How to Choose the Right Grill for You

I’m obsessed with grilling. Over the past six yeas, I have somehow managed to test more than 50 grills for the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab, and I’m fascinated by how unique they each are. There are four main fuel types—gas, charcoal, pellet, and electric—and they offer different strengths. Here’s how to choose the best one for you.

When my team and I surveyed our readers last year about their grills and grill habits, we weren’t surprised to learn that most survey respondents had gas grills. They’re very easy to use. They can be powered by propane or natural gas.

Pros:

• They’re simple and powerful.
• They typically have multiple burners with their own control knob so you can create different cooking zones—similar to a gas range.
• They heat quickly, so you can use them on a weeknight as easily as a weekend.
• They take no time to power down like a charcoal or pellet grill would. Read: You can get them cleaned and covered quickly.

Cons:

• Propane tanks can be heavy and cumbersome to refill.
• Traditionalists claim they don’t create a smoky flavor like some other types of grills.

Size options: Gas grills comes in various sizes, generally from two to six burners. Two-burner grills are great for individuals or small families. They’re also great smaller spaces. Three- to four-burner grills are average, while a five- to six-burner grill is best for large families or big parties.

A classic, kettle-shaped grill probably comes to mind when you think about charcoal grills, but they can also be rectangular or cylindrical. They all heat with coals or briquets and can double as smokers. They tend to have simple designs with vents on the top of the lid as well as on the bottom of the grill. All of the vents help control the air flow and temperature, and the bottom vents aid in ash collection. The temperature is also influenced by the amount of charcoal you have in the grill, how long they’ve been burning, and how close your cooking grate is to the coals.

Pros:

• They allow cooks to feel the fun of “cooking with fire.”
• Charcoal creates a smoky flavor, which sets it apart from gas grills and indoor cooking.
• These grills can double as a smoker, though they do require more hands-on temperature maintenance compared to other types of smokers.
• The simple design—with fewer mechanical parts than gas, pellet, or electric grills—means they’ll last for years.

Cons:

• Lighting coals can be a pain. I like using a chimney starter, which makes it easier.
• Maintaining a consistent temperature and creating temperature zones can be tricky for new grillers.
• Charcoal is slower than gas: They take time to be ready for cooking, and you have to wait for the coals to fully burn out before you can store the grill.

Size options: An average charcoal grill is 22 inches in diameter. Smaller, portable versions exist, and larger sizes are available, especially if you choose a rectangular or cylindrical one.

Kamado grills are shaped like an egg and typically made of heavy-duty ceramic. Kamados have a vent on the top of the lid, and a trap door on the bottom that you can use to help regulate the temperature and clean out the ash. The charcoal or briquets sit on top of a perforated grate that’s located in the bottom of the grill.

Pros:

• They excel at holding a specific temperature, which is especially useful if you want to cook low and slow.
• They also can reach very high temps to work for fast-cooking foods like pizza.
• They’re long-lasting, especially if you buy a model without any smart controls or features.

Cons:

• They’re heavy. I recommend setting yours up where you want to cook long-term or using a stand with wheels.
• There’s less room in an egg compared to a charcoal grill, so it’s harder to create temperature zones.

Size options: The common Kamado grills are 18 inches in diameter, but they come in all different sizes from portable to extra-large. Note that even the portable ones are very heavy to move around.

A pellet grill is fueled from a large hopper filled with pellets, which are compressed wood bits that resemble rabbit food. Once you start the grill and select a temperature, pellets fall into a heating pot where they are lit to generate heat. The heat and smoke fill the cavity and cook food like an oven would.

Pros:

• They’re amongst the easiest types of grills to use, because the fuel is fed automatically, and the temperature is maintained with set-it-and-forget-it gauges.
• They create a smoky flavor, which you can adjust the based on the kind of pellets you use (like hickory, mesquite, cherry, etc.).
• You can cook food low and slow for hours without worrying about it burning because there’s no exposed flame.
• You can bake or even sear with some models: High temperatures are around 500˚F, but some go higher.

Cons:

• They’re electric and must be plugged in, so you’re limited on where you can set up your grilling station.
• They’re not ideal for people who want charred results, because most use indirect cooking, meaning there’s no exposed flame. (Some, however, do offer charring!)
• They usually take at least 15 minutes to power down (while they’re still plugged in) before it’s safe to walk away from it or cover it for the night.

Size options: Pellet grill size recommendations are a little harder to grasp because they often lean on square inches versus dimensions in their marketing. For example, our top-recommended pellet grills offers 970 square inches of cooking surface, which includes an upper rack. Often, the main cooking body is about the same size as a gas grill, but the overall width of the grills is wider due to the hopper.

These user-friendly grills plug in to operate and heat much like an indoor grill (without a live flame) but at a much higher temperature.

Pros:

• You can often use them in areas that don’t allow open-flame cooking, like apartment complexes.
• Since you’re not cooking over an open flame, you won’t get flare-ups.

Cons:

• They require an electrical outlet, so you’re limited on where you can use your grill.
• Generally speaking, they don’t get as hot as other types of grills.
• They don’t create a smoky flavor. You’ll achieve grill marks, but without the charred notes.

Size options: The biggest electric grills I’ve seen are about the size of a three to four burner grill. They’re often smaller, and many can be used on tabletops.

When my team and I test grills, we evaluated all the features that enhance the cooking process. Each of these is worth considering for all types of grills.

Nicole Papantoniou is the director of the Kitchen & Cooking Lab where she has been testing grills since 2020. She has tested more than 50 grills of all types and loves to grill at home as well. Her backyard is filled with every type of grill discussed here (as well as several pizza ovens).