Best Gas Grills of 2024 for Backyard Barbecues, Tested

Gas grills get little respect from barbecue purists who insist charcoal grills, pellet grills, and smokers produce the greatest depth of flavor. I’m not saying they’re wrong, but there’s a time and place for the best gas grills. I’m jealous of anyone who has 12 hours to hang out next to a smoker tinkering with temps. I’m even envious of people who can wait 30 minutes for their charcoals to reach ideal temps. On a weeknight? Before bedtime? Must be nice. 

Low and slow is for occasional weekend warriors. The best gas grills are built for the real world. They’re convenient, fast and, unlike many other types of grills, they offer precise heat control. They’re also ideal for cooking at high temps and among the best ways to grill a steak.

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If you also live in the real world where you have to get dinner on the table between soccer practice and homework, or need to cook 12 burgers on the fly because a bunch of friends showed up for the game and stayed for dinner, gas grills are probably for you, too. Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner is our pick for the best gas grill overall, offering a high-quality build, easy-start ignition, high heat levels, modular accessories, and quick cleanup.

Read more of the greatest hits from our 2024 Grilling Awards, including the best griddles, best pizza ovens, and best grill tools—plus pro tips on how to clean a grill, what the best cuts of steak are, and where to find the best mail-order steaks.

Best Gas Grill Overall: Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner is our pick for the best overall gas grill.

Graham Averill

Char-Broil is a trusted brand in the grilling space. Commercial Series 4 Burner is its top-of-the-line model, built to handle heavy everyday use and large parties where you need to feed lots of hungry mouths. This is part of the brand’s family of grills that use commercial-grade stainless steel; they boast similar features, but differ in capacity, with two or four burners. When the weather’s warm, I grill for my family of four most nights of the week, and I’ve spent the last month putting Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner through the wringer, cooking everything from delicate fish to thick steaks.

The 4 Burner is a large grill, taking up majority of my small grilling deck. It has a side burner on one side, a side table on the other, and a removable griddle you can use to sear steaks, fry eggs, or cook veggies that tend to slip through the grates of a traditional grill. It would be overkill if you only grill occasionally, or have limited space, but after cooking countless meals on this system, I’m impressed with every aspect, from its easy-start ignition to its heat retention to its quick cleanup.

Char-Broil Commercial Series Overall Impressions  Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner is a sturdy gas grill that performs excellently cooking a wide range of foods.

Graham Averill

Char-Broil produces a number of popular grills, so I wasn’t surprised with how well the Commercial Series performed during the first month of testing. But I was pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of materials used in this particular grill. Due to the abundance of thick stainless steel, this grill is heavy, weighing more than 150 pounds. I’ve put a lot of grills together in my day, and this one’s substantial.

As for performance, it lights instantly and heats in a flash. With all burners on high heat, it reaches 700 degrees in just a few minutes. The grill has plenty of room to cook for an entire dinner party at once, retains heat well, and was easy to dial down one side so I had a place to rest burgers.

The Char-Broil Commercial Series offers a “modular cooking system,” coming with a large griddle that can replace a section of the traditional grate and the option to add a charcoal tray if you want to occasionally cook with coals. I don’t want a griddle all the time, but I love the option of swapping half of the grill out for one. Searing steaks is one of the greatest joys in life, and with the high heat of these burners, it’s a simple process.

Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner gas grill has modular features to enhance its usability. 

Graham Averill

I’m giving this grill bonus points for its excellent accessory storage. Not only do you get a large griddle, but Char-Broil was smart enough to build in storage for that griddle next to the propane tank. There’s nothing worse than having great grill accessories that have no place to live. There are also four hooks for spatulas, forks, and tongs on the side table.

Assembling Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner ain’t easy, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say. I had the grill delivered, then coerced my son to help me carry the giant box through the house and onto the back deck, where I spent the better part of an afternoon piecing it together. I had to put everything but the firebox together, and there was even some light wiring that needed to be done. I walked away from the four-hour process with a sense of ownership over the grill, as if I designed the thing from scratch.

Final Verdict

Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner is the best backyard grill I’ve owned, thanks to its ease of use and durable materials, all of which contribute to an effortless cooking process on a grill that should last for years to come. 

Pros

• High heat
• Quick preheat time
• Durable materials
• Griddle option
• Side burner

Cons

• Heavy
• Takes up a lot of space

Key Features and Tech

Char-Broil uses some cool pieces of tech in Commercial Series 4 Burner. The “Amplifire” stainless-steel plates between the burners and grate help even out the heat. The grill also lets you swap out the fuel source from propane to charcoal with the addition of a charcoal tray. But overall, there isn’t a lot of advanced tech in this grill (no Bluetooth connection here), but that’s not a knock. It works exactly like every other gas grill you’ve ever used, only better.

