ElectricGrill

Our Testing Methodology

How We Test Electric Grills

Every grill on this site passes six standard tests. Here is exactly what those tests are, what equipment we use, and what we refuse to test.

01 / The Tests

The standard tests

Every grill we review goes through the same six tests, in the same order, with the same instruments. The goal is not to generate a hero shot for the manufacturer — it is to produce a number that is comparable across every model we have ever tested, from a $69 George Foreman to a $1,900 Current Model G+.

  1. 01
    Preheat time to 500°F. We start the grill cold (ambient air within 10°F of 70°F whenever possible) and run a stopwatch until the grate surface holds 500°F for 30 consecutive seconds, measured by infrared thermometer across three grate points.
  2. 02
    The 1-inch ribeye sear test. A USDA Choice ribeye, 1 inch thick, rested at room temperature for 45 minutes. Four minutes per side on max heat. We measure crust formation, internal temperature variance, and whether the grill recovers heat after the lid opens.
  3. 03
    Weeknight burger cook. Six 80/20 patties, 1/3 pound each, cooked simultaneously. This is a capacity and heat-distribution test disguised as dinner.
  4. 04
    Low-and-slow 225°F hold test. For grills that claim smoker functionality, we run a 6-hour hold at 225°F and log the drift every 15 minutes. A grill that swings ±25°F fails.
  5. 05
    Smoke flavor test (woodfire models only). Identical pellets, identical pork shoulder, identical cook time. Blind taste panel of three reviewers who are not told which grill produced which plate.
  6. 06
    Cleanup test. One cook of chicken thighs (high fat, high sugar marinade) followed by a timed cleanup using only the manufacturer's recommended method. We measure minutes to "store-ready" and photograph what is left in the grease tray.

Equipment: Lavatools PX1 infrared thermometer, ThermoWorks Dot digital probe, two ChefAlarm units for redundant chamber logging, and a 1/100-second stopwatch. We calibrate the probes in ice water and boiling water every 90 days.

02 / Temperature

Temperature measurement

There are two ways to measure a grill's temperature, and manufacturers almost always report the flattering one. Ambient chamber temperature is the air above the grate. Grate surface temperature is the metal your food actually touches. The number that matters for sear is grate surface, which runs 50-120°F hotter than ambient depending on airflow and grate material.

When we say a grill "reaches 500°F," we mean grate surface temperature, measured by infrared thermometer on three separate points of the cooking surface (front-left, center, back-right) and averaged. We only report the ambient number when a manufacturer makes a specific ambient claim, and we label it clearly.

For hold tests, we use a ThermoWorks probe positioned 2 inches above the grate at the geometric center of the cooking chamber, logging every 60 seconds for the full test window. Raw logs are retained for six months in case a manufacturer disputes a finding.

03 / Durability

Durability testing

Specs do not tell you whether the lid hinge will survive a New England winter. We leave every outdoor grill outside for a minimum of 30 days, uncovered, in real weather. That includes rain, a freeze-thaw cycle if the test season allows, and whatever humidity the Northeast happens to be serving that month.

We then photograph the same eight points on each grill — heating element terminals, grate seasoning, knob paint, control panel, drip tray, lid gasket, exterior powder coat, and feet — and compare them to day-one photos. A grill that rusts through a weld in 30 days does not make our list, no matter how well it sears.

Grate seasoning is tracked over 100+ cooks. Cast iron and porcelain-coated grates behave differently at cook 5 than at cook 100, and we note the point at which a grate stops requiring aggressive cleanup and starts acting like a seasoned pan. That number is in every long-term review we publish.

04 / Exclusions

What we don't test

We don't benchmark electric grills against professional offset smokers or commercial kamado setups. That is not a fair comparison and our readers are not shopping for a $5,000 Yoder. We don't test grills above our price ceiling of $2,000 — anyone dropping that much on an outdoor appliance is already working with a pitmaster, not a review site. We don't review discontinued models, even when readers email asking, because a grill you can't buy is a grill we can't help you with. We also don't test indoor-only countertop grills on our outdoor testing rigs; those go through a separate indoor protocol that you will see clearly labeled on the review page.

05 / Scoring

Scoring

Every grill receives a score on a 5-point scale. The composite score is the weighted average of five categories:

  • Heat performance30%
  • Build quality25%
  • Ease of use20%
  • Value15%
  • Cleanup10%

The weights are intentional. Heat performance is the largest because a grill that can't sear is not a grill. Build quality is second because a 2-year grill is effectively twice as expensive as a 4-year grill. Value carries only 15% because cheap grills that fail tests score low regardless of price, and expensive grills that earn their money score high regardless of sticker shock.