Best Grills for 2023 – CNET

When I first moved out 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 is expensive, so it had to be affordable. I picked this heavy-duty grill up at Walmart and was instantly impressed with how well it was constructed. After putting it all together it had heft to all the materials that made me think it would stand the test of time, and it did.

The easily removable ashtray made keeping the grill clean a breeze, and the thermometer on the top is very helpful for smoking meats, especially if you don’t want to keep lifting the lid and losing the smoke! Little touches like the bottle opener and the hooks under the shelf made it even more helpful, and I used this grill for nearly six years before I moved again. Even when I left, the new owners took it to use with their families.

I have used a lot of really expensive grills, but this budget-friendly, sturdy workhorse is still one of my favorites.

The Ninja Woodfire has all the convenience of an indoor electric grill and air fryer with the addition of a small smoking hopper that lets you burn pellets. These pellets add a distinctive smoky taste to anything you are cooking without the need for an entire smoker to do it.

I’ve cooked chicken, salmon and beef on the grill setting using just a cup of pellets, saving a lot of time and money compared to a full-size smoker. It even works with the air fryer, so making crispy wings with an applewood smoke taste is easy. 

While the Traeger is a fantastic flat-top grill, it is big and heavy and sometimes you don’t need to cook tacos for 10 people. The Nexgrill griddle is much smaller, perfect for a small family of four, and is collapsable so it can be easily stored under your deck, or even thrown in the back of your truck to take camping. 

I did find the instructions a little hard to follow though, so make sure you have some time to put it together right.  

Like the Ninja Woodsmoke grill above this outdoor oven uses a small pellet smoker on the side to infuse the food with a smokey flavor. The difference with this oven is it can cook at very high temperatures to cook pizzas, make burnt ends, or you can drop the temp and slow cook meat to perfection. If you have a built-in outdoor kitchen this will look fantastic in that setting.

When space is limited, finding the right grill to give you the taste you want can be hard. This gas grill from Monument is compact on the outside but surprisingly large on the inside. It’s big enough to cook a spatchcocked turkey or several large steaks and, because 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 little balcony in your condo, this would be a great addition to make your grilling dreams come true.

Kamado grilling cookers, egg-shaped, ceramic, wood-burning grills that you may have seen or at least heard of, impart a delicious smoky flavor to everything they cook, and this is the best grill in the bunch. They can run low and slow for hours at smoker temperatures and sear at high heat levels that go well beyond the capabilities of gas grills. That’s hot enough to create true steakhouse steaks and real wood-fired pizza like a pro griller.

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