The 9 Best Grills of 2025

Featured in this article

• Best Charcoal Grill

  

  Photograph: Weber

  Weber

  Original Kettle Charcoal

  The Weber kettle is ubiquitous at neighborhood cookouts for good reason. It's reasonably priced, well-made, and just works, noted WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson. It's durable as a tank and can sear a steak, smoke a brisket, or grill a backyard’s worth of burgers. But the secret sauce on this Weber is the accessories—both from Weber and on the secondary market—dedicated to turning this buy-it-for-life classic into a moddable, modernized smart grill.

  There are two versions of the Weber Kettle: Original and Premium. The Premium is $80 more and features a built-in thermometer in the lid, a hinged cooking grate, and a fancier ash-removal system. They're the same size, with the same cooking space. Unless you really like the easier ash-removal system, save your cash and stick with the Original Kettle. Then put that money into upgrades like the excellent Weber Connect Smart Hub ($84), with probes to monitor meat temps and flipping times. Even more advanced? We haven't tested yet, but we've got our eyes on a cool-looking Weber rotisserie ($200) and a fan-modulated temperature controller from Spider Grills called the Venom ($248) that lets you turn your grill up and down like a stove.

  Each of those mods is designed for Weber's popular 22-inch grill, though a modest 18-inch and truly massive 26-incher are also available. Whichever size you choose, if you're storing it outdoors the one accessory you're sure to need is a cover. —Matthew Korfhage

  ★ Alternative: The PK 300 ($600) is a fantastic grill. It's made of cast aluminum, so it's a little heavier than the Weber, but it can also be used for ovenlike cooking, much like a Big Green Egg (see below). The main reason Weber wins here is price, durability, and the ability to add features as needed. Still, if you want something sturdier and capable of oven-style cooking, the PK 300 is a great grill, notes WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson.

• Best Gas Grill

  

  Weber

  Spirit E-210 Gas Grill

  WIRED has been recommending the Weber Spirit 200-series for years. The reasons are straightforward: simplicity, build quality, even cooking temps, and easy-to-adjust propane gas burners. It's a compact and affordable line of two-burner grills that still offers spacious side trays and—like a lot of Webers—hooks for accessories and snap-on options to build out your workspace. Weber's porcelain-coated cast-iron grill grates are solid, and clean-up is easy with a little soap and water. But especially, noted WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson, Weber's Spirit line does what good grills should: They cook your food well. We're still testing the newest model E-210 linked here, which has similar specs to the long-recommended previous generation but offers an enclosed cabinet. The 10-year warranty is also a nice touch. —Matthew Korfhage

  ★ A Bigger Option: If you're cooking for a crowd and want something larger, I recommend Charbroil's massive 6-Burner Performance Series ($749). It's a great grill for crowds. It also has a 10,000-Btu side burner to heat up your beans while the hot dogs are cooking.

• Best Pellet Grill/Smoker

  

  Photograph: Brad Bourque

  Traeger invented the pellet smoker. And Traeger still makes the pellet grills and smokers we love best. The Traeger Woodridge Pro is our overall favorite pellet grill and smoker, existing at the intersection of value and utility and the ability to make you popular in the neighborhood. In this, it replaces the discontinued Ironwood 650. The Woodridge is a straightforward beast of a thing that's easy to clean, easy to dial in for a perfect rack of ribs, and big enough to cook up two pork bellies at the same time.

  One could quibble with the capacitative touch button controls and LED readout, which take a sec to figure out. And while the included temperature probes are nice, the app doesn't offer now-standard functions on the best wireless meat probes like a temperature history that lets you see the heat graph. But in terms of execution, control, and unarguable results? There are no complaints. This is a heck of a cooker. —Matthew Korfhage

• Best Affordable Smart Charcoal Grill

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    Courtesy of Masterbuilt

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    Photograph: Martin Cizmar

  • 

    Photograph: Martin Cizmar

  Masterbuilt

  Gravity Series 1150 Digital Charcoal Grill

  The Masterbuilt 1150 is a big grill with a large capacity—not just for meat (though definitely for meat) but also for charcoal and for cooking styles. This big, Wi-Fi-enabled charcoal cooker has 1,000-plus square inches of grate space, which is enough for a full brisket, a pork butt, and a few racks of ribs. And it will slow smoke at 225 degrees Fahrenheit, but also heat up to a searing 700. With enough room for a full 17.6-pound bag of charcoal briquettes and an electric fan that controls the temp by blowing more or less air onto the charcoal, you can set it and forget it while you sleep or work.

  It's going to take some work to get there, though. This grill is a beast, weighing nearly 300 pounds in its packaging. Putting it together is a major project—a TaskRabbit I hired gave up after two hours, after losing numerous pieces, and a buddy who later attempted the project from scratch spent three hours to get it right. Then there are two hours of seasoning time required to burn off the factory chemicals. There is no electric starter, so you'll be fiddling with fire-starters. Oh, and the app can be a bit touchy and will beep incessantly if the fire is slow to start. The whole process is high-friction and fairly laborious compared to a high-end product like a Yoder smart pellet grill, though that grill is nearly triple the price.