How I Tested Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner gas grill is a top of the line grill with a moderate price tag for such great performance.

Graham Averill

I’ve used this grill as my daily driver for the last month, cooking steaks, burgers, veggies, and chicken most nights of the week. I’ve tested everything from the amount of time it takes to preheat the grill, to how difficult it is to get chicken residue off the grates. I paid close attention to preheat time, heat retention, and hot spots. I also focused on user-friendly issues like post-dinner clean up and accessory storage. The more I used the Commercial Series, the more I liked it.

Why You Should Buy Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner

For its moderate price tag, this is a top-of-the-line grill, considering its high-quality materials and versatility. It’s large and made for heavy use, so it might not be the best choice if you’re looking for something small to wheel into the backyard every once in a while. There are much cheaper, smaller grills out there built for occasional use and dudes with a side hobby of cooking over an open flame. But if you’re addicted to grilling and love nursing a beer while searing meat or avocados (try it, you’ll love it), then Char-Broil Commercial Series 4 Burner is the ultimate tool for the job.

• Cooking area: 535 square inches
• Burners: Four
• BTUs: 20,000
• Fuel: Propane, charcoal
• Warranty: Three years for lid/firebox and grate/emitter, 10 years for burners

Best Natural Gas Grill: Cuisinart Five Burner Cuisinart Five Burner is the best gas grill that uses natural fuel.

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Versatility is the key here. Cuisinart Five Burner comes with a porcelain coated steel griddle—ideal for searing steaks or cooking potatoes or veggies—that stores inside the cart when not in use. And the cooking space is copious, with 502 square inches of primary grill space, as well as a warming rack. A glass window allows you to see what’s cooking without losing heat, and if you have natural gas at your house, the natural gas conversion kit (sold separately) allows you to tap into that fuel source. Maybe the most attractive aspect of this grill? The high-end materials, from the double-wall insulated lid and firebox to the stainless-steel burners that have a ceramic coating.

• Cooking area: 670 square inches
• Burners: 5
• BTUs: 50,000
• Fuel: Propane, natural gas
• Warranty: 3 years on stainless steel parts, 15 years on burners

Best Gas Grill Under $500: Monument Grills Mesa 305 Monument Grill Mesa 305 Gas Grill

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Monument Grills Mesa 305 offers high-quality materials and a lot of features for a sub-$400 price tag. The stainless-steel burners and porcelain-coated cast-iron grate are built to last, while the copious grilling space (570 square inches) and extra side burner allow you to cook a whole feast all at once. I like the glass panel on the lid, which allows you to peek inside without lifting the lid and losing heat, but you’ll have to work to keep that glass clean over time. Need more grilling space? Monument makes the same grill in larger versions, with up to six burners.

• Cooking area: 570 square inches
• Burners: 3, plus side burner
• BTUs: 48,000
• Fuel: Propane
• Warranty: 1 year on grill, 8 years on burners

Best Smart Gas Grill: Weber Genesis SX-335 Weber Genesis SX-335 Smart Gas Grill is the best smart gas grill.

Adam Bible

Genesis SX-335 is built for steaks, with an extra-large sear zone that has its own dedicated burner, creating a high-heat area for lots of red meat. The proprietary PureBlu burner system is designed to deliver even heat across the surface of the grill, eliminating hot spots, while the famous Weber Flavorizer Bars catch and cook drippings, funneling them away from the burners to prevent flareups and minimize clogs. In other words, if you cook a lot of high-fat meat, like burgers, you won’t spend all your time managing grease fires. The intelligent cherry on top is the Weber Connect smart grilling tech, which monitors temperature and can alert you—on a well-designed, easy-to-connect app—when to flip and when to remove your food to ensure it comes out just the way you like. Genesis SX-335 is also compatible with Weber’s Crafted Outdoor Kitchen Collection, which includes standards like a baking stone and griddle, along with bonuses like a rotisserie setup and wok/steamer combo to take your grilling experience to the next level.

• Cooking area: 513 square inches
• Burners: 3
• BTUs: 39,000
• Fuel: Propane, natural gas 
• Warranty: 3 years for components, 12 years for the cook box

Best Tabletop Gas Grill: Pit-Boss Stainless Pit-Boss Stainless Gas Grill is the best tabletop gas grill.

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Pit-Boss Stainless is built for travel, but it’s solid enough to be your regular grill if you’re short on space. It’s a straightforward system, with two burners, a single grill (no warming rack), and fold-down legs for table top cooking. The whole grill is stainless steel, from the burners to the body, and each burner has enough output (10,000 BTUs each) for searing steaks.

• Cooking area: 274 square inches
• Burners: 2
• BTUs: 20,000
• Fuel: Propane
• Warranty: 2 years