If you’ve ever looked for a new grill, you probably know the feeling.

You start with a simple question: “What grill should I buy?”

Then things get complicated.

Charcoal grills. Gas grills. Electric grills. Pellet grills. Kettle grills. Barrel grills. Portable grills. Smokers. Kamado grills. Tabletop grills. And then there are grills that combine several of these ideas.

Suddenly, choosing a grill feels harder than actually using one.

So before you start comparing brands, prices and features, let’s take a step back.

Why Are There So Many Types of Grills?

The simple answer is that people grill in very different ways.

Someone who wants to cook burgers for the family on a Tuesday night may want something completely different from someone who spends Saturday smoking ribs.

Someone living in an apartment may care more about size and fuel restrictions. A camper may care about portability. Someone who loves traditional barbecue may care most about charcoal flavor.

Current grill-buying guidance reflects this variety. Gas grills are generally valued for convenience and temperature control, charcoal grills for traditional barbecue flavor, pellet grills for smoking versatility, and electric grills for situations where an open flame isn't practical.

So the different grill designs aren't necessarily competing to solve exactly the same problem.

They are solving different problems for different people.

The Grill With the Most Features Isn't Necessarily the Best

This is one of the first things I'd tell a friend shopping for their first grill:

Don't buy a grill just because it has more features.

Ask yourself whether those features actually matter to you.

If you mostly cook burgers and steaks, you may not need a smoker.

If you go camping regularly, a huge backyard grill probably isn't very useful.

If you enjoy cooking kebabs for groups of friends, a traditional flat cooking surface may not give you the experience you're looking for.

The right grill is the one that fits the way you actually cook.

So, What Is the “Best” Grill?

There isn't one.

There is a best grill for you.

That's a very different question.

Think about it like buying a car. A sports car may be fantastic, but that doesn't mean it's the best choice for someone who needs to carry camping equipment every weekend.

Grills work the same way.

The right choice depends on your:

O  Cooking style

O  Favorite foods

O  Available space

O  Fuel preference

O  Cooking frequency

O  Number of people you cook for

O  Desired level of hands-on cooking

O  Need for portability

O  Budget

Once you know these things, the choices become much easier.

Start With Yourself, Not the Grill

If you're new to grilling, I'd recommend asking five simple questions:

What do I want to cook?

Where will I use it?

What fuel do I prefer?

How much effort do I want to put into cooking?

Do I need my grill to do more than one thing?

Those questions will eliminate a lot of options before you even start shopping.

And that's exactly what this series is about.

Over the next several articles, we'll look at grill buying from different angles—food, location, fuel, cooking style, size, smoke, portability and versatility.

We'll also look at where a different style of charcoal grill, such as the YANFLAMMA Smokeless Grill, fits into the picture.

The goal isn't to tell you that one grill is right for everyone.

It's to help you figure out which grill is right for you.