The best smart grills and BBQs of 2026: pellet, gas and electric

Yes if you enjoy low-and-slow cooking and have an outdoor outlet; less so if you mainly grill burgers and hot dogs in a hurry. A pellet grill holds a set temperature for hours and lets you monitor it from your phone, which helps on cold, windy days. It has to be plugged in, takes longer to heat up than gas and should be covered when not in use, as rain and moisture ruin pellets. Check the hopper size for long cooks.

Mostly the pellets: expect roughly 0.5 kg (about 1 lb) an hour for low-and-slow smoking and over 1 kg (about 2 lb) an hour at high heat, more in cold or windy weather. A six-hour cook at low temperature typically needs 3 to 4 kg (about 7 to 9 lb), so multiply by the price of your bag of food-grade pellets. Electricity is minor: the igniter draws a few hundred watts for a few minutes, then the fan and auger use little.

Never in a garage or any enclosed space, because burning pellets produce carbon monoxide; a gazebo is only acceptable if it is open-sided and well clear of the grill. Follow the clearance distances in the manual, both above and around the grill, and keep it away from fences and sheds. Plug it into a GFCI-protected outdoor outlet rather than running an extension cord through a window. In rain, a snug-fitting grill cover between cooks is safer than cooking under a fabric canopy.

Wi-Fi if you want to check the cook from anywhere, Bluetooth if you stay in the backyard or kitchen. Bluetooth range drops sharply through walls, so many fully wireless probes use a base unit that relays to Wi-Fi. Choose a probe rated for the grill's ambient temperature. For poultry, aim for at least 74°C (165°F) in the thickest part, with no pink meat and juices running clear.

Usually because of damp pellets, a fire pot full of ash or a failed igniter. Empty the fire pot and vacuum out cold ash, check that the pellets are dry and not crumbling to dust, and make sure the auger is feeding. If the grill keeps flaming out mid-cook, wet pellets or an empty hopper are the usual suspects. If nothing glows at startup, the igniter rod may need replacing, a common and inexpensive part.