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What Is the Best Outdoor Grill to Buy? Pick the Fuel First

Charcoal, gas and pellet suit different cooks. Decide how often you will use it on a weeknight, then buy on build quality rather than burner count.

By Zakaria 3 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
Meat and vegetable skewers cooking on the bars of a grill
Photo: moerschy, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
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Pick the fuel first — everything else follows from it. And the honest test for that choice is not which one cooks better. It is which one you will still be using on a wet Tuesday in October.

This site does not test products. What follows is buying criteria drawn from how each type works and what owners consistently report, not from hands-on use.

Choosing the fuel

This table answers the question on its own
GasCharcoalPellet
Ready in~10 min20–30 min10–15 min
ControlExcellentSkill-basedExcellent, set and forget
Peak heatGoodHighestOften limited
FlavourFairBestGood, smoky
CleanupMinimalAsh every timeModest
Low and slowWorkableWorkable with skillBest
Needs electricityNoNoYes
Used on a weeknight?YesRarelySometimes

The weeknight test

People who cook once a month for pleasure are happy with charcoal. People who want dinner on a Tuesday buy charcoal, use it twice, and then stop. Be honest about which you are — it predicts satisfaction better than any feature comparison.

What build quality actually means

Weight. A heavy lid and firebox hold heat and recover it when you open the lid. Thin steel loses temperature immediately and burns through within a few seasons.

  • Cast iron or heavy stainless grates — hold heat, sear properly, last
  • A secure lid hinge and a lid that seals reasonably
  • Sturdy legs and castors that will not collapse in year two
  • A thermometer you can actually read, mounted at grate height if possible
  • Spare parts availability — grates, burners and igniters are what fail first

Parts availability is the quiet one

A grill whose burners cannot be replaced is a disposable grill, however good it looks. Check before buying, not in year four.

Size

Most households overbuy.

Cooking areaSuits
Under 250 sq inOne or two people, balconies
300–400 sq inA family of four — the usual sweet spot
500+ sq inRegularly cooking for crowds

A grill larger than you need costs more, uses more fuel, and takes longer to heat. What is worth having at any size is a two-zone layout — direct heat on one side, indirect on the other, which is what makes anything beyond burgers possible.

Where the money goes

Spend on thickness and serviceability. Past that line, the extra buys side burners, rotisseries and cabinet space — genuinely useful to some people, ignored by most.

The consistent pattern in owner reports is that heavy, simple grills with available parts outlast feature-rich thin ones by years.

Common questions

What is the best outdoor grill to buy?

There is no single best grill, because the fuel decision comes first and it depends on how you will actually cook. Gas suits people who want to grill on a weeknight without planning, since it is ready in ten minutes and controllable. Charcoal suits people who treat cooking as the event and want the flavour that comes from fat dripping onto hot coals. Pellet grills suit low and slow barbecue. Once the fuel is settled, buy on build quality rather than feature count.

Is charcoal or gas better?

They optimise for different things. Gas gives immediate, consistent, controllable heat with no waiting and no ash, which is why gas grills get used far more often in practice. Charcoal reaches higher temperatures for searing and produces the smoke flavour that comes from fat hitting hot coals, at the cost of twenty minutes of setup and a cleanup afterwards. The honest question is not which cooks better but which one you will still be using on a wet Tuesday in October.

What should you look for in grill build quality?

Weight and material, mostly. A heavy lid and firebox hold heat and recover temperature when opened, where thin steel loses it immediately and burns through within a few seasons. Cast iron or heavy stainless grates hold heat and sear properly. Look for sturdy legs and castors, a secure lid hinge, a usable thermometer, and whether replacement parts — grates, burners, igniters — are actually available for the model, since those are what fail first.

What size grill do you need?

Most households overbuy. Around 300 to 400 square inches of cooking area suits a family of four comfortably, and 500 or more is for people who regularly cook for crowds. A grill larger than you need costs more to buy, uses more fuel to bring up to temperature, and takes longer to do it. A useful feature at any size is a two-zone layout, so you can have direct heat on one side and indirect on the other.

Are pellet grills worth it?

For low and slow cooking they are excellent, because they hold a set temperature for hours with no attention, which is exactly what brisket and ribs need. They are less convincing for high-heat searing, where many models struggle to reach the temperatures a charcoal grill manages easily. They also need electricity and the pellets themselves must be kept dry, since damp pellets swell and jam the auger.

How much should you spend on a grill?

Enough for a heavy body and available spare parts, which is the line between a grill that lasts a decade and one replaced in three years. Beyond that point the extra money goes into side burners, rotisseries and cabinet space, which are genuinely useful to some people and ignored by most. Spending on thickness and serviceability rather than on features is the pattern that owner reports consistently support.

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