Compare the Best BarbecuesMarch 2019

Barbecues and grills are cooking devices meant for both outside and inside cooking. They usually comprise of a metal grill suspended over a fuel source (charcoal, gas or electric). The food (usually meats) are placed onto the grill, where the high temperatures from the fuel cook it quickly and efficiently. Barbeques are the epitome of summer cooking - great for parties and quickly cooking large amounts of meat and vegetables.

The two names can be used interchangably, but here are the main differences between barbeques and grills. It's important to be clear on which type you want when buying, because outdoor barbecues generally can't be used indoors - they generate a lot of smoke, that will make a kitchen very unpleasant very quickly!

Barbeques don't require electricity - prefering to use a fuel source such as charcoal or gas. They can be significantly larger than grills, meant for cooking for families and groups, which also means they can be more expensive. Their fuel sources generate a lot of smoke, meaning the can also be used for hot smoking meat and fish.

Grills are usually smaller than barbeques and can be used inside. They tend towards either electricity or gas as a fuel source, meaning they produce less smoke, but are more costly to run. They are meant more for small families, apartments, or places where setting up a big barbeque and causing lots of smoke would be more of a challenge. This means they can be significantly cheaper: however, since they don't use charcoal or wood as a fuel, you don't get quite the same chargrilled taste as a proper barbeque.

Size

Grills and barbecues come in all different shapes and sizes - from very small one-person grills that can only cook a couple of sausages at a time, to enormous barbeques that can easily cook entire racks of ribs or whole birds at once. The barbeques and grills on our site have a cooking surface measured in centimeters - the larger it is, the more food can be cooked at once. Smaller grills and barbeques may be marked as portable, meaning they are specially designed for picnics or outdoor parties.

Fuel Type

As mentioned above, barbeques and grills can use several different types of fuel sources. Outdoor barbeques tend towards charcoal, wood or gas, while indoor grills tend to use either gas or electricity. It's important that generally speaking one can't be substituted for the other - so make sure you have access to a source of fuel for your chosen barbeque before you buy it.

Lid

Some of our grills and barbeques are marked as having a lid. These are extremely useful for both increasing the heat of the cooking, and limiting the smoke generated by the barbeque. They are also essential for smoking, since it traps the smoke that gives hot-smoked meat and fish their unique taste.

Extras

Grills and barbeques are extremely customisable, and come with a wide variety of extras that can help you cook more effectively. These can include a non-stick coating to the grill rack, detachable legs for larger barbeques or a double-walled 'cool touch' handles to reduce the risk of accidental burning.

Moreover, some of our models are marked as 'easy to clean' - given how messy grilling a large quantity of meat and fish can be, this is a massive boon if you're going to use your grill frequently!

Grill Prices

The price range of grills is from $35 to $2,499 and in total we found prices for 62 grills. A new grill costs on average $532 and 80% of grills are priced between $124 and $1,209. The Weber Summit E-670 is the most expensive grill that we found at $2,499, and the UCO GR-1 is the cheapest at only $35.

Grill Brands - Price Range

Everdure grills start at $999 and their most expensive grill costs $1,999. The highest average grill price out of all brands is Everdure grills with an average price of $1,499.

Traeger barbecues start at $980 and their most expensive grill costs $1,209. The second highest average grill price out of all brands is Traeger barbecues with an average price of $1,094.

Broil King barbecues start at $692 and their most expensive BBQ costs $1,522. The third highest average BBQ price out of all brands is Broil King barbecues with an average price of $1,027.

Barbecue Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 63 expert reviews and 4,533 user reviews for BBQs and used this data to calculate the average rating for each brand of BBQ. Weber is the top rated grill brand with an average rating of 93%. tepro is the second best brand with 88% and Barbecook is the third best brand with 66%.

Biggest Grill Retailers

The biggest BBQ retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 68 current BBQ offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Air n Water with 6 offers. That means eBay is over 11 times bigger than Air n Water when it comes to BBQs. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 3 current offers.

When Are Most New Barbecues Released?

We couldn't see any prominent pattern in the release dates for new BBQs over the last 3 years. January was the biggest month last year for new barbecues, with 39 new barbecues released that month. In January 2017, 33 new barbecues were released making it the biggest month that year as well for new barbecue releases. 69 new barbecues were released in September 2016 making it the biggest month that year for new grill releases.

How Fast Do Grill Prices Drop After Release?

On average barbecues drop in price by 13% in the first 6 months after release. On a typical new BBQ costing $532, by waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $67.

Types

The heating system used by the bbq/grill.

The most frequently found type amongst new BBQs is Grill. We found 252 BBQs that are grills that have a Grill Type. We found 229 BBQs that are grills that have a Barbecue Type, making Barbecue the second most common type amongst new BBQs.

Form Factors

Form factor is the case design of the grill/bbq. It can affect everything from the load capacity to what type of fuel is best used.

We found 156 grills that are barbecues that have a Tabletop Form factor, which makes this the most popular form factor amongst new grills. Cart is the second most frequently found form factor amongst new barbecues. We found 128 barbecues that are barbecues that have a Cart Form factor.

Lids

Some barbecues come with a lid which can be closed over the top of grill whilst it is cooking.

Most new barbecues are barbecues with a lid. 315 barbecues out of 484 on Kagoo are barbecues with a lid.

Heat Sources

The heat source on a barbecue refers to the type of fuel that the barbecue uses (i.e. gas, charcoal, electric etc.).

We found 165 barbecues that are electric grills, which makes this the most common heat source amongst new barbecues. The second most common heat source amongst new grills is gas. We found 157 grills that are gas grills.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for BBQs?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying grills. For each retailer it shows the total number of grills where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying grills. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 67 of their BBQ prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of BBQs for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for barbecues by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of barbecue prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's barbecue prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 98.5% of their barbecue prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.