Best Grill on Amazon
Total BTU is the wrong number. Divide it by primary cooking area and the ranking changes. The Monument 4-burner delivers the most heat per inch here at roughly 78 BTU/sq-in; the Weber Genesis E-325s is the best build at about 75 with cast-iron grates and a 10-year warranty; the Char-Broil 4-burner is the value pick at about 72. Note what that means: a 4-burner 36,000 BTU grill runs cooler per square inch than a 3-burner 39,000 BTU one. And the honest caveat nobody prints — the meaningful searing band is roughly 80–100 BTU/sq-in, and not one mainstream gas grill here reaches it. For smoking, buy the Traeger Pro 575 or the Kamado Joe Classic II.
More burners does not mean more heat. Total BTU measures fuel consumption per hour, not cooking temperature. Spread 36,000 BTU across 500 square inches and you get about 72 BTU per square inch — less heat at the grate than 39,000 BTU across 513 square inches. Always divide before you compare, and treat "4 burners!" as a statement about size rather than power. See do more BTUs mean a hotter grill.
Gas grills, ranked by heat flux
| Feature | Monument 4-Burner | Weber Genesis E-325s | Char-Broil 4-Burner | Weber Spirit II E-310 | Weber TravelQ 285 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total BTU | 40,000 BTU | 39,000 BTU | 36,000 BTU | 30,000 BTU | 12,000 BTU |
| Primary area | ~513 sq in | ~513 sq in | ~500 sq in | ~424 sq in | ~254 sq in |
| BTU per sq in | ~78 BTU/sq-in | ~75 BTU/sq-in | ~72 BTU/sq-in | ~71 BTU/sq-in | ~47 BTU/sq-in |
| Grates / warranty | Stainless steel | Cast-iron/porcelain, 10-yr | Porcelain-coated steel | Porcelain cast-iron | Porcelain cast-iron |
| Best for | Highest heat flux here | Best certified build | Best value | Compact certified | Portable |
BTU per square inch is total BTU divided by primary cooking area — the figures above come from each manufacturer's own published specs. The band that genuinely sears is roughly 80–100, which none of these reach.
Most heat per inch: Monument Grills 4-Burner
Full stainless-steel grates (not just a stainless lid/body) at a price point where most competitors still use porcelain-coated steel.
Best for: Buyers who want rust-resistant stainless grates without paying premium-brand prices. Watch out: Stainless grates hold less heat than cast iron so sear marks are lighter, and stainless can still develop light surface rust spots (tea-staining) in humid climates without regular cleaning.
Best build: Weber Genesis E-325s
One of the few mid-size gas grills that lands squarely in the honest 75–100 BTU/sq-in band instead of an inflated total-BTU number, with a genuinely long burner warranty.
Watch out: Porcelain-coated cast-iron grates need seasoning after chips and will flash-rust if scratched to bare metal; replacement parts are Weber-proprietary and pricier than generic. The 10-year warranty paired with cast-iron and porcelain grates is the most honest durability signal in the group — see how long grills last and cast iron vs stainless grates.
Best value: Char-Broil Performance 4-Burner
A budget grill whose actual heat-flux number lands inside the meaningful band, unlike many similarly-priced grills that inflate BTU without matching cooking area.
Watch out: Porcelain-coated steel grates (not cast iron) hold less heat and are more prone to chipping/rust at the coating's edges over a few seasons than cast iron or stainless.
Small patio: Weber Spirit II E-310
Weber's compact 3-burner still lands in the honest BTU/sq-in band and uses the same cast-iron grate material as the larger Genesis line.
Best for: Small-to-medium households wanting Weber build quality in a smaller footprint. Also see best gas grill for a small patio and what size grill you need.
If you want to smoke rather than grill
Traeger Pro 575 — The category's most recognized name, with app-based temperature setting and a wide 165–500°F range covering both smoking and higher-heat cooking. The controller manages the fire for you, which is why pellet grills are the easiest entry into smoking (and why people argue about whether it counts: are pellet grills real BBQ?).
Kamado Joe Classic II — Thick ceramic construction retains heat far better than steel kamados, letting it hold a steady low-and-slow temperature for many hours on a single load of lump charcoal. A ceramic kamado is the pick if you want both high-heat searing and stable low-and-slow. Full comparison: offset vs kamado vs pellet and the smoker starter guide.
Buy a thermometer before you buy an upgrade
The lid gauge measures the dome, not the grate, and the gap between them is large enough to ruin a cook. A grate-level probe is the cheapest meaningful improvement to any grill you already own — why lid thermometers lie and best grate thermometer.
Which should you buy?
Best all-round gas grill: Weber Genesis E-325s.
Most heat per inch, stainless: Monument 4-Burner.
Tight budget: Char-Broil Performance 4-Burner.
Small patio: Weber Spirit II E-310.
Camping or tailgating: Weber TravelQ 285 — but note ~47 BTU/sq-in.
Smoking, easiest path: Traeger Pro 575. Best flavour ceiling: Kamado Joe Classic II.
Still deciding on fuel? Gas vs charcoal, honestly, and the first gas grill guide if this is your first.
Frequently Asked Questions
For gas, the Weber Genesis E-325s is the best build — cast-iron and porcelain grates with a 10-year warranty — while the Monument Grills 4-burner delivers the highest heat flux of the group at roughly 78 BTU per square inch and adds a side burner in stainless. The Char-Broil Performance 4-burner is the value pick. For smoking, the Traeger Pro 575 is the best-known pellet grill and the Kamado Joe Classic II the best ceramic kamado. Judge gas grills on BTU per square inch, not total BTU.
No. Total BTU tells you how much fuel the burners can consume per hour; it says nothing about how hot your food gets. The honest spec is BTU per square inch of primary cooking surface — divide total BTU by primary area. A four-burner 36,000 BTU grill spread over 500 square inches runs about 72 BTU per square inch, which is cooler per inch than a three-burner 39,000 BTU grill over 513 square inches at about 75. More burners and a bigger headline number can mean a cooler cooking surface.
Roughly 80 to 100 BTU per square inch is the meaningful band for real searing heat, and grills well below that are underpowered for high-heat work. Worth knowing before you shop: none of the mainstream gas grills we track actually reach it. The best here is the Monument 4-burner at about 78, then the Weber Genesis at about 75, the Char-Broil at about 72 and the Spirit II at about 71. That is not a reason to avoid them — it is a reason to set expectations about steakhouse-level searing from a consumer gas grill.
Gas for weeknight convenience: it lights instantly and cleans up easily, at the cost of flavour depth. Charcoal and kamado for high heat and flavour, with a ceramic kamado like the Kamado Joe Classic II holding low-and-slow temperatures unusually well. Pellet grills like the Traeger Pro 575 are the easiest way to smoke, because a controller manages the fire for you — though many purists argue about whether that counts as real barbecue. Offsets deliver the most traditional results and demand the most active fire management.
Because the lid thermometer measures the dome, not the grate, and the two can differ substantially — dome readings typically run hotter than the surface your food is actually sitting on. If you cook by temperature at all, a grate-level probe is the fix. A dual-probe thermometer reading both meat internal temperature and grate-level ambient tells you what is genuinely happening; the lid gauge tells you about air near the roof.
It depends far more on materials and warranty than on price. The Weber Genesis pairs cast-iron and porcelain grates with a 10-year warranty, which is a meaningful statement about expected life. Porcelain-coated steel grates are cheaper and wear faster, particularly if the coating chips. Cover it, keep the grates clean, and expect burners and grates to be the consumable parts on any grill.