10 best gas BBQs to buy for every budget, garden and griller

Score: 90/100

Available in a vibrant red, this will stand out in your garden for all the right reasons. But that’s not all; it’s versatile too – as well as four gas burners it has a charcoal basket, and you can remove the central griddle and cook with the likes of a wok instead. Because of this, you’ll need to take care when cleaning, as our tester found the plate could dislodge easily and fall into the burners.

We liked its large control knobs, removable cutting board, built-in shelves, tool hooks and the magnetic bottle opener. But note that you’ll need to store the gas canister separately.

The food itself? Well, its porcelain hood allowed for entirely even heat distribution across the grill, so everything cooked well. In fact, it produced the best vegetable kebabs of all the BBQs we tested.

Score 87/100

Another excellent BBQ, this portable design will work well for small gardens or avid campers. Fitting the gas canister was simple – it’s only compatible with Campingaz’ own canisters though – while the removable grill plates make cleaning easy.

Built-in handholds help with carrying its 13kg weight, while its small stature didn’t limit its cooking capabilities. Its large temperature gauge was clearly readable and although you can’t create cooking zones, its one burner was powerful enough to distribute heat evenly. Meat-free burgers, chicken and steaks cooked best.

Score: 85/100

We all love our air fryers so why not invest in this gas BBQ and air fryer combo that lets you take your favourite appliance outdoors. You can have burgers and sausages charring on the grill and chips crisping up in the air fryer at the same time. A family BBQ never seemed so easy.

Speaking of which, our tester loved how easy this barbecue was to use throughout testing. It comes with good-sized side wings for all your prep and a magnetic bar for hanging metal utensils, as well as hooks. Plus, the grill heated up quickly and the clear controls made it easy to adjust the temperature.

Our sirloin steaks were succulent and juicy, post-grilling, and our chicken had a lovely golden char. The veggie kebabs and corn on the cob were disappointing though, lacking even charring despite cooking on a high heat. That said, it proved a reliable grill overall, and it earned extra brownie points for being easy to clean.

Score: 84/100

This affordable gas BBQ has three burners, plus a side burner and side tables for preparing food, offer plenty of space for grilling a feast for up to six people. This model also features ‘TRU-Infrared Technology’, which the brand claims will make your food up to 50% juicier.

On test, we found cooking took some getting used to. The infrared technology involves a metal plate under the grill to distribute heat more quickly and evenly, but if you’re not used to the tech and don’t have one of our best smart meat thermometers on hand, you run the risk of overcooking your food. After a few goes, however, we achieved meat with good char marks that was also full of flavour.

Score: 82/100

A good choice if you’re after a medium-sized BBQ. This is big enough to feed a family and will fit in most gardens. The wooden-effect shelving will coordinate nicely with wooden outdoor furniture too, but it doesn’t fold down, so you’ll need a decent-sized shed or garage to stow it in.

With three burners, you can create different cooking zones and we found the grill had good heat distribution. That said, there were some inconsistencies with cooking on test. Our sausages didn’t brown uniformly, for example, suggesting some cold spots. Once you familiarise yourself with the grill, however, you’ll find where to place food for optimum results. It cleaned up nicely and is great value for money.

Note, its two wheels don’t lock, so we suggest giving it a miss if your garden slopes.

Score: 79/100

Frequent campers, meet your new sidekick. This one-burner model has a portable frame that pops up easily thanks to a pull and lock mechanism. Plus, the compact frame should fit into most car boots (although compare the measurements if you have a small car) for easy transportation to the great outdoors.

It cooks well too. Our beef burgers were nicely seared with moisture locked in, and our chicken breasts were deliciously succulent. Sausages were more inconsistent though; while they cooked beautifully inside, they didn’t char evenly. Our testers other cooking complaint was a lack of rendered fat on the sirloin steaks, but that’s a small niggle.

Note, the lid became quite hot on test, so watch your hands and always use the dedicated handle. Be sure to allow time for the BBQ to cool down before hitting the road again too.

Score: 79/100

Despite being one of the cheapest BBQs on this list, our testers were cheered by its easy-to-use controls and good cooking ability. Its most impressive performance came with our sirloin steaks which were seared and cooked to a beautiful medium-rare consistency, whereas sausages, veggies and chicken breasts were all succulent but lacking consistent colour.

Our expert also liked the side burner, which provided ample room for cooking sauces or preparing side dishes. However, there's no storage space for the gas canister when the BBQ isn’t in use and we’d recommend purchasing a cover if you're planning to store the BBQ outside to keep it in pristine condition for longer. A great buy for small gardens and households.

Score: 76/100

This is a fantastic pick for an affordable family BBQ. Assembly took almost two hours and was a little fiddly, but once built, the burner was quick to ignite, and the grill quickly reached a good cooking temperature.

Meaty sausages and burgers cooked well but our veggie alternatives lacked crispiness. The temperature of the BBQ fluctuated quite a bit when cooking a whole chicken too, which meant we had to monitor its progress throughout the hour and 20-minute cooking time. We’d also have liked each of the four burners to have separate ignition points, but this isn’t a deal breaker.

Once we’d served up our feast, the removable three-piece grill was easy to clean, and the two castor wheels made it easy to store the BBQ away.

Score: 76/100

This affordable gas BBQ is suited to the occasional summer cookout. The three burners are easy to adjust, and the side burner provides added versatility for frying up yummy extras for your burgers and sausages.

It took us a couple of attempts to ignite the grill at times, and we found the back of the grill was hotter than the front. However, rotating and moving the food stops things from overcooking and we still managed to achieve some nice grill lines on our burgers, well-charred vegetables and juicy, tender chicken breasts. There’s a keep warm rack too, if you do need to get anything away from direct heat.

Note that assembly took us two hours as there weren’t any tools provided but it’s worth putting in the effort for this budget-friendly, standard family BBQ.

Score: 73/100

With a solid performance across all our grilling tests, this affordable 4-burner will deliver time and again this summer. Our burgers and sausages had clear grill lines and charring – while still being juicy – and our sirloin steak didn’t stick to the BBQ grate even though we didn’t use any oil. Our chicken breasts were the standout – with great charring, they tasted just as good as they looked.

We had to get a bit more hands-on with the grilling than with other BBQs as the temperature distribution was quite uneven. If you keep moving and rotating your food away from cold and hot spots though, you can easily get great results. Plus, there’s a ‘keep warm’ rack if you need to get ingredients away from direct heat.

Note, the side burner isn’t very powerful and, without a wind shield to protect it, cooking progress was very slow. That aside, this BBQ packs in plenty of features for a very reasonable price.