Choosing the right BBQ for your garden

One of the best parts of outdoor entertaining is dusting off the barbecue and cooking for friends and family. If you’re looking for a new grill to impress for summer, you’ll want to make sure that you have the best possible fit for your garden. There are a few different things to consider in order to choose the right barbecue, but getting it right makes it easy to get the best results.

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Charcoal BBQs

One of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make is the choice between a charcoal or gas barbecue.
Charcoal is the classic, typically more authentic option that gives you a signature smoky, chargrilled barbecue flavour to your food.
They tend to typically be cheaper to buy compared to gas and can reach much higher maximum temperatures, but they take longer to heat up; around 30-40 minutes as opposed to around 10 minutes for gas. You also can’t control the temperature as accurately.

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Gas BBQs

Gas barbecues are usually a more modern option that make garden grilling a simpler, more efficient task. They’re really easy to light and can reach temperature in as little as 10 minutes.
Because they’re typically more expensive, they come with a wide variety of different features including cooker hoods, griddles, side burners and more. However, this also makes them bulkier and harder to move and store.
The burners have dials that let you adjust the gas flow for easy temperature control.

Size

The size of your garden will obviously have a big say on the size of your barbecue, as well as how many people you’ll usually be cooking for.
If you’re cooking for 2 to 4 people, a 1800cm2 cooking area is a good fit, for 6 people it's around 2000cm2 and for 8 it’s 2500cm2.
If you want something you can take on the go for your camping or beach trips, portable barbecues are small but versatile and very affordable.

Features

Barbecues can vary wildly from simple and straightforward to flashy and complex, depending on the size of your budget. While some features are universal, others are only found on the priciest grills.
Wheels might seem like a basic feature, and they are, but they’re really handy when you want to manoeuvre your barbecue so that you can cook in the sun.
A hood or lid let you maintain the heat for effective roasting, grilling and baking.
If you want to keep your food warm while it’s resting, a warming rack makes sure that it’s not getting cold while keeping it away from direct heat to avoid further cooking.
Shelves give you storage options and lets you keep important items close by, so you can store dishes, trays, bottles and more.

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