Best Gas Grills Under $300
As far as making great tasting, juicy, and succulent food there is no better way than preparing it with a nice reliable grill. Which makes finding a way to grill up great meals at an affordable price of paramount importance. The grill market is vast and very specific additions can make or break a perfect grill depending on the customer.
Charcoal grills often run at a cheaper cost, but they lack the utility, ease of use and cleanability that a good gas grill can provide. So you want to have the cake and eat it too with a versatile gas grill that doesn’t require a trip to the bank. With a bit of knowledge about what you should be looking for finding an amazing gas grill for under $300 dollars is well within your reach. Theres a lot of substance beneath the surface of any grill so lets get cooking.
Top 5 Grills Under $300
Smoke Hollow LS2418-4
(3.8 / 5)- 30,000 BTU
- Burners: 4
- Side burners: 1
- Total cooking space: 539 sq. in.
- Primary cooking space: 539 sq. in
price scale 3.3/5
Char-Griller 3001
(4.3 / 5)- 40,800 BTU
- Burners: 3
- Side burner: 1
- Total cooking space: 630 sq. in.
- Primary cooking space: 438 sq. in
- price scale 3.3/5
Blackstone 28
(4.6 / 5)- 30,000 BTU
- Burners: 2
- Side Burners: 0
- Total cooking space: 470 sq. in.
- Restaurant style 470 sq. in. flat top grilling
price scale 3.0/5
Char Broil Performance 475
(4.4 / 5)- 46,000 BTU
- Burners: 4
- Side Burner: 1
- Total cooking space: 650 sq. in.
- Primary cooking space: 475 sq. in
price scale 3.1/5
Dyna-Glo DGB390SNP-D
(4.1 / 5)- 36,000 BTU
- Burners: 3
- Side burners: 0
- Total cooking space: 530 sq. in.
- Primary cooking space: 530 sq. in
price scale 3.8/5
Short Descriptions of Grills Under $300
Smoke Hollow LS2418-4
The Smoke Hollow LS2418-4 hopes to please the grill customer who want to be able to make a great meal without a heavy investment. This all black steel grill has a cool barrel design that makes cooking a breeze. Here we have four stainless steel propane gas burners that kick out 7,500 BTU’s per burner. Just enough power to cook any type of meal thanks to the barrel design you get great heat coverage though amateur grillers should be wary.
The space between a perfectly cooked meal and a burnt one is not too far here. Along with the main surface we have an extra 10,000 BTU side burner for some nice versatility. All of this sits under your porcelain coated cast iron cooking grids that bring a nice addition of quality to this bargain of a grill. With a cooking area of 539 square inches this grill should work well for the average family. This is a budget grill with budget features, but it still works quite nicely for many occasions. Read full review
Char-Griller 3001
The Char-Griller 3001 knows exactly what it is, a powerful three burner grill that delivers everything you would expect from an affordable grill plus a it more. We have three stainless steel burners kicking out 40,800 BTU’s over a 438 square inch grilling area with a couple smoke stacks to give you excellent heat distribution over the entire surface. We also have two convenient side shelves with one housing an addition 12,000 BTU side burner for some extra versatility.
Moving along well on a couple large heavy duty wheels this is a grill made for the intelligent grill user who knows exactly what they need. With extra hooks for storing your grilling tools this grill does a nice job covering the bases. The warranty is also superior to most you will find in this price range. This all black powdered steel grill is not the stylish general of the grilling squad. Instead this is the soldier you can send in on any mission to get the job done. Read full review
Blackstone 28
The Blackstone 28 inch is not your grandma’s style grill as it brings the flair that only a flat top can provide. With two individual stainless steel burners that each pack 15,000 BTU’s of power this grills strength is not only in its surface. Two large wheels and a light weight give this grill pretty nice mobility for public exhibitions of your grilling prowess with the open lidless design.
This grill is all black made out of powder coated steel outside of the burners and the surface giving you a durable long lasting build that hides dirt well. The primary cooking surface is 470 square inches, good enough for even larger families and it even comes with a built in grease trap though it could be larger for the really big meals. Small in stature but big in power this grill brings you the unique restaurant style grilling experience without the over investment into things that you do not need. Read full review
Char Broil Performance 475
The Char Broil Performance 475 is a propane grill that brings just the right amount of versatility and power to compete well with the lower end grill range. We have four stainless steel burners along with a side stainless steel burner pumping out a total of 46,000 BTU’s for the strength to match up with much higher priced grills. With 475 square inches of primary cooking surface you have a good amount of room to spread out your meals and cook multiple dishes at the same time. Propane brings a speedy ignition with the electronic one touch system.
