Best BBQ Grills That Won’t Bankrupt You This Summer
Summer is here. Someone in your street has already fired up a grill. You can smell it. And you’re standing in your garden with a bag of charcoal and a grill that’s held together by optimism and one functioning wheel wondering if this is the year you finally upgrade.
It is. Here’s what to buy from what we think are the best BBQ grills out there.
Before you spend anything — know what you actually need, what are the best BBQ grills that money can buy
The BBQ grill market is full of people who bought a kamado because they watched four YouTube videos and now use it twice a year. Be honest with yourself before you spend:
- How often will you actually use it?
- Gas (convenient, consistent) or charcoal (more flavour, more effort)?
- How many people are you cooking for?
- Do you have covered outdoor space or will this live outside in whatever weather your country throws at it?
Answer those questions first. Then buy the right grill, not the aspirational one.
The Best BBQ grills for Every Budget
Best Gas BBQ: Weber Spirit E-310
Weber is the benchmark. The Spirit E-310 is a three-burner gas grill that heats evenly, lasts a decade with basic maintenance, and doesn’t require a YouTube tutorial to clean. It sits in the mid-to-upper range of the market but it’s the last gas grill most people will ever need to buy.
What we like: consistent heat across all three burners, solid build quality, excellent customer support, and parts are actually available when something needs replacing in year six.
What we don’t: the price is hard to swallow upfront. There are cheaper options that work fine for two summers before the burners rust out. Your call.
Best Budget Gas BBQ: Char-Broil Performance 3 Burner
If Weber’s price is genuinely out of reach, Char-Broil makes a solid three-burner alternative at roughly half the price. It won’t last as long and the build quality shows in places — but it grills well, heats up quickly and does everything a gas BBQ needs to do for a few summers.
Good entry point if you’re not sure how much you’ll actually use it.
Best Charcoal BBQ: Weber Original Kettle
The Weber Kettle has been essentially unchanged since 1952 because it’s already correct. Round, simple, effective. The lid vents give you temperature control, the ash catcher makes cleanup manageable, and the cooking grate is big enough for a proper spread.
If you want better flavour and don’t mind slightly more effort than gas, this is the answer. It’s also significantly more affordable than a comparable gas setup.
Best Kamado: Kamado Joe Classic Series II
The Kamado Joe Classic Series II is the grill that serious outdoor cooks eventually end up with. Ceramic construction, exceptional heat retention, works as a smoker, a grill, and with the right accessories an outdoor oven. The 18-inch cooking surface handles a whole brisket, a full rack of ribs, or enough burgers for a crowd without breaking a sweat.
What sets Kamado Joe apart from the competition is the divide and conquer cooking system — split the grill into zones at different heights and temperatures and cook multiple things at once. It sounds fancy until you realise it’s genuinely useful every single time you use it.
It’s expensive, heavy, and requires a learning curve. If you’re buying this, you’re committing to becoming a person who talks about their grill at parties. Know that going in. Worth every conversation.
Best Pizza Oven / Grill Hybrid: Ooni Koda 16
Not strictly a BBQ but worth including because the Ooni Koda 16 has changed outdoor cooking for a lot of people. Gas-powered, reaches 500°C in twenty minutes, cooks a pizza in sixty seconds. It also does steaks, fish, vegetables — anything that benefits from extreme heat.
If you’re the kind of person who genuinely loves cooking rather than just grilling burgers, the Ooni earns its place.
What to look for regardless of budget
Burners: stainless steel lasts longer than cast iron. Check the material before you buy.
Cooking area: measure in square inches or centimetres. A family of four needs at least 450 square inches. More if you entertain.
Lid: you want a lid. Grilling without one is like cooking with no control over temperature.
Warranty: Weber offers ten years on most parts. That tells you something about how confident they are in the product. Check what you’re buying before you hand over your card.
The honest answer on budget
Spend as much as you can reasonably afford on a grill from a brand that’s been making them for decades. The cheap supermarket grill will work for a summer or two. The Weber will work for fifteen years. The maths usually works out — and your future self will thank you every time you fire it up without something falling off.
