To determine the best gas grill and get an idea of how these grills perform in a variety of cooking scenarios, we conduct three tests. Based on different meats, methods, and heat settings, these tests show us how efficiently and evenly a grill does.
Ribs
Our first test is the ribs. This is an anecdotal tour, so there is no connected thermometer or software capturing specific data. We preheat each grill to high for 10 minutes before turning it down to low, indirect heat. Depending on the size of the grill, this means turning off one or two burners completely.
We remove the outer membrane onto a rack of pork ribs and season it with an all-purpose rub that we use for ribs and chicken. Then the ribs are placed on the racks for at least three hours with the lid closed the entire time.
Rib tests take three hours on low indirect heat.
Rib fans may disagree with this relatively short, smokeless cooking method, but it lets us see just how low and slow a regular propane gas grill can cook. If time permits, we continue cooking until the ribs are completely finished and note the total cooking time.
Chicken
To test the grill with mid-range cooking time and medium heat settings, we grill a whole chicken. We preheat the grill to high for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and turn off the burners to create an indirect heat environment.
Once we have cut and seasoned the bird, we place it in a roasting pan and insert a temperature probe into each chicken breast, for a total of two probes per chicken (this is an important step even if the grill has a Thermometer because undercooked chicken isn’t good for anyone). To keep our results as fair as possible, all chickens are as close as possible to 5.5 pounds.
Whole chickens are cooked over indirect medium heat until both breasts reach 165 degrees F.
These temperature probes are connected to a data logger and a laptop with software that records the internal temperature of each chicken breast every two seconds. Each chicken cooks until the temperature in both breasts reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grilled chicken should have crispy skin and meat that is cooked through completely but not dry. We do this test in three rounds, giving us a solid average cooking time for each grill.
Hamburgers
Burgers are our final test for our grill reviews. We measure out 5.3 ounces of 80/20 ground beef and press it into uniform patties. These patties go into a grill basket and we insert a temperature probe into the center of each patty at a 45 degree angle.
With the grill preheated for 10 minutes on high, the basket goes on the grill. After six minutes of cooking, we turn the basket over and monitor the internal temperature. Once the last burger in the basket reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit, the batch is finished. A good burger in this test is one that has both a nice char on the outside and a slightly pink center.
The burgers go on the grill over direct, high heat.
Hamburger tests highlight any hot spots across the grill’s cooking surface if one burger consistently reaches 145 F before the others on each turn.
An average difference of 15 or 20 degrees in the fastest and slowest patties in a batch was the norm in our testing. Red flags are raised when we start to see differences in the 30 to 40 degree range.
