A barbecue lunch or cook-out is one of the best ways to spend some quality time with your friends and family. Have a cook-out on a sunny day with some grilled food and you are in for quite an experience.So, whenever you set up your new home, remember to buy a barbecue grill along with other home appliances.

When you visit a store to look for a barbecue grill,you would be surprised by the sheer variety of grills available. Soon enough, you will realize that you just don’t walk into a store and buy a grill. Before you can do that, you have to acquaint yourself with certain key features pertaining to grills. Here are a few of them:

1. Type of grill – There are primarily three types of grills – gas, charcoal and electric grills. Each of these grills has their fair share of advantages. A gas grill gets heated very quickly and the temperature can be controlled with precision. This grill uses either a propane tank or natural gas from an accessible pipeline as its fuel. On the other hand, a charcoal grill takes a while to grill food but the rich, smoky flavor is unique and unparalleled. Finally, an electric grill is ideal for indoor use, it heats up quickly and it uses less oil for grilling. So, there is good news for weight watchers.

At the same time, also consider the heat output of a grill, often measured in terms of BTU or British Thermal Units. For best performance, you should look for a grill that has a high BTU along with an efficient heat distribution and retention system.

2. Size – The ideal size of grill will depend on the dimensions of your backyard or your patio where you plan to keep the grill. Additionally, you must also factor in the number of people you would be normally cooing for. For a regular gathering of 6-10 people, a 360 square inch grill would suffice. However, if you have huge parties regularly, you should look for bigger grills.

3. Material – The material of a grill is important for two reasons – first, it decides how quickly the grill heats up and second, the strength and durability of the grill also depends on it. One can find grills made of aluminium and cast iron but nothing compares to stainless steel.

4. Features – Gone are the days when a barbecue could grill only a handful of chicken pieces at once. Thanks to features like multi level cooking surfaces, side burner and rotisserie, you can achieve a lot more with a single grill. Additionally, grills also come with an overhead lamp for better visibility during the evening. Obviously, additional features come at a price. So, look out for the price as well!

Based on these considerations, we have put together a list of some of the best barbecues and grills available as of now. These are – Weber Kettle Charcoal BBC with 3 piece tool set, Spirit E-301 3-Burner Propane Gas Grill and Summit E-470 Freestanding Natural Gas Grill. More about these in the next post. Stay tuned!