Compare the Best BarbecuesApril 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

Grills range in price from £19 to £3,000 and in total we found prices for 163 grills. A new BBQ costs on average £288 and 80% of BBQs are priced between £47 and £699. The Broil King IMPERIAL XLS is the most expensive barbecue that we found at £3,000, and the tepro Crystal is the cheapest at only £20.

Barbecue Brands - Price Range

The average price of OFYR barbecues is £1,695 which is the highest average price of all grill brands. OFYR barbecues start at £1,695 and their most expensive grill costs £1,695.

The second highest average grill price out of all brands is Big Green Egg BBQs with an average price of £1,488. Big Green Egg BBQs start at £1,255 and their most expensive grill costs £1,720.

The third highest average BBQ price out of all brands is Traeger BBQs with an average price of £1,259. Traeger BBQs range in price from £1,259 to £1,259.

BBQ Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 47 expert reviews and 4,683 user reviews for grills and used this data to calculate the average rating for each brand of grill. Weber is the top rated barbecue brand with an average rating of 94%. tepro is the second best brand with 88% and LANDMANN is the third best brand with 81%.

Biggest BBQ Retailers

We found 116 current offers for BBQs from eBay making it the biggest barbecue retailer. That is over 4 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, John Lewis for whom we found 27 current offers for BBQs. The third biggest retailer is Robert Dyas with 15 current barbecue offers.

When Are Most New BBQs Released?

We couldn't see any evident trend in the release dates for new BBQs over the last 3 years. 39 new BBQs were released in January 2018 making it the biggest month that year for new grill releases. In January 2017, 33 new BBQs were released making it the biggest month that year as well for new barbecue releases. The biggest month in 2016 for new barbecue releases was September, with 68 new BBQs released that month.

How Fast Do Grill Prices Drop After Release?

New BBQs drop in price by an average of 15% in the first 6 months after they wer first released. That means that on a typical BBQ costing £288 you could save on average £43 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Types

The heating system used by the bbq/grill.

The most frequently found type amongst new BBQs is grill. We found 260 BBQs that are grills that have a grill Type. The second most popular type amongst new barbecues is barbecue. We found 233 barbecues that are barbecues that have a barbecue Type.

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.

Amongst new barbecues, the most frequently found form factor is tabletop. We found 161 barbecues that are grills that have a tabletop Form factor. We found 131 barbecues that are barbecues that have a cart Form factor, making this the second most popular form factor amongst new barbecues.

Lids

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

Most new barbecues are grills with a lid. 324 barbecues (65%) on Kagoo are grills 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.).

Amongst new grills, the most frequently found heat source is electric. We found 171 grills that are electric BBQs. The second most popular heat source amongst new barbecues is gas. We found 162 barbecues that are gas BBQs.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Barbecues?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying barbecues. For each retailer it shows the total number of barbecues where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying barbecues. 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. 103 of their grill prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Barbecues for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for grills 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. 88.8% of their grill prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.