The best grills of 2023

The $139 Weber Original Kettle Grill continues to stand the test of time as the ultimate charcoal grill. In our high-heat grilling tests, the Weber delivered the best balance between seared on the outside and medium on the inside of the steak. Weber gave us great, crispy grilled chicken skin and flavorful ribs.

The simple construction means there aren’t too many parts to assemble or too many functions to deal with while cooking outdoors. A hood vent controls airflow, and a well-designed ash tray under the grill facilitates easy cleaning.

We tested the 22-inch model in black, but Weber also offers an 18-inch version of the original kettle design. There are certainly fancier and more expensive grills out there, but for a balance between affordability and quality, you can’t go wrong with starting your cooking with this classic charcoal grill.

While a giant six-burner grill may not be for everyone, the Monument Denali is the perfect balance of modern thinking, good value, and the quality I’d expect from our top picks. Like any smart modern grill, the Denali has temperature probes to accurately monitor 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 period of time.

The Denali’s size is impressive, giving you room to easily cook for a whole group of guests. I especially like the little holes for hanging your thighs so they cook evenly. All the food I tested was tender and the probes did a good job of getting the temperature right. My medium rare steaks were perfectly done, and the burger patties were cooked evenly throughout the range. Adding the burner to the side meant I could cook some delicious BBQ beans at the same time as the meat and didn’t have to bounce around to keep everything ready.

My only complaint about the Denali 605 is the time it took to build. It comes disassembled for easy transport, but putting it together was tedious, with a lot of guesswork when the instructions weren’t clear. Once built it worked great but was a pain to put together.

The Ninja Woodfire has all the conveniences of an indoor electric grill and fryer with the addition of a small smoking hopper that allows you to burn pellets. These pellets add a distinctive smoky flavor to whatever you’re cooking without the need for an entire smoker to do it.

I have grilled chicken, salmon and beef using just a cup of pellets, saving a lot of time and money compared to a full size smoker. It even works with an air fryer, so making crispy wings with applewood smoke flavor is easy.

When I first moved to the High Desert in California, I knew I wanted a grill that could handle enough food for a party. I also knew that moving was expensive so it had to be affordable. I picked up this heavy duty grill from Walmart and was instantly impressed with how well it was constructed. Once I put it all together, there was a weight to all the materials that made me think it would stand the test of time, and it did.
The easy-to-remove ashtray keeps the grill clean and the thermometer on top is very useful for smoking meat, especially if you don’t want to lift the lid and lose the smoke! Small details like the bottle opener and hooks under the shelf made it even more useful and I used this grill for almost 6 years before moving again. Even when I left, the new owners took it over for use with their families.
I’ve used a lot of really expensive grills, but this budget, sturdy workhorse is still one of my favorites.

Although the Flatrock is expensive for a flat top pan, its quality and utility cannot be overstated. Some foods just can’t be cooked on a standard grill – like tacos and burgers – and the flat top pan makes these foods easy to handle. By the way, if you’ve never had a smash burger, you need one in your life. They are amazing.

The Flatrock uses Traeger’s Pop and Lock system for accessories, so if you already have one of its grills, you can mix and match what you need. You will need to harden the Flatrock surface, but it was a nice experience for me to create the exact surface for my needs. I use the Flatrock more than any other grill right now and it’s my go-to for burgers and tacos.

When space is limited, finding the right grill to give you the flavor you want can be difficult. This gas grill from Monument is compact on the outside but surprisingly large on the inside. It’s big enough to cook a turkey or several large steaks, and since it’s a gas grill, it’s ready as soon as you want to use it.
If you only have a small outdoor space or a small balcony in your apartment, this would be a great addition to make your grilling dreams come true.

Kamado grills, egg-shaped, wood-fired ceramic grills you may have seen or at least heard of, impart a delicious smoky flavor to everything they cook, and it’s the best grill of the bunch. They can run low and lag for hours at smoker temperatures and grill at high heat levels that exceed the capabilities of gas grills. That’s hot enough to create real steaks and real wood-fired pizza like a professional griller.

With a list price of $1,999 (if you can find it in stock), the Kamado Joe Classic III may have a steep price tag for a luxury grill, but this high-end grill packs a lot of cooking power for the money. That means lots of grill accessories that don’t come standard with other grills, including the Big Green Egg. This kamado also performs well. In our slow and low barbecue grill test, we set the grills to 225 degrees F (107 C) and run the controls to see what happens. In this experiment, Joe demonstrated excellent temperature stability.