7 Best Gas Grills of 2022, According to Kitchen Experts
Your ticket to the best – and easiest – barbeque.
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Gas grills offer the easiest outdoor grilling experience compared to charcoal and pellet styles. They often offer turn on with the push of a button and heat up relatively quickly. The heat is controlled by knobs that directly control the flame, much like your indoor gas range – no messing around with coals or waiting up to 40 minutes for a pellet grill to come to temperature. Plus, cleanup is pretty easy: just use a grill brush right after cooking and empty the drip pan when cool.
In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances Lab, our Lab experts tested more than 50 indoor and outdoor grills over the years, including gas, charcoal, kamado style and pellet. When testing, we assess how evenly each grill heats and sears. We also evaluate how well grills prevent flareups by toasting bread and cooking steak and chicken, totaling to almost 1000 slices of bread, 56 steaks and 220 pieces of chicken in testing. In addition to performance, we score how easy each grill is to use by evaluating on and off operations, the sizes of the knobs, what type of storage area it offers for tools and ingredients, portability and more. Below is a list of the best gas grills you can buy in 2021:
Weber Genesis II EX-335 3-Burner Propane Gas Smart Grill
Pros
- Offers several high-end features
- Built-in thermometer that can be used with or without the app
- Top-perfomer in heating and steak tests
Cons
- Pricey
It takes a lot to wow us in the Kitchen Appliances Lab since we test so many products, but this new smart grill from Weber impressed us in terms of ease of use and performance. Not only is it loaded with high-end features like a large stainless steel handle, sturdy side shelves, side burner, ample storage space, gas tank holder and gauge, four wheels and more, but it also has a built-in thermometer with two probes so you can monitor the internal temperature of your food as it's cooking. The thermometer can be operated directly from the control panel, or it can be connected to the Weber app. Other bonus features include knobs that illuminate a flashlight that attaches to the lid so you can grill in the dark.
In addition to its many features, this grill heated the most evenly in our tests and made a juicy steak with beautiful sear marks. It also cooked chicken thighs well over medium heat with just a few minor flare-ups.
For a non-smart version, consider the Genesis II EP-330, which is slightly less expensive and also performed well in our tests.
Pros
- Even heating pattern
- Sturdy construction
- Minimal flare-ups
Cons
- Grill gets hot; food can burn quickly
- Handle is made of plastic and feels less sturdy than stainless steel
We were impressed with the NexGrill 4-Burner Propane Gas Grill, which even at its lower ticket price, performed as well as more expensive grills. Our burgers (the grill fits 28!) had perfect grill marks. It features a side burner, stainless steel doors beneath to keep the propane gas tank out of sight and a generous warming rack to keep your buns toasty while the burgers finish cooking. The angled flame tamers, found above the frames, did a great job of preventing flare-ups and excess smoke.
Weber Spirit II E-310 3-Burner Propane Gas Grill
Pros
- Competitive price point for quality and performance results
- Sturdy side tables, including one that slides down
Cons
- Takes a long time to put together
This Weber Spirit grill features a porcelain enameled lid and flavorizer bars (the inverted “v” bars under the grates that protect the burners from drippings and help prevent flare-ups), and porcelain enameled cast-iron grates, which are easy to clean and retain heat well. It can cook 25 burgers at once, and the steaks we made had perfect grill marks and were cooked evenly. We also loved that the left side table can fold down for more compact storage, and a built-in gauge tells you how much gas in left in the tank. Weber makes the same model with a natural gas hookup, too.
Char-Broil Tru-Infrared 2-Burner Gas Grill
Pros
- Compact design, good value and functionality
- Tru-Infrared design of grates prevents flare-up
Cons
- Some users may not like that flame does not make contact with food
If you are new to grilling and are looking for good value and functionality, this Char-Broil gas grill is a great go-to. It features porcelain-coated cast iron grates that not only retain heat well, but are easy to clean and will not rust. Just keep your metal grilling tools away, as they can scratch off the coating. In our test, the grill seared steak well and quickly — plus, it made juicy chicken thighs with no flare-ups.
Coleman Portable Propane Grill | RoadTrip 285 Standup Grill
Pros
- Turns on easily
- Heats quickly and makes nice grill marks
- Side shelves slide in and grill folds flat for transporting
Cons
- Propane tank can be tricky to attach sometimes
This Coleman grill offers a large cooking surface that turns on with the press of a button and is easy to control. The grates are made of cast-iron and offer direct and indirect cooking areas, which make for minimal flare-ups. The grill also heats quickly and makes nice grill marks. A large drip pan sits below the grates that can be washed before storing away. The side tables are relatively sturdy and slide in for transporting; plus, they fold flat. The durable legs double as a strong handle when rolling on the go. The grill uses a one-pound propane tank.
