Compare the Best BarbecuesJune 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 barbecues is from £23 to £3,000 and in total we found prices for 169 barbecues. A new BBQ costs on average £302 and 80% of barbecues are priced between £50 and £721. The cheapest BBQ that we found is the tepro Crystal Mini at only £24, and the most expensive is the Broil King IMPERIAL XLS at £3,000.

Grill Brands - Price Range

OFYR BBQs start at £1,695 and their most expensive BBQ costs £1,695. The highest average BBQ price out of all brands is OFYR BBQs with an average price of £1,695.

Broil King grills start at £540 and their most expensive BBQ costs £3,000. The average price of Broil King grills is £1,269 which is the second highest average price of all BBQ brands.

The third highest average grill 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.

Grill Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 47 expert reviews and 4,408 user reviews for barbecues and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of BBQ. The top rated BBQ brand is Weber with an average rating of 94%. The second best brand is tepro with 77% and the third best brand is LANDMANN with 71%.

Biggest BBQ Retailers

The biggest barbecue retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 116 current barbecue offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is John Lewis with 27 offers. That means eBay is over 4 times bigger than John Lewis when it comes to BBQs. Robert Dyas is the third biggest retailer with 15 current offers.

When Are Most New Barbecues Released?

We couldn't see any clear pattern in the release dates for new grills over the last 3 years. January was the biggest month in 2018 for new barbecues, with 39 new barbecues released that month. Also the biggest month in 2017 for new barbecue releases was January, with 33 new barbecues released that month. In 2016 most new BBQs were released in September, with 68 new BBQs released that month.

How Fast Do Barbecue Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, grills drop in price by 15%. If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of £44 on a typical £302 new BBQ by waiting 6 months before buying.

Types

The heating system used by the bbq/grill.

Grill is the most frequently found type amongst new BBQs. We found 271 BBQs that are barbecues that have a grill Type. We found 236 grills that are BBQs that have a barbecue Type, making this the second most popular type amongst new grills.

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 168 BBQs that are barbecues that have a tabletop Form factor, which makes tabletop the most frequently found form factor amongst new BBQs. Cart is the second most frequently found form factor amongst new grills. We found 134 grills 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 BBQs are barbecues with a lid. 334 out of 510 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.).

Electric is the most common heat source amongst new barbecues. We found 179 barbecues that are electric grills. We found 168 barbecues that are gas BBQs, making this the second most popular heat source amongst new barbecues.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Grills?

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 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. 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 barbecues by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of BBQ prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's BBQ prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 88.8% of their BBQ prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.