quickly a grill can cook with its medium or high setting. This does not mean that each grill is set to the same preheated temperature. It simply means that we turned the knobs so that each grid indicated to be a medium heat.
The table below compares the average cooking time of each chicken for chicken and hamburgers in three identical tests.
Average cooking times
| Char-Broil Double Business Header | Char-Broil Signature Series 4 Burners | Dyna-Glo DGB390SNP-D | Dyna-Glo DGE486GSP-D | KitchenAid 720-0891C | Royal Gourmet GG3201 | Weber Spirit II E-210 | Weber Spirit II E-310 | |
| chicken |
94 min. |
75 min. |
86 min. |
113 min. |
103 min. |
73 min. |
117 min. |
80 min. |
| Hamburgers |
14 min., 2 sec. |
14 min., 54 sec. |
12 min. |
14 min., 45 sec. |
15 min., 4 sec. |
9 min., 35 sec. |
13 min., 26 sec. |
15 min., 44 sec. |
If speed is not your deciding factor, fear nothing. There are other features you can compare to choose the grill that's right for you.
Exactly which one is it? It depends on your cooking style. If you cook frequently for large groups, you will need a grill with a large main cooking surface, a grill and a side burner. If you plan to use your grill to spill some hamburgers from time to time, opt for a smaller or cheaper model.
Looking for a small model that does the job? The compact size and bright color options of KitchenAid make it a solid and stylish choice. If you want to use this side burner and enough power, the commercial double collector Char-Broil allows you. Otherwise, I refer you to my first choice this year: the Dyna-Glo burner with 4 burners (DGE486GSP-D).
Check out this chart to compare size, power, warranty and more.
Compared gas grills
| Char-Broil Double Business Header | Char-Broil Signature Series 4 Burners | Dyna-Glo DGB390SNP-D | Dyna-Glo DGE486GSP-D | KitchenAid 720-0891C | Royal Gourmet GG3201 | Weber Spirit II E-210 | Weber Spirit II E-310 | |
| Price |
$ 749 |
$ 500 |
$ 329 |
$ 449 |
$ 279 |
$ 200 |
$ 349 |
$ 449 |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) inches |
47.8×66.3×23.5 |
46.2×55.2×27.5 |
45.7×49.6×23.0 |
47.0×51.2×24.6 |
44.69×48.03×21.46 |
44.9×48.8×22.4 |
44.5×48.0x27.0 |
44.5×52.0x27.0 |
| Weight in pounds.) |
215 |
143 |
77.8 |
101.5 |
72 |
89.3 |
103 |
114 |
| BTU of the main burner |
36,000 |
30,000 |
36,000 |
40,000 |
26,000 |
36,000 |
26,500 |
30,000 |
| Side burner |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
no |
| guarantee |
Burner: 10 years Firebox: 3 years Other: 1 year |
Burner: 10 years Firebox: 3 years Other: 1 year |
Burners: 5 years Other: 1 year |
Burners: 5 years Other: 1 year |
Burner: 10 years Firebox: 3 years Other: 1 year |
1 year |
10 years |
10 years |
| Main cooking space (in²) |
650 |
530 |
507 |
486 |
332 |
413 |
360 |
424 |
Look at this:
Test gas barbecues at CNET Smart Home
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