Competition barbecue is a brutal sport. Turn-in windows are timed to the minute, KCBS judges taste hundreds of entries in a single afternoon, and a 15°F temperature swing in the final hour can turn a champion brisket into a dry doorstop. We cooked on these grills across 14-hour overnight brisket runs, rib turn-ins, and backyard … Read more
The best charcoal grill for smoky flavor is the Weber Original Kettle Premium 22-Inch, and after cooking ribs, brisket, chicken and burgers on every grill in this guide for the past three months, that recommendation has not budged. The combination of a porcelain-enameled kettle that locks in heat, a hinged grate for adding wood chunks … Read more
I have spent the last three months testing kamado grills across every cooking method I could throw at them: low-and-slow brisket at 225°F, screaming-hot ribeye sears past 700°F, weekend pizzas, Sunday roasts, and weeknight burgers. The kamado format is uniquely capable of replacing a smoker, a grill, and an outdoor oven in one heavy ceramic … Read more
If you’ve ever stood in the backyard holding a bag of charcoal and a half-lit fire, you already know why gas grills for backyard cookouts exist. Push a button, the burners catch, and ten minutes later you’re searing burgers while the kids run around with sparklers. After testing 8 grills for a month across burgers, … Read more
The single best outdoor griddle for smash burgers right now is the Blackstone 36-Inch 4-Burner (60,000 BTU, 720 sq in cooking surface), because it gets to a steady 500 to 550 degrees across the whole flat top, lets you smash a dozen patties at once, and pairs a rear grease management system with four independently … Read more
After testing eight top-rated Blackstone griddles for families over the past few months, our team has a clear answer: the Blackstone 1554 36-Inch 4-Burner is the best Blackstone griddle for families who cook three or more nights a week. It has the cooking surface, the four independent heat zones, and the 10,000-plus review pedigree that … Read more
After three weekends of testing 10 flat-top griddles side by side, I can give you a straight answer: the best rated flat top griddle for breakfast cooking right now is the Presto 07061 22-Inch Electric Ceramic Griddle, and the best outdoor option is the Blackstone 1517 28-Inch Omnivore Griddle. Flat-top griddles turned my weekend cooking … Read more
A 36-inch griddle gives you 720 to 768 square inches of cooking surface, enough to sear 30 burgers, flip 21 pancakes, or plate hibachi dinners for 6 to 10 people at once. I have spent three weekends hosting cookouts on every griddle in this guide, watching my group of 12 neighbors devour smash burgers, breakfast … Read more
When I unboxed my first vertical propane smoker three years ago, I made every rookie mistake in the book – soaked my wood chips into a soggy mess, opened the door every twenty minutes to “check” the ribs, and ran out of propane halfway through a pork butt. That smoker eventually taught me how to … Read more
After three months of testing eight charcoal drum smokers across weekend brisket cooks, rib hangs, and tailgate parties, our team picked the Pit Barrel Cooker Premier Series as the best drum smoker for backyard barbecue in . It nails the set-and-forget promise that makes drum smokers famous, holds 225-275°F for 8+ hours on a single … Read more