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The GHI got grilling to find the best ones for your garden
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of firing up a BBQ when the sun comes out. If yours is starting to look a little weathered, it may be time to invest in a new one.
But where to start? There’s a lot to consider. From how many people you’re feeding to storage space, not to mention the reassurance that it’ll cook up delicious food time after time. That’s why the Good Housekeeping Institute put gas BBQs to the test, and found these winners:
A gas BBQ gives you the control over your cooking; you can alter the temperature, which makes it easier to cook more delicate foods like vegetables and fish.
They heat up quicker than charcoal BBQs too, and tend to be easier to clean. Most gas BBQs require running at a high temperature for a set time before you scrape off any burnt-on food. Then you’ll just need to deal with a grease tray, rather than disposing of charcoal. For more information on cleaning your gas BBQ, see our GHI guide.
That said, your food won’t have the same smoky flavour, and gas models don’t reach the same high temperatures as a charcoal BBQ, so may not brown and sear your food in the same way. However, the lower temperatures of a gas BBQ are an advantage if you want to cook joints of meat for a longer period using rotisserie accessories.
Note: There are hybrid BBQs available, offering both gas and charcoal in one, like the Outback on our list.
There’s lots to consider when investing in a BBQ, so we’ve broken down the features we think are worth keeping in mind:
The more burners you have, the more cooking zones you can create by setting each one to a different temperature. This is handy if you’re preparing multiple dishes at once.
The BBQs on our list range from one burner to five. There’s no specific amount that is better, but be wary that more burners do equate to bigger BBQs.
Some BBQs also have a side burner, which tends to be used for preparing food that you wouldn’t grill. These expand your BBQ’s cooking capabilities but aren’t a necessity.
This is three-fold; you need to think about where you’ll keep your BBQ in the garden, where you’ll store it over winter and what on-board storage there is.
Some BBQs can stay outdoors if they have an adequate cover, but in colder months or bad weather most will need to be moved inside. If you can store the gas canister in the BBQ itself, that will make it more compact to pack away.
Then consider what you’ll need while cooking. Some have shelves or hooks for tools, so you can handily keep everything you need nearby.
Sitting either side of the grill, these are helpful for preparing and storing food while you’re cooking. Make sure you don’t keep food that needs refrigerating out for too long before you put it on the BBQ though.
Most BBQs have one or two, and if there is a side burner, look to see if there’s a cover that will convert it into a workspace.
They add extra size to your BBQ but some fold down, which helps if space is at a premium.
As well as the main grill, some BBQs have warming grates built into the lid. These secondary racks can be helpful for expanding your cooking area or keeping some food hot while you continue preparing the rest.
Some of the BBQs on our list also have removable grill panels so you can use pans and woks on the burners.
Generally, these are nice to haves, but it’s worth thinking about what else comes in the box. For example, one of our joint winners, the Whistler, comes with a rotisserie system that can be added to the BBQ. The Weber, another one of our winners, comes with an additional temperature probe for even more controlled cooking.
Cleaning tools like scrapers are particularly helpful too, as then you can scrub your BBQ safe in the knowledge that you’re using the right equipment.
When testing BBQs, the first thing we look at is heat distribution. To assess this, we take temperature readings from across the lid (and the handle to check it’s safe), and place bread across the grill to see how evenly its toasted.
Then we get grilling. To ascertain how well each gas BBQ cooks, we use a menu of both meat and vegan sausages and burgers, along with corn on the cob, vegetable kebabs, chicken breasts and steaks. Our tester looks at searing marks, how evenly food browns, and, of course, tastes everything to check it has cooked through.
Finally, we test how well any side burners boil water and milk.
Each BBQ is scored according to its performance, ease of use, design and product information.
These are our top grillers:
This BBQ aced our test, impressing from the ease of assembly through to the four burners that allow you to create different temperature zones and cook various foods at once. Plus, its clever grills have built-in infrared technology, meaning heat distribution was entirely even.
Unsurprisingly, all our foods were outstandingly cooked; it scored full marks for the moist-yet-charred chicken and quickly cooked steak. It is sizeable, but has a side hob for extra cooking and in-built gas storage.
The lid’s temperature gauge is easy to read, as are the control knobs, and the handle remained cool to the touch throughout. But opening and closing the lid does require some strength, as it’s on the heavy side.
Key specifications Number of burners: 4 Side burner: Yes Grilling area: 77.2 x 44.5cm BBQ dimensions: H121 x W149.5 x D59.2 cm Materials: Stainless steel frame with cast iron grates Additional features: Electronic ignition, built-in bottle opener, tool hooks, warming rack Guarantee: 10 years for burners, 5 years for grates and all other parts for 2 years
This high-end Weber gives you ultimate control over your cooking. Using Wi-Fi connectivity and built-in probes, you can ensure your food’s temperature is right by monitoring it in real-time via an accompanying app.
Connecting an additional meat probe (included) and adjusting its four burners allows you to create and track cooking zones, too. Within the app you can set up alerts or alarms and it will remember the cooking times for your favourite recipes. If your Wi-Fi doesn’t extend to your garden, you can switch to Bluetooth instead.
This precision, combined with the BBQ's large sear area meant our resulting food was hard to fault; its standout dishes were both meat and vegan sausages and burgers, and chicken breasts. Our tester also liked how the night-light that’s built into the lid handle should help eek out your BBQing for as much of the year as possible, even when the days start to draw in.
Just make sure to set aside ample time for its lengthy building process.
