What to look for in a Gas BBQ
Gas barbecues are ideal if you are interested in; developing your barbecue skills, you like to entertain at home, you have both time and space and you grill all year round.
What to look for:
- Heats output and grill system
- The burners - stainless steel or cast iron. Cast iron tends to rust
- Heat output - This is usually expressed in BTU's (British thermal units), Kilowatts or mega joules. The higher the BTU the hotter the grill, however hotter is not necessarily better. Whilst Americans and Canadians grill more using a hood and lower heats, Australians, New Zealanders and British tend to prefer not using a hood and higher heats. However a lot more New Zealanders are now interested in having a hood. Higher heat output could cause problems with grilling if the ventilation in the hooded barbecue is not properly designed. Make sure you invest in a well designed barbecue as these will retain the heat
- Number of burners - Wellington BBQs and Fire recommend more than one burner, allowing better heat control, and different heat zones on the grill
- Above the burners is usually a system to catch and evaporate the cooking juices whilst grilling. These vapours give the food that typical BBQ flavour. Either a cast iron unit, lava rocks, ceramic rocks, or flavourizer bars (designed by Weber). These prevent fat and juices from blocking the gas jets and avoid flare-ups
- The grilling is done on grills or plates, these could be cast iron, stainless steel, porcelain coated aluminium or cast iron
- Some barbecues have a side burner, which are handy to prepare sauces, stir-fry vegetables or potatoes
- Knobs should not be flimsy and the barbecue should have an igniter.
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