By Steiners

How to Buy a BBQ

Jul 19, 2021 | 3:00 AM

If you’ve been shopping for a BBQ recently, you might have walked away feeling overwhelmed. So many choices! So many price points! How can you know what to buy?

If that sounds familiar, this article might just help you out.

First off, ask where the BBQ is made. We highly recommend buying Canadian or North American-made, not imports. Not only do your dollars help build Canada’s economy, but generally speaking, the quality is much better.

BBQs may look the same at first glance. Cheaply made imports are often designed to look fancy and flashy. But don’t’ be fooled! Just because they were made to “look good” doesn’t mean they were made to “be good.”

In fact, some imports are made of the cheapest quality materials. If you look more closely, you’ll notice important quality differences. For example:

IN THE COMMUNITY

Firefighters take win over Police Service in Medicine Hat sledge hockey game

4h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

'Treblemakers' gives learning musicians courage in Medicine Hat

22h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Diverse personal stories shared at 'Pecha Kucha' in Medicine Hat

Jan 17, 2025

• Lift the lid! A high-quality BBQ will have a heavy lid. This means it’s made of thicker steel. Thicker steel will hold heat better, not warp and last longer.
• Check out the cart, doors and drawers. These should be sturdy and well-built, not flimsy. Again, built to last.
• Ask about warranty. The Canadian Broil King and Napoleon brands we carry offer lifetime oven warranties! That is definitely a sign of quality.

Another benefit of buying Canadian-made is that replacement parts are readily available. So if you need a part for your BBQ down the road, you will have more success with a Canadian or North-American-made product.

Once you have found a high-quality made-in-Canada brand, you’ll want to think about is features. So here is a short list of features we recommend.

Cast Iron or Stainless Steel Grates

When it comes to cooking grates, we highly recommend raw cast iron or stainless steel grates with no porcelain or other coatings. Why? Because coatings tend to peel off and then you get rust.

Both cast iron and stainless steel hold heat extremely well, are easy to clean and offer long-lasting performance. If you go with raw cast iron, you need to keep them cleaned, oiled and seasoned. And that’s why many people opt for the stainless steel grates with 304 grade stainless steel. No rusting!

All About Burners

• Rear Rotisserie Burner: If you like the tender, juicy results you get from turning your food as it cooks, you will love a rear rotisserie burner. Having the burner at the rear means you don’t have to worry about drippings catching fire because there is no flame below. This makes for hassle-free (and super yummy) rotisserie cooking!
• Infrared Searing Burners: These burners sear steak and other meats very quickly to lock in juices and give you those nice sear marks. 0 to 1800 degrees in about 18 seconds!
• How Many Burners? The standard size is a BBQ with 3 or 4 burners. This ensures even heat throughout the whole cooking surface. It also gives you the ability to have different heat zones – ie. steaks on one side with high heat and veggies on other side with lower heat.
• Great News: All Broil King BBQs come with the same high-quality burners. So whether you buy the most expensive or least expensive model, the quality of the burners is identical!

What About BTUs?

This may surprise you, but when it comes to BTUs, higher is not always better. In fact, a lower BTU requirement is often a sign that it’s a better BBQ! Here’s why. Generally speaking, higher-quality BBQs have lower BTU requirements because they are built better. You don’t need as much power if you have a more efficient “engine”. A well-built BBQ uses fuel more efficiently, so you need less of it to get the same or better result. Make sense?

Natural Gas

If you know you want to power your BBQ with natural gas, make sure you buy a model designed just for that. Why? Because the valves in natural gas BBQs are different. They are specially designed to ensure you get the right amount of gas to create the heat you need. Converting a propane BBQ to natural gas is not as easy as you might think, and it may never work properly. Some BBQ brands don’t even allow conversions. So we highly recommend that you buy exactly what you need from the get-go.

At Steiners, we have been carrying Broil King and Napoleon BBQs since the mid 1990s. Not only do we know they make great products (we use them ourselves), but we have built a strong relationship with them over the years. That translates into superior after-sale service down the road. So if you need a part, chances are we can get it for you.

Come and visit us at Steiners to learn more about buying BBQs!