For many folks, the art of grilling has become a year-round way of life. Whether you’re looking for a basic charcoal grill, or you’re finally ready to upgrade to a fancy kamado grill, you’ll find tons of options below that are of great value, including some grills you can snag for hundreds off the usual price. Shopping for a grill in the offseason can score you some great deals, and right now — with Memorial Day sales underway — you might find the perfect grill for a reasonable price.
Don’t miss our Memorial Day live deals coverage for a real-time look at the best deals as we find them.
Not sure which type of grill would suit you best? Before you check out our picks for the best deals on outdoor grills, take a spin through our grill buying guide. I’m firmly in the charcoal grill camp, but if you have yet to take a side in the great grill debate, here’s a useful primer on which is better, a gas or charcoal grill.
Also, if you’re looking to upgrade other appliances around your house, check out our roundup of the best Memorial Day appliance sales to find some of the deepest discounts available this summer.
There’s no beating the original in terms of getting the best performance and the simplest design for the lowest cost. For a fraction of the price of a kamado or a gas grill, Weber’s basic 22-inch kettle is the standard-bearer of charcoal grills. You can get it for $139 at Lowe’s or Amazon, a 10% discount off the regular price of $155.
Weber’s 22-inch Premium Charcoal Grill is also a great deal for $80 more than the basic kettle above. Compared with the Original model, the Premium provides a better ash catcher (for less mess on your patio), a built-in thermometer in the lid (for help keeping a constant temperature when cooking low and slow) and a hinged cooking grate (for adding more coals without needing to remove the entire grate). The current price is a modest 6% discount, but it still saves you $14 on what’s already a well-priced grill.
Want an alternative to the kettle-style Weber grill? After testing, the cart-style Nexgrill got our reviewer’s vote as one of the best charcoal grills available. It offers decent performance, with added space on the side to keep a dish, sauce or tools. It’s typically priced at $199, but the Home Depot exclusive price is $149.
Char-Broil’s three-burner stainless-steel gas grill offers the best balance of features and performance among the models CNET has tested. At 25,500 Btu over 420 square inches, it provides a good amount of grilling power and space. It also has a side burner and tank storage behind two cabinet doors, and it comes with a 10-year warranty. Char-Broil uses what it calls Tru-Infrared, a set of perforated emitter plates that separate food from flame to evenly distribute heat and reduce flare-ups. You can currently pick it up for $150 off the usual price when you shop at Char-Broil directly.
Kamado grills are usually made from ceramics and boast amazing heat retention that lets you maintain a constant temperature for low-and-slow cooking. They can also reach high temps for grilling burgers and even pizza. Big Green Egg started the kamado craze and is still the leader in making the best-performing and best-looking kamados.
The price is generally high on these grills, but right now you can score one for $935, which is $165 less than the regular price of $1,100.
A pellet grill combines the smoky goodness you get from cooking over charcoal with the ease of gas. This model from Victory is $350 off from the BBQ Guys right now and lets you maintain a steady temperature between 180 degrees, for a low-and-slow cook, and 500 degrees, for high-heat grilling. The 29-pound hopper will let you cook all day, and it has a digital controller with two temperature probes so you can keep a close, accurate watch on whatever you’ve got cooking.
Of all the portable grills CNET has tested, this sleek gas grill from Weber is the clear winner. It’s easy to assemble and feels sturdy. The igniter works well, and the grill quickly climbs to temperature, reaching its advertised 500 degrees Fahrenheit in only 15 minutes. The flame is easy to control and keeps a consistent temperature throughout cooking, even when you’re grilling with the flame turned low. At Walmart it’s currently $52 off if you’re willing to go with the black variant.
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