The 11 Best Gas Grills for Excellent Outdoor Cooking
From Weber to Napoleon, we've tested gas grills that cost less than $100 up to grills that cost more than a used car.
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This definitive guide to the best gas grills of 2022 explores everything you need to know to find a gas grill best suited to your needs, including features to look for, materials, looks and price. Gas grill not for you? Check out our guides to charcoal grills and pellet grills. And if you're looking for deals on a grill, we have that, too.
Convenience, ease of use and superior temperature regulation are why you buy gas over charcoal or pellet. And though grilling enthusiasts often see this as a strike against America’s favorite grill type, gas grills are not just burgers, hot dogs and half-seared steaks. Not the good ones, at least. The grills on this list reach near-charcoal temperatures, offer plenty of versatility with low-and-slow cooking and prioritize endurance over shiny stainless steel for the sake of it. From a $199 grill that out-cooks $1,000 grills to one of the best-designed products, let alone grills, money can buy, these are the 11 best gas grills for your money.
What to Look For in a Gas Grill
What are BTUs?
BTUs are an outdated and easily manipulated measurement of grill power. The numbers grill makers provide are calculated on per hour measurements, and are derived from data on how much fuel the grill burns, not its temperature levels. A bigger grill that chews through more gas could have a sky-high BTU figure and not breach the 500-degree barrier, which should be the absolute bare minimum. Ignore BTUs and look for max temperature output, which is a better (albeit imperfect) gauge of a grill's power.
Want steak? Go infrared
Infrared burners get dramatically hotter than standard gas burners. Using standard burners, most gas grills will struggle to exceed 600 to 700 degrees, and won't develop a browned crust on a steak before you've overcooked it; the infrared burner solves this issue by channeling heat from a burner into a ceramic tile, which converts that convective heat into infrared heat, dramatically increasing its intensity. You need an infrared burner to brown a steak properly. It won't matter how long you let the grill warm up with the lid down if the grill's max temperature is meh. Note: some companies (like Weber) give infrared burners a branded name like Sear Zone or something in that vein.
Mind the grate
Standard grates can be made of cast iron, enameled cast iron, cast aluminum, stainless steel, nickel-plated and a number of other materials. For gas grills, we like stainless steel or aluminum. This may come as a surprise given so many recommended grill manufacturers rely on cast iron or enameled cast iron grates to get the job done; there's a reason for this. Cast iron grates are heavy, absorb heat and are great for developing grill marks, but you don't necessarily want grill marks. Grill marks are a visual cue that you've only seared a small percentage of what you're cooking. You want that steak, pork chop or half-chicken to be covered in Maillard, not drawn up like a football field.
"There are users who swear by cast iron because of its increased mass which leads to better heat retention, and some users feel that food sticks less to the porcelain coating on cast iron. There are others who swear by the durability and corrosion resistance of stainless steel," Steve Schwarz, Napoleon’s director of grills research and development, says.
"Most cast grids are porcelain-coated which provides some protection against corrosion – but if users use their spatula to scrape their grills or tap their grills to loosen debris, then over time the porcelain coating will wear and chip and this will lead to the raw cast iron being exposed which will corrode," Schwarz says. "So as cast iron grids age, regular seasoning becomes important. The beauty of stainless grids is that other than a light brushing between cooks, they require no other maintenance."
Natural gas > liquid propane
There is nothing wrong with liquid propane gas grills, or the gas grills that run off refillable tanks most grillers are familiar with. But, if you have a natural gas line available, you should use it. And it's why we say natural gas is better than propane.
"If you move into a new home with an outdoor natural gas line on the deck, the main reason not to use natural gas would be that you don't have a natural gas grill," Max Good, director of equipment reviews at AmazingRibs.com, says.
Why? Mostly the convenience of not needing to refill a propane tank (or forget to refill a propane tank) and the cheapness of natural gas as a fuel. Natural gas versions of popular gas grills are marginally more expensive than propane-fueled counterparts, but not problematically so. There's virtually no difference in cooking performance.
Three-plus burners or bust
Most gas grills nowadays have two burners at minimum, but it’s important to know before buying. The number of burners and grill space will dictate the space you have for two-zone grilling, a technique that allows you to cook low-and-slow foods like pork butt or ribs. More burners also mean more and more consistent heat. Unless you're shopping for a very small grill if a manufacturer suggests they can get by with just two burners, know that you'll be battling hot and cold spots every time you use it.
Heat diffusers are your friend
Heat diffusers go by many names, but they’re just metal or ceramic shields fixed over a burner. As counterintuitive as it sounds, by absorbing and redistributing the heat directly from the flame, they create more even temperatures at grate level, cutting back on hot spots. Plus, because diffusers float over the burner, you're far less likely to experience flare-ups or grease fires. Don't buy a gas grill without them.
The Best Gas Grills of 2022
