What to Look for When Buying a Grill

Getty ImagesThere's no "one size fits all" answer when it comes to buying a grill. To help you make decisions, however, there are a few questions you should ask yourself before you hit the display floor with your checkbook. The key is to understand your "grilling profile," which is essential to finding the right grill for you. Decide what you want and need before you shop, and you won't waste money on options that aren't important to you.

How much money are you willing to spend?

This might be the decisive factor that pushes you toward one purchase or another. Frankly, it's difficult to spend more than $300 on a good charcoal grill unless you're drawn to the charismatic, steroidal Weber 60020 Ranch I use on the set of BBQ U. (And every serious grill master should own one.) But you can easily spend ten times that on a premium gas grill. So determine your budget first. Hint: try to stretch a little. You'll want a grill you can grow with and grow into.

Charcoal or gas?

There was a time when mentioning Charcoal vs Gas -- like discussing politics or religion -- was a socially incendiary act, likely to spark partisan arguments. But the battle lines (drawn back in the 1950s when utility companies introduced the first gas pedestal grills) are beginning to blur, especially with the advent of stainless steel "super grills" that burn as hot as charcoal grills. Some grills even burn multiple fuels, like Kalamazoo's hybrid grills.

In a nutshell, buy a charcoal grill if you enjoy the process (lighting the coals, messing with fire, waltzing the food from hot spots to cool spots). Buy a charcoal grill if you like smoked foods -- it's virtually impossible to smoke on a gas grill.

Buy a gas grill if you're more destination -- and results -- oriented, i.e., if your main goal is to get dinner on the table fast.

Hint: More and more Americans are quietly investing in both a charcoal grill and a gas grill, the former for leisurely live-fire cooking and smoking, and the latter for weekday convenience. It's a good way to have your metaphorical cake and eat it, too.

What is your grilling personality?

Size does matter. If you're known for frequent and epic grilled feasts, your equipment requirements will obviously be different from those of a griller who grills once or twice a week for the immediate family and occasional guests. The former will want at the very least a good size charcoal grill (or a couple of kettle grills), a 4- to 6-burner gas grill, and maybe even a smoker. The latter can get away with a single kettle grill or 3-burner gas grill.

If your need for more grill space spikes only once or twice a year (not that anyone reading this newsletter falls into that category) or you live in an apartment with a balcony, you might get by with a hibachi grill (one of my favorites is made by Lodge in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee).

And if you stage the occasional block party for the whole neighborhood, consider supplementing your own equipment with a couple of table grills from a party rental place.

There are other considerations, too:
• Are you a winter warrior who prides himself on grilling in cold weather?
• Are there any restrictions on your right to grill on your property? (Many condos don't allow charcoal or even gas.)
• Do you like to smoke as well as grill? (As I said before, smoking on a gas grill is nearly impossible.)
• Do you mainly stick to foods that can be direct-grilled, such as steaks, chops, chicken breasts, shrimp, or fish fillets? Or do you enjoy indirect grilling -- ribs, larger cuts of beef or pork, whole chickens, turkey, or whole fish?
• Would a rotisserie be useful to you? (Answer "yes" if you like to grill whole chickens or duck.)

What to look for in a charcoal grill

Charcoal grills for me are the sentimental favorite, as they are for most non-American grillers and barbecuers. Not only can you smoke on charcoal grills (if they have a lid), but the flavors generated by fat and juices hitting hot coals are incomparable. Charcoal grills come in three basic models:

• Kettle type grills (best epitomized by the Weber)
• Front loaders (great for burning wood as well as charcoal), like the Barbeques Galore Barbechef and Charbroil CB940.
• Open grills, like hibachis or the table grills used by caterers

Here's what it should have:
• Heavy-gauge metal construction with a tight-fitting lid (unless you-re buying a hibachi, in which case there-s no lid-the metal should still be heavy duty); especially good if you live in a colder climate as the lid helps retain heat
• A baked-on porcelain-enamel coating
• Sturdy welded supports and heatproof handles
• A secondary grate at the bottom of the grill for holding wood or coals in an even layer
• Adjustable vents on the top and bottom for heat regulation (top vents are not available on hibachis)
• A well-manufactured grill grate-preferably with hinged sides so fresh coals can be added easily; my favorite material is cast iron, followed by bar steel, pressed steel, and porcelainized enamel
• A thermometer built into the lid

Optional:
• Though rather difficult to find in the U.S., height-adjustable grill grates (one brand is The Grillery)
• One or more side tables for workspace (you can never have enough workspace)
• A butane igniter to light the charcoal (such as the one found in the Weber Performer)
• An ash catcher for easy cleaning and disposal of charcoal debris
• If you like to burn wood, look for a front-loading grill
• Options such as a tool holder, weather-proof cover, baskets for corralling charcoal when indirect grilling, and a rotisserie

What to look for in a gas grill

Gas grills are definitely convenient (which is why about 70 percent of Americans use them), and if you are routinely pressed to get dinner on the table, prefer "getting there quickly" to the journey, and favor khakis and light-colored shirts (let's face it, charcoal is messy) you may be happier with a gas grill.

Here's what it should have:
• Sturdy construction with heavy-gauge metal (preferably stainless steel) and tight welds
• Cast-iron or bar-steel grill grates, followed in desirability by pressed steel and porcelainized enamel
• Electric ignition
• At least two independent burners, and preferably 3 or 4 (you need multiple burners for indirect grilling)
• Enough BTUs to support the cooking space. (British Thermal Units are defined as the heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit.) A rule of thumb is approximately 100 BTUs per square inch of cooking space (not including warming racks), or 50,000 BTUs for 500 square inches of cooking space
• Very important, an easy-to-empty drip pan or grease collection
• A multi-year warranty and good local service support
• Easy access to replacement parts (igniters are especially prone to failure)
• A gas gauge (you wouldn't believe how many gas grills lack them)
• A built-in thermometer
• Side tables for workspace (did I say you can never have enough work space?)
• Fittings for a rotisserie
• Smoker box-more because the sight of rising smoke will make you feel good than because it will actually impart a smoke flavor
• A warming rack
• A tool and/or condiment rack
• Locking wheels to prevent rolling
• A spider guard for keeping insects from clogging burners and fittings
• Weather-proof cover

Optional:
• A side burner (useful for frying the biscuits)

One final note -- infrared burners

Today many grills have infrared burners. In a nutshell, infrared grills use a gas-fired ceramic mesh or plate to generate the heat and they burn hot. Real hot. Screaming hot. Like 800 to 1000 degrees. They're great for searing and putting a steakhouse-quality char on steaks and chops. If you like to grill steaks, a straight infrared grill may be for you. If you like to grill a wide range of foods, you may want to buy a conventional gas grill with one infrared searing burner.

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Steven Raichlen, America's "master griller" (Esquire), is the premier teacher, evangelist, and all-around expert on the art of live-fire cooking. His eight Barbecue! Bible cookbooks include three national-award winners, two that have sold over a million copies, and six chosen as Main Selections of The Good Cook. The third season of his show, Primal Grill, seen in 95% of PBS markets, is scheduled to run in Summer 2010. Previously he hosted four seasons of PBS's popular series Barbecue University at the Greenbrier, now available on DVD, and now teaches seasonal sessions of Barbecue U at the Broadmoor in Colorado. Articles by him appear regularly in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and other magazines and newspapers. He lives and grills in Coconut Grove, Florida, and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.