Grill Cookware

This sturdy pan was well designed, with 1/8-inch slits rather than holes, so that even chopped onion pieces didn’t fall through. Its four raised sides kept food on the pan when we stirred; raised handles helped us lift it off the grill easily with heavy mitts. Good heat retention meant good browning.

Lightweight and easily maneuverable, this skillet of steel mesh with a lattice of ¼-inch spaces caramelized and gave excellent grill flavor to shrimp, vegetables, potatoes, and fish. Though it blackened, the mesh did not trap food or become difficult to clean. The cooking surface is larger than it appears because of gently flared sides. One gripe: We wish the metal handle were removable, so we couldn’t accidentally touch it with bare hands.

We liked this pan’s heat-retaining stainless steel and moderately raised handles. At 5/8 inch wide, the holes were small enough to keep food from falling out. However, a wide strip of unperforated metal around each edge allowed food to steam, and the rim only extended to three sides. The pan also warped slightly during cooking.

A solid performer, thanks to four raised sides, easy-to-grip handles, a generous cooking surface, and square ¼-inch holes. On the other hand, it warped slightly when cooking fish, and over time the porcelain coating acquired a gunky film that was hard to scrub away.

This heavy pan, the priciest in our lineup, had large oval and medium-sized round holes that let smaller onions and potatoes drop into the fire. But it excelled at caramelizing any vegetables that stayed in the pan as well as grilling delicate fish; plus, it retained heat beautifully on cold days. Winter grillers, take note.

Completely covered with 3/8-inch round holes and featuring three raised sides, this porcelain-coated topper provided good grill exposure. Yet it warped badly, and the porcelain coating became gunky after repeated use.

The folding (but not removable) wood handle was for storage rather than cooking: It snapped down into our food when we attempted to position it vertically to close the charcoal grill lid, and its metal trim got red-hot.

Big holes on this pricey pan were made worse by a large cut-out “Cuisinart” across the middle that allowed small foods to escape. This pan warped, and the removable handle was so poorly designed that we stopped using it, leaving us with a flat and hard-to-maneuver sheet.

You can snip, bend, and customize these disposable grill sheets, which start out flat. However, they warp dramatically over heat and lose food off the sides and through the ½-inch holes. Once bent, the sheets are impossible to flatten, so when reusing them—which you can do a few times—you are starting with a warped surface.