Best Pellet Grills of 2021

Could these multitasking newcomers be the only grill you’ll ever need?

When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.

testing pellet grills
CR test technician Scott Collomb assesses a pellet grill.
CR

Pellet grills have largely become the cool kids at home centers and hardware stores. And with good reason.

They promise to blend the flexibility of a charcoal grill and smoker with the convenience of a gas grill. Long employed by barbecue enthusiasts, pellet grills have now gone mainstream.

These grills have a large metal bin, or “hopper,” to which you add pellets made from compressed sawdust of flavorful woods, like oak, hickory, and mesquite. An electronic igniter draws out these pellets and ignites them, creating heat and smoke, which imparts a distinct flavor to your food. An especially convenient feature: A thermostat allows you to adjust the heat to a precise temperature, something you can’t do with gas or charcoal grills.

But you pay a premium. “The nature of pellet grills makes them more expensive than many comparably sized gas or charcoal models,” says Mark Allwood, CR’s market analyst for all grills.

More on Grills
CR's Grill Ratings & Buying Guide
Best Gas Grills of 2021
Most Reliable Gas Grill Brands
Best Charcoal Grills of 2021
Can Other Kamado Grills Beat the Big Green Egg?

“The electronic ignitions, thermostats, and auger-fed hoppers all contribute to their relatively high starting prices,” he says. Prices for the pellet grills in our ratings range from $400 to $1,200, far more than the starting prices of most gas or charcoal grills.

In CR’s tests of pellet grills, we assess a number of features, the most important being a grill’s ability to maintain an even temperature. For that, our test engineers wire each model's grate with thermocouples to see how well it heats up and map how evenly the heat is distributed across the grill. The overall test results vary widely, and our tests show that a pricey pellet grill isn't always a better one.

Below are three of the best pellet grills from our tests. For more on pellet and other types of grills—gas, charcoal, portable, kamado—check our complete grill ratings. And see our grill buying guide to learn more about the features of and differences between these grills.

3 Best Pellet Grills From CR's Tests

Paul Hope

As a classically trained chef and an enthusiastic DIYer, I've always valued having the best tool for a job—whether the task at hand is dicing onions for mirepoix or hanging drywall. When I'm not writing about home products, I can be found putting them to the test, often with help from my two young children, in the 1860s townhouse I'm restoring in my free time.
More From Consumer Reports