Kenmore Elite 4-Burner Gas Grill
Pros
- Excels at cooking steak
- Little smoking and few flare-ups
Cons
- No condiment shelf
With virtually no smoking or flare-ups, this model grills up a London broil that’s crusty on the outside and juicy and medium rare on the inside. Turning this grill on is as easy as “lighting” your kitchen stove, though we noted that it heats a bit unevenly. If you often cook for a crowd, the Kenmore Elite is worth considering as it offers enough room on the grates for 32 four-ounce hamburgers.
Char-Griller Flavor Pro 4-Burner Gas Grill
Pros
- Dual fuel
- Easy to assemble
Cons
- Steak didn't achieve dark grill marks
The Char-Griller Flavor Pro offers the ease of gas plus the option of using charcoal or wood pellets when the desire strikes – yes, that means you can use it to smoke, too! The grill is large and sturdy yet light enough to move around. It is also easy to put together with thorough step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations. In our tests, steak and chicken came out juicy and evenly cooked. We also noticed that coals were easy to add and spread out thanks to the flavor drawer that spreads across the entire cooking surface.
What to consider when buying a gas grill
✔️ Propane vs. Natural Gas: These are your two options to fire up a gas grill. We exclusively test propane grills for their ease of use, but natural grills are also popular picks.
- Propane comes in tanks that sit next to or inside the grill, making it portable since propane tanks come in a variety of sizes and some are small enough to travel with. It can provide a serious amount of heat quickly. Make sure to monitor the amount of gas left in the tank so that you don't run out in the middle of your cook-out!
- Natural gas runs through your home like any other utility, so you need to have an available gas line in order to hook up the grill. Once it's hooked up, you won't have to think about it again (although it means you can't move the grill). It has the advantages of being cheaper over time, especially if you grill frequently. You also don’t risk running out of gas mid-cook like you might with propane.
✔️ Grate material: The material of the grill grate — your cooking surface — determines how quickly it heats and stays hot, how easy it is to clean and maintain and whether or not food will stick to it. Most are made of stainless steel, cast iron or coated cast iron. No matter the material, keeping your grill grates clean and well-maintained will help it last longer and perform better (no stuck-on food).
- Stainless steel is light which makes it easy to handle when cleaning, and it's affordable. The material heats up quickly, but it doesn’t retain heat well and will corrode over time, causing food to stick to it.
- Cast iron may be heavy and needs to be maintained to stay non-stick and rust-free, but it retains heat well for great sear marks and is very durable.
- Coated cast iron grates with porcelain or enamel provide even better heat retention and protection against rusting. Just remember to keep metal grilling tools away, so that the coating doesn’t chip.
✔️ Number of burners: The number of burners on a gas grill dictates the cooking area and the kinds of grilling techniques that are available to you.
- Up to three burners are great for small families (a couple of steaks and a vegetable side) or gatherings (a dozen burgers).
- Three or four burners give you the versatility of creating heat zones, one of the biggest advantages of gas grills. The burner on one side can be on high for searing while the other side can be on low or off for slower cooking (you don’t want the outside of your chicken to burn while the inside is still raw).
- With any more burners, you can have an epic cookout for large gatherings and create even extra heat zones to cook multiple courses at once.
✔️ Heat output: You may have heard of BTU (British Thermal Units) levels advertised on gas grills. It basically measures the amount of heat output. The higher the BTUs, the more powerful the grill — but that doesn’t necessarily mean better. Instead, look at the maximum temperature and range the gas grill provides. If you like to smoke or grill foods that need to be cooked low and slow (briskets, pork shoulders or ribs), your gas grill should go down to 200ºF. For steaks, burgers or pizza, you want the gas grill to reach at least 500ºF.
Nicole (she/her) is the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she has overseen content and testing related to kitchen and cooking appliances, tools and gear since 2019. She’s an experienced product tester and recipe creator, trained in classic culinary arts and culinary nutrition. She has worked in test kitchens for small kitchen appliance brands and national magazines, including Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal.
Myo Quinn is a professionally trained chef, recipe developer, food writer and on-air talent. When she’s not cooking or planning her next meal, Myo chases her three boys around Central Park in New York City. She is on an endless hunt for the best vanilla ice cream – it should be speckled, aromatic, not too sweet and the perfect balance of creamy and icy. She is also dipping her toes into improv.
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