Compare the Best BarbecuesAugust 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

We currently list 144 BBQs ranging from £18 to £3,054. The average price of a new BBQ is £243 and 80% of grills are priced between £44 and £467. The Broil King IMPERIAL XLS is the most expensive grill that we found at £3,054, and the Sunbeam GR8210 is the cheapest at only £19.

BBQ Brands - Price Range

The average price of OFYR grills is £1,695 which is the highest average price of all barbecue brands. OFYR grills range in price from £1,695 to £1,695.

The second highest average BBQ price out of all brands is Traeger BBQs with an average price of £1,259. Traeger BBQs start at £1,259 and their most expensive BBQ costs £1,259.

Broil King grills range in price from £297 to £3,054, and the third highest average barbecue price out of all brands is Broil King grills with an average price of £1,242.

BBQ Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 56 expert reviews and 2,903 user reviews for barbecues and used these reviews to evaluate the average rating for each brand of barbecue. The top rated BBQ brand is Weber with an average rating of 94%. The second best brand is Campingaz with 84% and the third best brand is tepro with 77%.

Biggest Grill Retailers

We found 67 current offers for grills from eBay making it the biggest barbecue retailer. That is over 3 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, John Lewis for whom we found 22 current offers for grills. The third biggest retailer is Amazon UK with 10 current barbecue offers.

When Are Most New Grills Released?

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

How Fast Do BBQ Prices Drop After Release?

New barbecues drop in price by an average of 15% in the first 6 months after they were first released.

That means a saving of £36 on a typical £243 new BBQ if you wait 6 months before buying.

Types

The heating system used by the bbq/grill.

We found 280 grills that are barbecues that have a grill Type, which makes this the most popular type amongst new grills. We found 242 barbecues that are BBQs that have a barbecue Type, making this the second most frequently found type amongst new barbecues.

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.

Tabletop is the most common form factor amongst new BBQs. We found 175 BBQs that are grills that have a tabletop Form factor. The second most popular form factor amongst new barbecues is cart. We found 139 barbecues that are grills 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 grills are grills with a lid. 65% of grills 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.).

We found 183 grills that are electric barbecues, which makes electric the most frequently found heat source amongst new grills. We found 174 grills that are gas grills, making gas the second most common heat source amongst new grills.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for BBQs?

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 BBQs. 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. 60 of their barbecue 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 BBQs by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of grill prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's grill prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 89.6% of their barbecue prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.