9 best charcoal BBQs for achieving that all-important chargrilled, smoky flavour

Score: 96/100

This is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s highest scoring BBQ ever! Which is no mean feat, given we’ve reviewed 71 BBQs in total.

The large grill’s large cooking space can cater to up to six people and only took 20 minutes to heat up in testing. Once we got grilling, our expert was impressed by the BBQ’s ability to lock in moisture and intensify the flavours inside the meat. In fact, it scored perfect marks on all our food tests – and when we tried smoking, the results were mouthwatering…

We had to knock a few marks off due to some cold spots on the grill surface and its 73kg weight means you’ll need to find a permanent spot for it in your garden. But for the BBQ of dreams, it deserves to take centre stage, in our opinion.

For more information read our Big Green Egg review.

Score: 85/100

Weber make some fantastic grills (it’s the winner of our best gas BBQ and best electric BBQ titles), so we weren’t too surprised to see it do well here.

The classic kettle design only took 45 minutes to build, yet it doesn’t skimp on features and technical design. The grill centre is compatible with Weber’s BBQ accessories including the pizza stone and rotisserie crisping basket, plus there’s a dedicated setting that controls airflow for when you want to smoke meats.

But if you just want to keep it simple, our sausages and burgers were well cooked, with an even colour and plenty of flavour. The thin stainless steel grill bars didn’t produce good char lines but we don’t think that’s a dealbreaker – especially as we achieved great sear lines on our sirloin steak.

Score: 82/100

This fantastic charcoal BBQ has a height-adjustable charcoal grate to give you more control over the temperature when you're cooking. It also boasts two side shelves for prepping meat and even has a handy bottle opener attached so you can enjoy an ice-cold drink while showing off your grilling skills.

We achieved good char lines on our burgers, chicken and sirloin steak; however, the searing on our sausages was slightly patchy. Some of the vegetables on our kebabs fell through the grate too, but those that stayed on were full of moisture and tasted delicious.

Score: 82/100

Compact and lightweight, this kettle BBQ is an excellent choice for those short on garden and storage space. Despite being the most lightweight on our list, we still found it sturdy and stable – and we had it up and ready in under an hour.

Like the Charbroil BBQ above, this has adjustable grill heights, plus multiple ventilation controls, offering a great level of control over the cooking temperature and air flow. This meant we were able to grill a delicious sirloin steak, which scored full marks for its smoky flavour and juicy interior. We had some issues with our marinated chicken though, as the meat stuck to the grill’s surface.

Score: 81/100

Hate scrubbing the grill plates at the end of each cookout? This is the one for you. Each of its six grates are dishwasher-safe, as is the plancha (a flat-top griddle that’s great for cooking smash burgers and grilling onions). The ash tray is easy to access too, but we had to use a small garden trowel to empty it.

Let’s not forget the food though, as it’s not just cleaning where this BBQ shines. Our steak and chicken cooked beautifully, and we recommend using the plancha for burgers and sausages as this helped achieve a lovely, even finish. Our tester also loved having the extra workspace on the sides, as well as a place to hang their utensils during cooking.

Score: 80/100

With all the ease and convenience of the best gas BBQs, this grill is the one to go for if you don’t want the faff of manually lighting your charcoal. Instead, the charcoal is lit inside a compartment called the ‘mini hopper’ and the built-in fan controls the circulation of the hot air – essentially acting like an oven more than a grill.

Not only does that mean the BBQ must be plugged into the mains power to work, but you’ll also have to compromise on the grill lines. As the food isn’t cooked directly over the hot coals, burgers and sausages didn’t brown as easily and lacked the charring we all love when grilling.

But this means it’s perfect for trying your hand at smoking. We slow-cooked pork shoulder for 7.5 hours and the results were spectacular – think subtly smoky, falling-apart meat.

Score: 79/100

The Kamado Joe Jr boasts the ceramic construction we’ve come to expect with this style of BBQ but in a smaller design, making it better for storage and much easier to move than other models of a similar style. The small grill size does mean you’re limited to cooking for two to four people though.

In testing, minimal assembly was needed and we were ready to grill in 20 minutes. Highlights included moist and juicy chicken breasts, and meat-free burgers and sausages that cooked and charred evenly with no sticking (something many grills struggle with when it comes to meat-free food).

One thing to note: the ‘self-cleaning’ design wasn’t overly effective, with the grill struggling to reach the high temperatures needed to burn off the debris.

Score: 77/100

This budget BBQ can also be used as a smoker by closing up the air vents and adding wood chips. In testing, our pulled pork shoulder came out deliciously smoky, albeit a little dry, and it was easy to control the temperature by monitoring the built-in gauge and adjusting the air vents.

There was little detail in the instructions though, both for using it as a smoker and as a regular BBQ, so it took some trial and error to work out the right height (out of the four positions) for the grill when cooking sausages. It performed best when grilling steak and corn on the cobs, but the rest of our meat had an uneven finish.

Score: 74/100

Large families will like this charcoal BBQ, which has cooking space for up to eight people, a warming rack, and sturdy side shelves for keeping seasonings and marinades within arm's reach. Assembly was quite tricky though as the instructions lacked details and any diagrams were unclear, so be sure to set aside at least two hours for building.

Once built, we cooked juicy burgers and sausages without issues, and our steak was juicy and flavoursome. However, meat that needs a longer cooking time (like our chicken) lacked wow factor, with little flavour and minimal charring.