  But in the end, once it was all set up, I smoked some of the best ribs I've ever made on the Masterbuilt 1150, and the $200 pizza attachment also worked like a charm. If you're looking for a smart grill that has some champagne features on a beer budget and don't mind a few rough edges, this is a great choice. —Martin Cizmar

• Best Hybrid Grill

  

  Courtesy of Charbroil

  Char-Broil

  Gas2Coal 4-Burner Hybrid Grill

  The charcoal versus gas grill debate will never be settled to either side's satisfaction. (Those of us in the charcoal camp usually have to live with being right in silence.) But what if you could avoid the debate altogether by having both in the same grill? This is where the head-exploding emoji goes. Charbroil's hybrid grill can switch between gas and charcoal modes. There's also a side burner for heating up your mac and cheese or other sides, making it more of an outdoor kitchen than some of the other options here. Under the hood, this hybrid looks like every gas grill you've seen: Bars cover gas pipes to distribute flames, with a cast-iron grate on top of that. The results from the gas grilling are as good as any I've tried.

  Here's where your head explodes, though: If you remove the bars and add a tray to cover the gas burners, you've got a charcoal grill. There's room for only a single layer of charcoal, which isn't going to work for smoking, but for flavorful sears it's perfect. To get it going, all you have to do is light the gas burners and close the lid, and your charcoal will be ready in about 15 minutes. It really is the best of both worlds. Note that we tested the three-burner model, which Charbroil has since swapped for a bigger four-burner. —Scott Gilbertson

• Best Upgrade Grill/Smoker

  

  Photograph: Traeger

  If you're serious about grilling and smoking, Traeger's Timberline is the perfect all-in-one outdoor kitchen. It uses the same wireless smoking smarts as the Woodridge but adds some extras, like an induction burner (perfect for adding a last-minute sear with a cast-iron pan or steaming some veggies). The insulated smoke box has room for six pork shoulders, or about the equivalent racks of ribs or chickens. WIRED associate editor Parker Hall has managed to feed hundreds of people using it. (Reviewer Matthew Korfhage, a longtime food and barbecue critic, can vouch heartily for the resulting brisket and ribs.) If that's not enough, there's also an XL version that's even bigger.

  "All of my meats heated evenly and were perfectly cooked right when the smoker said they would be," Hall says. If you want flawless smoking from the comfort of your couch and price is not a factor, the Timberline delivers. —Scott Gilbertson

• Best Portable Grill

  

  Photograph: Weber

  I love the Weber Jumbo Joe. It's the little sibling to our top pick, the Original Kettle. The Jumbo Joe is perfect for car camping or cookouts at the local park. Build yourself a stand back at the house and it can do double duty as your portable and home grill—it's what I've been using both at home and on the road for four years. It has picked up a little rust in that time because I leave it out uncovered, but it still performs like the day I bought it. —Scott Gilbertson

• Best Grill for Indoors and Apartments

  

  Photograph: Kenyon

  Not everyone has a yard, and it's increasingly common for apartments to ban open-flame grills on balconies. This is where electric grills come in. It's grilling, sort of, but without the flames.

  Sure, you can also make do with a low-cost George Foreman ($47), which will also double as a panini press. But for those who truly love grilling and happen to live in close quarters, the Kenyon City Grill is as close to grilling as you can get without a yard. It cooks evenly and at consistent temperatures, and WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson was able to get it up to 592 degrees Fahrenheit, as measured with a digital thermometer. There's very little smoke, though you'll want to use it in a well-ventilated area if you're indoors. —Matthew Korfhage

• Best Grill for Pizza

  

  Courtesy of Amazon

  Cuisinart

  Propel+ Four Burner 3-in-1 Gas Grill

  Sure, most grills can be made into “pizza ovens” with a stone and a metal dome. But when you open your grill to check or turn the pizza, you'll lose the heat. The design of this Cuisinart Propel+ 3-in-1 pizza oven and grill still makes it a bit of a unicorn on this front. This Cuisinart's dome-topped lid with a smoked-glass door so you can peek in to monitor your pie, and then open it from the side to turn your pizza without losing heat.

  Meanwhile, a side griddle and burner lets you cook toppings or sauces on the same device, while a side table offers a work space. It's not as good as a pure pizza cooker as our favorites like the Ooni Karu 2 or Koda 2. (Check out WIRED's guide to the Best Backyard Pizza Ovens.) This pizza grill is effectively limited to about 750 degrees Fahrenheit, not quite Neapolitan territory, and the knobs are low quality—a common problem among Cuisinart grills. But I've made genuinely delicious pizza on the stone, excellent burgers on the grill, and pretty good pancakes on the side griddle. This combo makes it a good all-in-one at a reasonable price. —Matthew Korfhage

• Best Precision Charcoal Cooker Add-On

  

  Big Green Egg popularized kamado-style grills—and high-end home smokers—in the US. Amid the rise of pellet smokers and Wi-Fi-connected charcoal competitors like the Konnected Joe (which we've moved to the avoid section below), BGE hasn't tinkered with the basic design of its iconic cooker. It's big, it's heavy, it's sturdy, and it holds heat like nothing else, so you can get an amazing amount of meat out of one bag of lump charcoal.

  What BGE has done instead is introduce a simple app-controlled fan that manages the airflow, and thus cooking temperature, of its smoker. Buy a regular Big Green Egg (you can order a shiny new one from Ace Hardware for $1,000 and pick it up in 15 minutes—though in the interest of transparency, mine came from Facebook Marketplace) and then attach this nifty gadget to the air vent on the front. You can connect three meat probes, all of which will feed data into an app and alert you if you're entering the danger zone. The app did not perform flawlessly when I started testing back in November 2023, but it has since been fixed, and will hold its temp without intervention and alert me when my ribs are ready. There's no electric ignition, so you'll need a box of Tumbleweeds ($28), but the simplicity and reliability make that a minor trade-off. —Martin Cizmar