Now
that you have decided on a Gas BBQ as your preferred grill because you
prefer the simplicity of use and convenience of fast and clean cooking,
you will want to know what else you should be looking for when choosing
a Gas BBQ grill.
Right from the outset you
should know that gas
BBQs are most commonly sold with propane gas fitments, meaning that you
will need to buy propane cylinders to use them. Natural gas conversions
are available, but more on that later.
The
fundamentals of a
gas BBQ are quite straightforward: There will be burners to radiate the
heat and just above them you should find a system to diffuse it via
flavorizer bars, ceramic briquettes, or lava rocks etc.
Above the heat diffusion
system you will see the cooking grates (also
called griddles), to place and cook your food on.
Some
gas BBQs come with hot plates as well, to cook things such as
vegetables, eggs, sausages and so on, which make it great for making a
quick al-fresco meal.
Construction
Better
Gas BBQ's usually incorporate
two or more individual burners (not just controls) that provide
greater control of temperature. Most lower-priced Gas BBQ grills have a
single burner designed like an H or a bar, some with one control, some
have two
controls. Gas BBQ's with a single burner don't allow you to control
heat as
well as grills with several burners and this could result varied
temperature
spots on the cooking area.
Assembly
When
choosing a charcoal BBQ grill, you should be looking at ease of
assembly. See if you can take a look at the instruction manual that
comes with the particular charcoal BBQ that you are interested in, and
see what work and tools are involved to complete building the BBQ.
See
if the BBQ requires special tools to complete the build and also check
that the supplied fittings are complete and in good order before
starting construction of the charcoal BBQ grill.
Using
a Gas Grill
When
cooking on a gas grill, fluids from the meat or vegetables go down and
accumulate near the heat source
until they reach a flash point and burn off.
The better gas grills
quickly
flash off the fats, and this virtually removes any flare-ups and in
turn, allows it to provide a distinct flavorful smoke that will improve
the flavour of the food.
Many
Gas BBQ manufacturers depend on lava rock or ceramic rocks to radiate
the heat from the heat source to the cooking area. Fluids
from the meat or vegetables usually pool in these grills causing
unwanted flame-ups.
The best gas BBQ grills utlise a steel bar system (pioneered by Weber)
that transports the fats away from the burner flames and this again
reduces spitting or flame outs.
BTUs (A word on Thermal Units)
BTUs
are not to be considered a description of overall cooking power. BTU's
simply show the quantity of gas a BBQ can burn. Tightly engineered
grills use less BTUs and cook meat
more efficiently. Too many BTUs can cause
damage to burners and reduce the life of the grill, so in this case you
should rate the BTU output against the quality of construction to make
sure that a grill with a particularly high output is actually capable
of delivering it without damaging the grill through long term use.
In general, large
gas BBQ grills with large cooking areas need higher BTUs to radiate the
heat properly, reducing any cold spots.
Maintenance
You
will also need to look at the manufacturers enclosed warranty, and see
if there are dealers who are local to you who are capable of suppling
replacement parts easily and inexpensively should a part of your
charcoal BBQ become damaged. Some manufacturers have website that offer
parts delivered to your door via their online store, so check to see
that the parts for your charcoal grill are readily available.
Safety
Make
sure that the gas BBQ closes properly on all sides. Sometimes panel fit
on the lid is not what it should be and you may notice a tiny gap
between the gas BBQ hood and the cooking place when it is shut. If this
is the case, then give it a wide berth and look at another.
This
is usually down to either a small manufaturing defect or possible
damage during transportation, but it will almost certainly impair the
way the gas grill operates and increate the likelihood of an injury
through flames or hot fat escaping through any gaps on the gas BBQ.
It
should go without saying that for safety reasons and the type of gas
grill you are using, you should have a pail of water, an extinguisher,
quality BBQ utensils and heat-resistant mitts to hand at all times.
