Best Grills for Indirect Grilling of 2026
Grills our reviews rate for indirect grilling: food beside the heat with the lid shut, for roasts, whole chickens and ribs.
Indirect grilling cooks food beside the heat with the lid shut, like a roast in an oven.
It needs a grill that holds a steady temperature and a lid that keeps the heat in.
Whole chickens, ribs and pork shoulders all turn out tender and evenly cooked this way. Each pick below links to its full grill review.
We tested 123 grills for indirect grilling for this guide. Most of them do well on how solidly they are made. Where most fall short is how long they last, so that is where the picks below stand apart.
Our picks
- Best overall
Kamado Joe Classic II The Kontrol Tower holds its air setting through a lid opening, which the $999.99 entry Classic does not offer. $1,499 at Amazon - Best for the money
Weber Genesis E-325 Gas Grill Near $849 with a sear burner, while Weber lists the sear-less E-315 at $899. Check price at Walmart - Built to last
Weber Genesis E-330 Gas Grill 12 years on the cookbox and lid, 10 on the stainless burner tubes and the grates, which leads this tier outright. Check price at Walmart - Best gas grill for indirect grilling
Fire Magic Choice C430i Built-In Grill Every metal part a cook touches is 304 or 16-gauge stainless, and Fire Magic warrants this burner shape for life. $3,737.70 at Amazon - Best charcoal grill for indirect grilling
Weber Original Kettle Charcoal Grill 22 Leads Weber's 22 in kettles on price: $149.00 buys the same 363 sq in fire the dearer models sell with extras attached. $149 at Amazon - Best pellet grill for indirect grilling
Broil King Regal Pellet 400 Gas-cabinet material on a pellet cooker: 2 mm steel body, cast iron grids, double-wall lid closing on an oven-grade gasket. $825.89 at Amazon - Best kamado for indirect grilling
Weber Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill A three-blade stainless sweep and a lift-out ash pan replace the scoop a ceramic firebox needs. $1,399 at Amazon - Best grill for indirect grilling under $500
Weber Spirit E-325 Gas Grill Two Boost Burners give one grate two real working heats, at close to 86 BTU per square inch over the primary grate. $499 at Amazon
Prices are what the retailer charged when we last checked. More on each pick below.
Best grill for indirect grilling overallKamado Joe Classic II
The Classic II is the same ceramic grill with a much better lid. That lid is also what your hands are on all evening. At $1,499.99 that is a hard sell, and at the street price it stops being one. Register it the day the pallet turns up.
Good to know: At $1,499.99 the extra $500 over the entry Classic buys a hinge and a vent, with nothing new on the grate.
Best for the moneyWeber Genesis E-325 Gas Grill
Weber stopped selling this grill and kept selling the cheaper one without its best feature. At around $849 that is a strange and temporary piece of luck. Buy it for the red knob. Register it the week it lands, and file the specification somewhere findable.
Why it won this award: Near $849 with a sear burner, while Weber lists the sear-less E-315 at $899.
Good to know: The grease tray pulls straight out, but cast iron grates and a fourth burner add to every clean-down.
Built to lastWeber Genesis E-330 Gas Grill
Buy the E-330 if you already cook in zones. Weber did not make this grill bigger. It made one corner of it disagree with the rest. That disagreement is the only thing here worth paying extra for.
Why it won this award: 12 years on the cookbox and lid, 10 on the stainless burner tubes and the grates, which leads this tier outright.
Good to know: The $200 over an E-315 buys one sear burner, no extra square inch, the same cabinet and still no side burner.
Best gas grill for indirect grillingFire Magic Choice C430i Built-In Grill
Buy the C430i if the island is yours and the grill answers to nobody else. The cooking hardware matches a Fire Magic that costs nearly twice as much. What you give up is a locking screw, a channel, a clock and a wind deflector.
Good to know: 46,000 BTU into 432 square inches is plenty of fire, but two valves buy only two settings across the width.
Best charcoal grill for indirect grillingWeber Original Kettle Charcoal Grill 22
The kettle answers its own question. Weber took out the instruments, not the cooking, and then priced its griddle above the grill. If you will read coals rather than a dial, $149.00 buys plenty of fire.
Good to know: The lid hook and tool hooks help, but no thermometer is listed and refuelling means lifting the whole grate off the coals.
Best pellet grill for indirect grillingBroil King Regal Pellet 400
Broil King built a pellet grill its gas customers would recognise. Heavy, gasketed, cast iron, with the rotisserie already in the box. What it did not build is a line saying how hot Grill goes. Buy it for the mass and the upkeep, and treat searing as upside.
Good to know: Heavy steel and rated paint last well, yet auger, fan and controller carry the risk, and no warranty term is published.
Best kamado for indirect grillingWeber Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill
Weber swapped a kamado's mass for a barrier and got a quicker cooker. The steel answers the crack risk, and the casters answer the lifting. What goes unanswered is what $1,399.00 leaves out. No cover, no fan for the fan port, and no help building it.
Good to know: At $1,399.00 the cover is a separate $84.99 and the built-in fan port arrives without a fan.
Best grill for indirect grilling under $500Weber Spirit E-325 Gas Grill
Buy the E-325 if you want two working heats on one grate without banking coals. The Sear Zone is a genuine change in how a Spirit gets cooked on. Just understand what Weber did here. It did not add fire; it gave the fire an address.
Good to know: The grease tray slides out and empties fast, but chipped enamel on cast iron rusts.
Questions people ask
What is the best grill for indirect grilling?
Our top pick is the Kamado Joe Classic II. The Classic II is the same ceramic grill with a much better lid. That lid is also what your hands are on all evening.
What is the best value grill for indirect grilling?
The Weber Genesis E-325 Gas Grill. Near $849 with a sear burner, while Weber lists the sear-less E-315 at $899.
How much should I spend on a grill for indirect grilling?
Most of the grills for indirect grilling we tested cost between $550 and $1,570. Our top pick costs about $1,499. Across all our scores, paying more buys a little, and much less than the price tag suggests.
What is indirect grilling?
Indirect grilling cooks food beside the heat, not over it, with the lid closed. The grill works like an oven. It suits larger cuts that need time to cook through without burning.
How do you set up a two zone grill?
On a gas grill, light the burners on one side and leave the others off. On charcoal, pile the coals on one side. Sear over the hot side and finish on the cool side.
What is a reverse sear?
You cook the meat gently on the cool side until it nears your target temperature. Then you sear it hard over direct heat. It gives an even pink inside and a crisp crust, especially on thick steaks.
Do you need a drip pan for indirect grilling?
It helps. A pan under the food catches fat, keeps the grill cleaner and stops flare ups. Adding a little water to it also helps keep the heat gentle.
How we picked
Every pick comes from our own testing, scored the same way across six things that matter to an owner. The overall pick is the highest Avid Griller Score. Best for the money and built to last go to the top Value and Long-term Reliability scores. Every other pick is the top overall scorer of its fuel or kind, or priced under the limit at the retailer we checked. How we score.
Looking for something else? See all our best grill guides.