The Best Weber Grills for Every Cooking Setup, According to Our Tests

Best Gas

Weber Genesis E-325s 3-Burner Gas Grill

$999 at Amazon $1,040 at Walmart View on Weber.com

The Genesis E-325s is a griller’s grill, capable of a full range of grilling tasks and techniques. It’s solidly built and has four wheels for easy rolling, with two wheels having locking mechanisms to hold it in place. We liked its sizable searing zone for high-heat cooking (it fits about 20 burgers) and how well it held low temperatures for slow-roasting foods. Its built-in thermometer provided accurate readings in our tests. We found a slight variation in heat between the center and outsides of the grill, though more noticeable with the lid open.

We also needed to turn up the heat to produce a distinct char. In the end, these issues were minor, as the E-325s topped our list of the best gas grills. 

Total Cooking Area: 787 square inches | Features: Built-in thermometer, side tables

Best Portable Tabletop

Weber Q1200 Gas Grill

$259 at Amazon $243 at Walmart $259 at Walmart

The Weber Q 1200 is a long-time favorite. It’s a portable grill with full-size performance, thanks to its enamel cast iron grates and a single, circular burner that ensures even heating across the cooking area. It stood out in multiple tests for excellent heat retention and quick recovery time. There were also minimal flare-ups and no excessive charring or undercooked spots during cooking tests. 

With a cooking area of 189 square inches, the Q 1200 holds about four burgers. It’s small enough to pack and transport easily, and it was pretty easy to clean. Its biggest design flaw is its weight, coming in at 31 pounds. But the weight is also a product of the features that make it perform well, so we consider it a reasonable trade-off.

Total Cooking Area: 189 square inches | Features: Built-in thermostat, folding side shelves

Best Charcoal

Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill

$219 at Amazon $219 at Ace Hardware $220 at farmandfleet.com

The Original Kettle still holds a place of honor in the grill world. The secret to heat control is the top and bottom dampers that form convection during cooking. That control and responsiveness, combined with its heat-retaining design, results in intense, high heat for searing or low-and-slow smoke. In our tests, this looked like caramelized steaks with light grill marks and tender ribs with a defined smoke ring beneath a dark bark. 

The Original’s bottom damper also serves as part of the ash management system, scraping spent ash into a detachable unit at the bottom for easy disposal. That said, adjusting the dampers presented a learning curve. Other drawbacks were the grill’s clumsy lid and inaccurate temperatures on the dome thermometer.  

Total Cooking Area: 363 square inches | Features: Built-in thermometer, hinged grate

Best Smoker

Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill

$549 at Amazon $579 at Wayfair $580 at Crate & Barrel

The Performer has the appearance of an upgraded Original Kettle. It includes a cart with a work table, a charcoal storage bin, and a sensible lid-holding rack. An ignition system replaces the need for a chimney starter. The grate has a removable center, meant for adding a pizza stone or other Weber cooking accessories. While beginners may look for a more basic model, we’d argue that the Performer’s features make it approachable for grillers of all levels.

The Performer also has Original’s top and bottom damper arrangement which allows for high-heat cooking and serves as an excellent smoker in low-heat applications. Its temperature fluctuated no more than 20 degrees over six and a half hours of smoking. The hinged sides and pop-out center of the grate are nice for adding charcoal while cooking. We found it difficult, however, to use these to arrange or bank the coals without burning ourselves, as it required us to remove the entire grate for safety. 

Total Cooking Area: 363 square inches | Features: Wheels, charcoal storage bin, igniter, and work table

Best Pellet

Weber Smokefire EX4 Pellet Grill

$890 at Amazon $1,099 at Walmart View on Weber.com

Weber hasn’t slept on the app-controlled pellet grill game. The EX4 scored high in several areas of our testing. While the grill requires assembly, Weber seemed to make assembly an enjoyable part of the overall experience rather than merely a task to complete as quickly as possible. In terms of performance, it reached baking temperatures in just eight and a half minutes and took slightly longer to reach searing temperatures. It retained heat well, dropping 30 degrees after we opened it and recovering its temperature in one to two minutes.

It performed on par with competitors in smoke flavor in our long-smoke tests. It left a nice char and browning in our short-smoke experiments. It didn’t fare as well in our searing tests, leaving burgers looking more pan-seared than grilled. We were also unable to see if the ash bin required emptying.

Total Cooking Area: 672 square inches | Features: App compatibility, digital display

Best Portable Standing

Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill

$399 at Amazon $399 at Target $386 at Walmart

The Traveler is a great portable camping grill with a pop-up stand that also functions as a wheeled cart for moving it around. It has a 13,000-BTU burner under the enamel-coated cast iron grates, which heat quickly and retain that heat. This led to nice grill marks and caramelization on hamburgers and onions. The Traveler has more cooking space than the Q 1200, but the two are equally easy to use, having a single control knob to regulate the heat. 

The pop-up stand takes little effort, and the wheels make moving the grill from the car to the cooking spot simple. The Traveler requires assembly, a job that took us about 15 minutes, and given its heat retention, it cooled quickly, making it easier to pack after cooking. We suggest taking out the grill grates to scrub them, though, as cleaning them made the entire setup shake. 

Total Cooking Area: 320 square inches | Features: Folding wheeled stand, built-in thermometer

Best Electric

Weber Q 1400 Electric Grill

$329 at Amazon $329 at Walmart $329 at Wayfair

The Q 1400 is the electric cousin of the gas-fueled Q 1200 and is a good fit for balcony cooking where gas or charcoal are prohibited. The grill has a single temperature control and heats quickly. Perhaps too quickly. The grill temperature on the high setting maxed out our thermometer at 610°F after five minutes. Shying away from going full-bore on the temperature yielded fine results in our cooking tests, with reasonably even cooking. However, we never attained good searing or grill marks at this lower temperature. It’s easy to clean, almost no setup is required, and it's lighter than its gas counterparts.

Total Cooking Area: 189 square inches | Features: enamel-coated cast iron grates