These well-priced outdoor cooking machines pack fire in every sense of the word.
The trees are lush, the tulips abloom, and the pool covers are rolling up. It can only mean one thing: We’re officially entering barbecue season. If you’re getting a new one this year, you needn’t set your wallet ablaze — these six solid options balance good looks and serious performance, all for under a grand.
Everdure by Heston Blumenthal FORCE
Orange you glad to see a grill that isn’t stainless steel for change? This bright little number from Everdure breaks the monochromy with a classic mid-century look that’d be right at home poolside behind an Eichler or Neutra. But don’t let its cuteness fool you: like the Michelin-starred chef whose name is on it, this thing’s a high-performance boss, precision engineered with all the modern trimmings. A clever burner setup and enhanced-airflow lid ensures even heat transfer across all 388 square inches of grilling surface. You might want to take it everywhere you go, and there’s good news: you can. Lift it right off its stand, load it in the trunk, and tailgate in tabletop mode. (Also ogle their pricier smoker that looks like a Gonk droid.)
Kenmore 3-Burner Pedestal Grill
You can’t order a house from Sears anymore, but you can order a grill online from one of their respected in-house appliance brand. Kenmore’s three-burner pedestal model might just be the KitchenAid stand mixer of barbecues, with its classic lines and fun variety of colors. It’s big grill energy with a small footprint, rocking generous grilling area on a compact base that makes it perfect for porches and smaller spaces. Two collapsible side shelves, utensil storage, and a built-in thermometer in the hood round out the bells and whistles.
Barebones Living Cowboy Fire Pit Grill
It’s well known that cowboys were some of history’s biggest foodies, crafting elaborate wrought-iron rigs to char whole hogs, honkin’ slabs of meat, and whatever vegetal spoils they could forage for along their grueling cattle drives — some of them hundreds of miles long, serious ground to work up a major appetite by the time the chuckwagon rolled up. Barebones Living makes their traditions fashion with this handsome apparatus, designed with input from prominent open-fire chefs. It comes with a swing-out grill and an overhead hanger for hooks, tools, and Dutch Ovens, plenty of gear for a several-course meal. When you’re done theatrically-cooking for TikTok, drop the legs down and use it as a fire pit.
IKEA GRILLSKÄR
You might be thinking, “IKEA makes a grill?” Oh, not only do they make grills (plural) — they’ve got an entire outdoor kitchen collection, with all the modular pieces to build one. While the no-frills GRILLSKÄR looks spartan in its à la carte state, it couples right on in to a sold-separately side burner console, and there’s matching shelf, sink, and cabinet blocks to pair right along with it. It’s got a cooking area of 29 x 19 inches on four burners, more than ample capacity for everyday and entertaining use. There’s an equally-nice charcoal version, too.
Fuego Professional
Good design is more than about looks: it’s problem-solving. Fuego has been called the “iPhone of grills,” and that’s hardly disingenuous. It was designed, after all, by Robert Brunner, the former Apple ID chief who hired Jony Ive and went on to create Beats headphones. Brunner’s Ammunition Group identified grilling’s age-old UX annoyances and solved them in style, like figuring out a residue tray that actually works and slides out without leaking drippings across the deck. A master class version of Fuego’s Element model, the Professional comes in sleek, still-urban-friendly proportions with a grilling area big enough for 20 burgers, and we aren’t talking about sliders. Accessorize further with the optional griddle plate and pizza stone. There’s even a clip-on shelf to hold your locally-soured craft beer.
Medium Big Green Egg
There’s nowhere a Big Green Egg — they come in more colors these days — doesn’t look right. These portly smoke grenades claim some of the best heat retention of any grill on the market, and they come in a myriad of sizes from compact to copious. Though the latter ones lean on the pricey side, you can snag the medium for a price comparable to the grills above. At a 15-inch grill diameter, it’s a quality-over-quantity buy, but how many others will let you cook three whole birds vertically? With the right recipe, this egg might just come before the best chicken of your life.