Key specifications Number of burners: 4 Side burner: Yes Grilling area: 86 x 48 cm BBQ dimensions: H115 x W91 x D66 cm Materials: Porcelain enamelled lid with cast iron grates Additional features: Electronic ignition, grease scraper included, tool hooks, warming rack Guarantee: 12 years
An excellent crowd-feeder, this five-burner BBQ has multiple cooking zones and uniform heat distribution that produced pleasing results; it scored full marks cooking corn on the cob, vegetable kebabs and steak, and only dropped one mark on our sausage and burger tests. The accompanying rotisserie accessory also shone, cooking our chicken perfectly in under two hours.
This BBQ requires mains electricity, as do its built-in LED lights, limiting where it can be positioned. Arriving pre-built, you can also choose to buy this BBQ integrated into one of Whistler’s outdoor kitchens. The stainless steel design shows up dirt easily and it can get fiddly to clean, but overall it’s a premium BBQ.
Key specifications Number of burners: 5 Side burner: Yes Grilling area: 101.6 x 48.26 cm BBQ dimensions: H128.46 x W178.9 x D 68.97 cm Materials: Stainless steel Additional features: Flame thrower ignition, cover, rotisserie cooking grate and smoker box included, warming rack Guarantee: Lifetime
Measuring a little over a metre, this is ideal for smaller gardens. What’s more, this two-burner boasts the same infrared technology as our Char-Broil winner, so you can still enjoy similar benefits.
Its grill heated evenly, but when we tested it, it seemed susceptible to wind, so position somewhere sheltered, if possible, to avoid any colder spots.
Our food was consistently well-cooked with appetising sear marks. There are lots of thoughtful design details too; its side tables fold down, making storage a doddle, it has hooks you can hang tools from, its controls are illuminated with LED lights, and it has an electric ignition. A compact all-rounder.
Key specifications Number of burners: 2 Side burner: No Grilling area: 45 x 43.8 cm BBQ dimensions: H 115.3 x W 113 x D 57.3 cm Materials: Stainless steel with cast-iron grates Additional features: Electronic ignition, tool hooks, griddle plate, warming rack Guarantee: 5 years
Available in a variety of colours, this BBQ can match your garden furniture. 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 you’ll need to store the gas cannister 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.
Key specifications Number of burners: 4 Side burner: Yes Grilling area: 64 x 42 cm BBQ dimensions: H 122 x W 140 x D 61 cm Materials: Porcelain enamelled lid with cast iron grates Additional features: Removable wooden chopping board, tool rack, integral spark ignition, magnetic bottle opener, warming rack Guarantee: Unspecified
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 while you can’t create cooking zones, its one burner was powerful enough to distribute heat evenly. Meat-free burgers, chicken and steaks cooked best.
Key specifications Number of burners: 1 Side burner: No Grilling area: 48 x 26 cm BBQ dimensions: H36 x W59 x D52 cm Materials: Aluminium lid and cast iron cooking grates Additional features: n/a Guarantee: 10 years for lid and 5 for grills
Treat your garden like a kitchen with this BBQ’s sizeable side tray. There’s ample room to prep your food and transfer it straight onto the grill for cooking. They fold away, too.
We’d recommend placing the food deeper into the BBQ as there were a few cold spots at the front. Otherwise, it heated well, and our food was good; both the meat-free and beef burgers charred nicely while remaining moist inside. The same was true of our steaks and chicken breasts.
It’s a big unit and we noticed some sharp parts during assembly, so we’d suggest wearing gloves for set up. Its instructions were clear, and it has an excellent amount of storage – two shelves underneath the BBQ and room for the gas canister.
You can remove the middle grill plate too if you want to use a wok and there’s a hob on the side. It's a great alternative to some of our pricier winners.
Key specifications Number of burners: 4 Side burner: Yes Grilling area: Four grates measuring 43 x 20.7 cm each BBQ dimensions: H118 x W200 x D62 cm Materials: Steel frame with cast-iron grates Accessories included: A multicooking set, tool hooks, warming rack Guarantee: 10 years
Our tester built this affordable four-burner in just over one hour. It was a bit fiddly to do, but once conquered you just need to season the grill plates and then you can get cooking right away. We were impressed with how little food stuck to it, and how easy it was to brush away the small quantities that did.
An automatic ignition is another feature that makes it easy to use, but we’d suggest using heat-resistant gloves when cooking as the handle became warm. The front edge of the grill didn't heat up as much as the rest, but our steak and all the sausages and burgers cooked rather nicely.
We’d have liked the side wings to fold down for storage purposes, but you can keep this one outdoors (you’ll just need to purchase a cover for it).
Key specifications Number of burners: 4 Side burners: Yes Grilling area: 67 x 41 cm BBQ dimensions: H107.5 x W58.5 x D130 cm Materials: Steel Additional features: Knob ignition, warming rack Guarantee: 1 year
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 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. Although, 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’d suggest giving it a miss if your garden slopes.
Key specifications Number of burners: 3 Side burners: No Grilling area: 60 x 42 cm BBQ dimensions: H122 x W59.5 x D103 cm Materials: Steel Additional features: Electronic ignition, tool hooks, warming rack Guarantee: Unspecified
Scoring nearly full marks for its ease of use, this BBQ was simple to set up thanks to its straightforward instructions. Its large control dials have excellent grip and out of its four wheels, two are lockable. Handily it also has in-built gas storage – you need to remove the gas canister to use while cooking though.
The handle stayed cool enough for our tester to use throughout testing and most of the grill heated well, although like a few others, the front edge didn’t heat up as much. Our burgers, corn on the cob and chicken cooked well but our sausages and steaks didn’t quite colour how we’d have liked. Its side burner is also useful if you want to make your own sauces.
Key specifications Number of burners: 3 Side burners: Yes Grilling area: 62 x 40 cm BBQ dimensions: H120 x W53 x D135 cm Materials: Cast iron grates Additional features: Integrated ignition, warming rack Guarantee: 2 years