The overall design of this grill is pretty basic but with a stainless steel lid and porcelain coated grates quality is still very important. This is not the grill that is going to wow your neighbors but it will leave most users pretty pleased with a reasonably priced, well built, long lasting, grilling experience. Read full review
Dyna-Glo DGB390SNP-D
This Dyna-Glo grill puts everything they can into a nice quality package at a reasonable price. Here you get a three stainless steel burner grill that promises to give you flavorful meals at an expedient pace. Over 500 square inches of surface area make this grill sufficient for cooking meals of a pretty good size feeding five to six people without breaking a sweat. The use of stainless steel throughout the build gives you a quality look to go along with easy cleanability and a long life span.
With a cabinet style design and four strong caster wheels you get a nice amount of mobility along with a bit of storage capabilities. It is clear Dyna-Glo has the customer in mind with extra implementations for flavor as well as heat retention and easy storage of your grilling tools. Everything combines nicely for a value heavy grill that should look great in any families back yard as long as you don’t need to cook for giant parties. Read full review
Brands
Compared to top of the line grills you won’t find as many of the big names for the lower priced grills. This makes it a bit harder to zero in on a trusted brand. The good part of this is that most of these lesser known brands aren’t able to bring a large variety of grills to the market, so the ones they do bring are focused on bringing quality with their choice of materials so they can begin to make a name for themselves. At the end of the day though you might run into issues when it comes to repairs and warranties, but thats part of the price at this range. You should not make brand a priority when looking for a grill in this range as the makeup of the grill itself will be a much better determining factor for the strength of the purchase.
Materials
One of the most integral pieces to a well designed grill is the materials that it is made out of. Certain materials bring a longer life span for your grill along with easier cleanability, and a overall superior look. Generally the best material is stainless steel, the more you find in your grill the better overall value you get in comparison to everything else. Stainless steel burners are common even in lower end grills so that is the first thing to look for. Outside of that if you can find it in the grill grates, hood, or side tables each application provides a bonus. When it comes to grill grates however finding staiinless steel at this price range isn’t likely. Instead what you want here are porcelain coated iron grates. These are easier to clean and cook with because of their nonstick properties.
Storage
This is a definite nagative as far as gas grills under $300 dollars. One of the first things you will notive in higher end grills is expansive compartments underneath for storing all of your grilling supplies. This makes finding a cabinet storage section in a grill under $300 a strong sign that you’ve found one of the better buys. Side trays are still quite common here though so you are not out of options if you can’t find a cabinet.
Burners and Cooking Surface
While this is a bit of a tricky area for many grills at this price range you are mostly dealing with the same basic set up. Larger grills you have to worry about how big the actual cooking surface is compared to the heating rack area, however low end grills usually don’t offer much of a heating area so the often advertised burner area suits just fine. You are looking at between one and three burners which puts you around a twelve burger cap as far as grill space. Look for burners that pump out 15,000 BTU’s for each individual burner if you can though, 12,000 will do in a pinch.
Mobility
Here is another area where the thouroughbreds separate a bit from the competition because most grills under $300 dollars find their mobility to be a bit stilted. This is a literal issues as the common practice here is two wheels on one side with flattened off legs on the other side. This allows your grill to stay relatively stable but makes it a bit of a chore to move. So once again you want to find a cabinet design with four wheels if you can. You get a much easier to move grill and usually a couple of those wheels lock into place for stability as well.
Special Features
You usually won’t find many special features here as these grills are focused towards their primary objective. Still there are a few things to look out for in the best gas grill under $300. The first thing is a side burner which gives you more cooking surface as well as allowing you to cook meals that need to be separated. Another thing is heating plates between the grates and the burners that vaporize the juices feeding the flavor back into the food. Finding both of these under $300 is a feat, but either of them does well to add value to your grill.
Warranty
You can not expect too much here as along with lesser known brands the warranties also offer less coverage. What you want to find here if possible is at least a 2 year coverage. However like many products in lower price ranges you pay a bit for the conveinence and ease of coverage that might be sorely lack under $300.
Conclusion
The best gas grill under $300 dollars features ample stainless steel, three burners, a side burner, heating vents, and a cabinet style design, but that might not exist so we are looking for the best combination we can find. Some grills in this range focus towards hood design to give you more flavor options as far as smoking your meals. While others offer open flat tops that allow you to cook gourmet style meals like they do in Japan. Grills under $300 dollars are pretty focused towards their cooking style so it really comes down to finding the right combination of materials and design for the style that you prefer.