How our pellet grill comparisons are researched

Every pellet grill and smoker we list gets a rating out of 10. Our score weighs buyer reviews and how many there are, the specs and features each listing states, the warranty, and our editors' judgement of how the models compare with each other.

What goes into the score

• Buyer rating (45%): the average star rating, damped when a grill has fewer than 50 reviews, so a handful of early five-star ratings can't carry it.
• Review volume (35%): on a logarithmic scale up to 5,000 reviews. A grill thousands of owners already cook on counts for more than one that launched last month.
• Documented specs (20%): how completely the exact listing documents the grill, from feature bullets and images to the stated brand. Cooking area, hopper size, WiFi and portability appear on our pages only when the listing states them, with the unit it gives.
• Our editors' read: where each grill sits against the others it competes with, warranty included. That judgement is part of the score you see.

A total cooking area often adds the upper racks to the main grate, so we keep the two apart whenever the listing makes the split clear. We never work out burn time from hopper size.

Grills without buyer reviews yet

A listing with no buyer reviews still gets a rating, built from four things: its key specs, the stated build quality, warranty and certifications, how completely the listing documents what a buyer needs, and how clearly it states fit and compatibility. On its own that spec score runs from 4.5 to 8.5, and our editors' read of how the product compares with its rivals comes on top, as everywhere else on the site. These ratings are labelled "Spec-based" wherever they appear.

Which grills make a ranking

The overall, WiFi and portable rankings take complete pellet grills with a buyer review record. The WiFi ranking needs a listing that states WiFi, the portable ranking one that describes the grill as portable, tabletop or tailgate-ready. Covers, grates, pellets, bundles and spare parts never rank against complete grills, and vertical smokers get their own ranking. Rankings run from the highest score down.

Kept up to date

We update the rankings when prices or models change. Every price carries the date we recorded it, and the button always opens today's offer.

Commissions

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. A commission never decides a rank or moves a score. More in our affiliate disclosure.

Grate area planner

All inputs are inches. Rectangular area equals width × depth, and aligned square spaces equal floor(width / square side) × floor(depth / square side). A 24 by 18 inch rectangle gives 432 square inches and twelve 6-inch squares; a 12 by 9 inch rectangle gives 108 square inches but only two. Try it in the grate planner, or start with the buying guide. For clearances, fuel and cleaning, the manual of your exact grill is the reference.

Photos

The cooking scenes on our pages are editorial illustrations. Product images come from the listing of each exact product.