Best Grills for 2024

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 was expensive, so it had to be affordable. I picked up this heavy-duty grill at Walmart and was instantly impressed with how well it was constructed. After putting it all together, there was a 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 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 were also helpful. 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.

Seeing Traeger at the top of this list shouldn't be surprising, considering the brand truly popularized the pellet grill. While there are many choices in the Traeger lineup to choose from, after testing the latest Ironwood XL, it was clear that this is the one that can do it all. There is a smaller version, the Traeger Ironwood, which has all of the same features as the XL model but over 300 square inches less cooking space. If you don't plan on cooking large pieces of meat like brisket or for large groups of people, then the smaller model might be for you.

The Traeger Ironwood XL gets the top spot because of more than just the large cooking area. It's because it offers the complete package for pellet grills. It does a great job of managing its pellet usage. When I cooked for 24 hours on it with meals ranging from pork chops to beer can chicken and pork butt to brisket, the Ironwood XL handled it all wonderfully. With a temperature range of 165-500 degrees, it can cook any way you want.

The WiFIRE features allow you to monitor grill temps, pellet levels, food temps with the included meat probes, and more. The control system combining a rotating knob and touchscreen makes tuning the grill to your needs a snap. I also like the Traeger app, which has many recipes you can send straight to your grill. The biggest downside is the price, which is quite expensive. There is little this grill can't do when it comes to outdoor cooking.

Even if you aren't familiar with the Recteq brand, it doesn't mean the world of BBQ is. It may be a bit under the radar compared to others like Traeger, but the Flagship XL 1400 does some things the Ironwood XL cannot. With a massive 1,437 square-inch cooking surface, you can cook a whole lot of food.

To complement the large cooking area, the Flagship XL 1400 also boasts a massive pellet hopper, easily handling over 40 pounds of wood pellets. It also did a good job of cooking efficiently during the overnight smoking of brisket during testing. With built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, using the Recteq app makes it easy to monitor the grill temp and meat temps with the included probes. You can't check the pellet level from the app like with the Ironwood XL.

Because the Recteq Flagship XL 1400 is built like a tank, including the heavy bullhorn handles, it does an excellent job at maintaining an even temp across the grill. This is largely thanks to the heavy cast iron burn pot deflector and the large stainless steel smoke and heat deflector. The one thing I wish this grill had to improve the heat and smoke retention was a seal around the lid.

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 with a full-size smoker. It even works with the air fryer, so making crispy wings with an Applewood smoke taste is easy.

The Traeger is a fantastic flat-top grill, but it's 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, 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 and 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.

Halo has made some excellent products over the last few years, including a pizza oven that I liked when testing, but this griddle is a stand-out product. On top of all the standard testing I do with grills, I got to take it for the first camping trip of the season and it held up like an absolute champ. The cooking surface heated evenly, and because of the inspired idea to include a spirit level and adjustable feet, I could set it up on a rickety picnic table and not have my eggs run to one corner. That spirit level is such a good idea.

I love having a giant griddle to cook for my huge family, but the Halo tabletop griddle is perfect for making a few smash burgers, or some breakfast burritos without using a ton of gas to do it.

Kamado grilling cookers are distinctively egg-shaped wood-burning grills. They impart a delicious smoky flavor to everything, 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.

These abilities are attributed to the thick ceramic used to form and line the grill, which is similar to what is used for a pizza stone in the top pizza ovens. That ceramic does an amazing job at holding heat, allowing you to use far less charcoal than you would in a traditional charcoal grill and get more smoke and heat from it.

The Kamado Joe Konnected Joe may have a steep 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. It performs well, too. On our slow-and-low barbecue grill test, we adjust grills to 225 degrees Fahrenheit (107 degrees Celsius) and let go of the controls to see what happens. In this trial, the Konnected Joe demonstrated excellent temperature stability. Thanks to the Wi-Fi connectivity, you can monitor and set temps for your ceramic cooker from the comfort of your AC.