What BBQ should I buy?

Deciding what bbq you should buy is a big decision, good quality BBQ's don't come cheap, so getting it right first time is key!

This is a simple guide to help you choose the best BBQ, once you consider the information in this article, you will be much better equipped to make a great long term investment.

The biggest thing to consider is whether you would prefer to grill on a gas or charcoal bbq? Both are great choices, there is no wrong answer really! Just to get your mind in tune, here are some great facts about gas and charcoal bbq's

What we love about Gas BBQ's 

• Gas grilling is so easy. You just need to ignite your bbq, it will heat up very quickly and it's so simple to regulate the heat with the roll of a knob. You can decide in an instant if you would like 1, 2 or 3 burners switched on (depending on how many burners you have on your BBQ), bearing in mind, most food cooks best over indirect heat, ie not directly over the flame. 🔥 Because it works just like an oven, you will have a fair idea how long your cooks will take as you can regulate the temperature so easily.
• Another thing to love is that they are so easy to clean - Weber BBQ's have an excellent grease management system, so excess grease goes directly into a grease tray that you can swop it out in an instant. Also, Weber have great wire cleaning brushes for easily cleaning the cooking grates also, all so painless, the cleaning of a gas bbq definitely won't put you off! 
• Weber Gas BBQ's have an excellent system to flavour food - they are called flavorizer bars. Basically, the juices drop directly from the food on to the flavorizer bars, the juices smoke and sizzle on the bars and in turn, infuse the food with that lovely smokey flavour that we love from a charcoal bbq. You also have the option to add a smoker box and wood chips to the bbq to add even more smokiness to the food. So, yes, you can really get amazingly flavoured food from a gas bbq, particularly a Weber gas bbq.
• The running costs of a gas bbq are probably lower than a charcoal, they are more efficient to run in the long term. They are a great long term investment!

What we love about Charcoal BBQ's

• A charcoal grill is associated with adding more flavour to food than a gas BBQ, thanks to the way the juices are vaporized on the coals and infused into your food. However, as mentioned earlier, Weber Gas BBQ's have innovatively flavorizer bars to add flavour to their gas grills.
• The experience -  Some will tell you that the experience of a charcoal grill is unique, the smell of the coals as they light, the laid back atmosphere of a breezy Sunday afternoon waiting for your bbq to light up. There is no doubt, charcoal BBQ's do require just a little more time to get started, but this just add's to the experience for many grillers!
• Getting started is quite easy. You should ideally invest in an affordable chimney starter which makes lighting coals easy through funnelling oxygen up through the coals. Once you get going, you simply pour them into the charcoal grates in the grill and you're all set in 20-30 minutes
• Hot or low heat regulation - It is possible to get very high temperatures on a charcoal grill so they are great for searing steaks and cooking pizza's for example. Equally, they are also excellent for long slow cooks, you just move your charcoal baskets to the side for slow cooking so your food is not sitting directly over the coals. See table below for a guide on how to regulate heat on a charcoal BBQ using a chimney starter

Low and slow cooking	Fill a third of chimney starter
Longer cooking times	Half fill chimney starter
Direct grilling on high heat	Fill chimney starter all the way

• Charcoal BBQ's are a great choice due to their ability to radiate heat so well, making them an excellent choice for slow cooking on the bbq. Most Weber charcoal BBQ's are GBS compliant. This means that many Weber accessories that are ideal for slow cooking are compatible, such as the dutch oven duo, griddle, and poultry roaster. Therefore, there is nothing you can't achieve on a gas BBQ that you can't on a comparable charcoal grill.

Once you decide on a gas or charcoal grill, then you need to think about the size of your bbq and your experience with grilling, for example, a beginner will probably choose a very different BBQ to an experienced griller. The table below classifies normal habits, that we observe here at The Pavilion Garden Centre, with regard to how grilling experience impacts on decision making when buying a BBQ

Weber Charcoal Series	Beginner	Intermediate	Expert
Compact Kettle Series 47cm/57cm	✔️
Original Kettle Series	✔️	✔️
Master Touch Series	✔️	✔️
Performer Series		✔️	✔️
Kamado Joe Series		✔️	✔️

 

Weber Gas Series	Beginner	Intermediate	Expert
Spirit Series	✔️	✔️
Genesis Series		✔️	✔️
Summit Series			✔️
Q Series	✔️	✔️

 

If you need any further information, feel free to contact us at our garden centre in Cork on 021 4888134 or if you are nearby feel free to drop by our showroom. Our BBQ experts can answer all your question's. We are open every day. We deliver Weber gas, Weber charcoal and Kamado Joe BBQ's nationwide in Ireland.