The 7 Best Electric Grills for Indoor or Outdoor Cooking, According to Our Tests

Weber grills often place at or near the top of our tests, and the Q1400 joins the ranks for its ease of use, performance, and approachability. It comes as close as possible to the taste and convenience of a good gas grill, with a design similar to that of our favorite portable grill. It gets hotter than the average indoor grill: 610°F after five minutes on high. The temperature control uses letters instead of numbers, so exact heat control requires some experimentation.

The Q1400 produced moist chicken with excellent grill marks, and we had similar results with the sausage test. It didn’t brown the mushroom well, but it did come out soft and tender, and there was little to no visible smoke during testing. It was heavy at just over 28 pounds, partially due to its enameled cast iron grates, which, while not nonstick, were easy to clean. This grill would function equally well for indoor or outdoor grilling, and the minimal smoke created during testing doubles down for a clean indoor grilling experience without lingering odors.

Dimensions: 27 x 14.5 x 16.5 inches | Weight: 28.5 pounds | Cooking Area: 189 square inches | Temperature Range: 165° to 610°F

If you're looking for high-heat sears and smoke, consider the Lumin. Its design allows for, as Weber puts it, “flavorizing,” or vaporizing drippings from the grill to create smoke and give food a more grilled flavor. While we used it in our test kitchen, we recommend bringing it out on your patio or balcony; you would need considerable exhaust ventilation indoors. That aside, the Lumin produced some of the best grill marks of the grills we tested, with the chicken, sausage, and mushrooms turning out moist and tender. It comes with a reversible water/smoker pan to help with this.

The enameled cast iron grates are dishwasher-safe and, although they're not nonstick, food didn't cling when we cooked or cleaned them with a grill brush. Other parts of this grill were tedious to clean: Weber gives you a scraper for the drip pan, but we had to remove the heating element to do a thorough job. The Weber Q1400 above was easier to clean, but the Lumin has the advantage of a larger cooking area and is a little shorter for storage. It also comes in five color options, which may be reason enough to choose this grill. You can't go wrong with either, though.

Dimensions: 26 x 19 x 12 inches | Weight: 36.5 pounds | Cooking Area: 242 square inches | Temperature Range: 250° to 600°F

Breville’s Smart Grill isn’t named for connectivity, as “smart” appliances tend to be, but for temperature sensors in the plates that adjust when their temperature drops from placing cold food on them, achieving a more stable, consistent temperature throughout cooking. Its easy-to-read LCD control panel has suggested settings for various food types and heat levels, such as pressing sandwiches or searing.

The top grate is a grill and the bottom is a griddle, and having the option to use both with the Smart Grill open flat makes it more versatile and large enough to meal prep on the grill. It produced excellent marks, though turning the food over obscured them, as it cooked on the flat plate. With that said, the food came out juicy and nicely caramelized. Finally, cleaning is easy. The dishwasher-safe non-stick plates pop out, and any accumulated drippings or debris easily roll into the drip tray.

Dimensions: 14 x 17 x 5 inches | Weight: 19.5 pounds | Cooking Area: 260 square inches (open flat mode) | Temperature Range: 320° to 450°F

As the name suggests, the Foodi 5-in-1 is more than just an electric grill. It’s also an air fryer, roaster, oven, and dehydrator. The intuitive control panel, mounted on the appliance’s face, has buttons for switching between each mode, high, medium, and low settings, and time and temperature buttons. Preheating took about 8 minutes, and the cooker maintained an even temperature during our tests, largely thanks to the air fryer fan. The fan runs constantly and is a bit loud. But in addition to regulating the temperature, it helps remove steam and smoke, and therefore odors, from your kitchen.

It reliably toasted bread and grilled vegetables and meat in our tests, browning each food. Although it fell short of creating defined grill marks, it was fairly accurate to its temperature settings at lower levels, and though it couldn't quite reach its alleged maximum of 500°F, it definitely got hot enough for an effective sear. On the negative side, the Foodi’s sides got very hot while in operation, and the loud fan used for the air fryer and dehydrator features runs constantly. We appreciated that all the removable food-contact parts were dishwasher-safe and easy to clean by hand, too.

Dimensions: 17.16  x 14.19 x 11.02 inches | Weight: 20 pounds | Cooking Area: 100 square inches | Temperature Range: 105°F - 500°F

Easy on the wallet and easy to use, this smokeless grill from Hamilton Beach takes out any guesswork with clear heat settings — six intervals between 200°F and 450°F — and lights to indicate whether it’s warming up or at temperature. Preheating this grill took longer than its more expensive competitors, and cooking times were noticeably slower, too. Despite lighter caramelization, the chicken turned out moist, and the sausage had well-defined grill marks. 

It’s worth noting that the 350°F range was the performance sweet spot, as the grill struggled to keep consistent heat at 450°F. The first time we tested this grill, it hovered at 400°F on its highest setting. Thanks to its built-in window, you don’t have to open the lid (and let heat escape) to check the progress of food. We liked its large drip tray and dishwasher-safe nonstick grill plates. It’s compact, lightweight, and easy to store in a cabinet.

Dimensions: 16.75 x 6.75 x 12.5 inches | Weight: 8 pounds | Cooking Area: 118 square inches | Temperature Range: 200° to 450°F

The Sizzle is a no-frills, high-temperature workhorse that, because of the temperature, can almost replace an outdoor grill. This grill produces a lot of smoke, and the longer you use it, the smokier it gets. There’s no obvious slope to the grill surface, so grease doesn’t run off to the drip tray efficiently, which then burns instead. But that’s also what gave the food its “outdoor” flavor.

In our tests, we found it made clearly defined, crisp grill marks on the proteins, while a hot spot revealed itself when we toasted bread. Oddly, the Sizzle had a hard time preheating to 200°F, while it raced to higher temperatures with no issues. Inexperienced grillers may find that dealing with the high heat comes with a learning curve, but that’s an easy issue to overcome. Its control panel consists of a single knob for temperature adjustment, with no bonus features like temperature presets. All in all, we see its high-temperature performance and searing capabilities as strengths, especially considering the price.

Dimensions: 14.72 15.16 x 6.1 inches  | Weight: 7.8 pounds | Cooking Area: 133 square inches | Temperature Range: 200°F - 500°F

This indoor smoker gives you the smoky flavor often lacking in electric grills. "The results were much better than I expected and even better than some outdoor smokers I’ve used before," says John Somerall, Food & Wine's editorial project manager, who has tested dozens of grills. In our tests of the best smokers, it cooked meat to tender perfection with noticeable smoke rings. These results make it well worth the counter space (it's slightly bigger than our favorite toaster oven) and higher cost.

Its features justify the price tag, including a wired probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature via the control panel or a mobile app. You'll get a notification when the food reaches temperature, so you don't have to open the smoker door to check. We also appreciate that it doesn't emit smoke, only a smoky aroma, which keeps it from dirtying your kitchen with soot or setting off smoke detectors.

Dimensions: 16.25 x 16.5 x 20.5 inches | Weight: 45 pounds | Cooking Area: 293 square inches | Temperature Range: 150° to 300°F