The ABCs of BBQs

Story by Debby Waldman

Every spring, when barbecues replace snowblowers at hardware stores, I go from one venue to another, mesmerized by the shiny contraptions but so puzzled by the prices I can’t bring myself to buy one.

Why does one barbecue sell for $269 but another that looks just like it cost three times that amount? And what’s a BTU, anyway?

It wasn’t until I spoke with Maryanne Petrash, store manager of Edmonton’s Barbecue Country, which bills itself as Canada’s largest barbecue specialty store, that the wide world of outdoor cooking finally began to make sense.

First, BTU stands for British Thermal Units, and it’s a measure of how much energy is used to heat one pound of water. The higher the number, the more energy my barbecue will use. Usually a lower BTU is a sign of a more efficient machine, but the number also takes into consideration the size of the unit. A large barbecue will require a higher BTU simply to heat the space.

All those numbers can look impressive, but what’s really important are the parts. High quality, more durable parts will set me back more but will last longer.

Top names at Barbecue Country include Lynx, Weber, Vermont Castings, and Napoleon. A barbecue with a stainless steel cooking surface will cost more than one made of cast iron, which requires more maintenance and won’t last as long. A unit with longer-lasting red brass burners will cost more than its stainless steel counterpart. “That’s how you can have the same burner in the barbecue for the next 25 years and not have to replace it,” Petrash tells me.

For a red brass burner, I’d have to shell out more than $7,000. For a fraction of that I can get myself a gas-powered barbecue that will see me through the season. “The first thing you have to decide is how much money you want to spend,” Petrash says. “You can spend anywhere from $100 to $12,000. From there it’s going to be what kind of features you want, and what fits your budget.”

I could buy barbecues that run on natural gas, propane, charcoal and even wood chips. The wood chips come in almost as many flavours as barbecue sauce. Some barbecues are bigger than baptismal fonts and some take up more space on a patio than a stove does in the kitchen. There’s a pink barbecue shaped like a pig (complete with a tail), and a unit so small I’d have to cook in shifts if I planned to feed more than four people.

I could buy a barbecue with a side burner for sautéing mushrooms, although that feature adds between $70 and $100 to the price. Add a rotisserie to make restaurant-quality roasted meats and the price climbs by at least $150. Some barbecues have space for a smoke box, where I could add wood chips for flavour.

One of the newest add-ons is an infra-red main burner, which allows backyard chefs to get restaurant quality food. Made of ceramics, the special burner heats to around 982 C (1,800 F.) “When you put your steak over the top, it will sear and lock all the juices inside,” Petrash says. At Barbecue Country, such units start at $1,600. But the key to searing meat is simply to get the cooking surface as hot as possible, say, 260 C to 315 C (500 F to 600 F). According to Petrash, that method doesn’t compare to the product you’d get with that infra-red main burner.

Barbecues that run on charcoal or wood chips take longer to heat up than gas versions. Propane units mean buying a tank. If I buy one that runs on natural gas, I could hook it up to my gas line, but since I don’t have one running to my yard, I’d have to have it installed. At the Fire Shoppe, with locations in Edmonton and St. Albert, hookup costs vary, and may/may not include the necessary municipal permit.

“Most people who cook on charcoal will tell you that it tastes better than gas,” says Petrash, who doesn’t have an opinion, since she’s never cooked on charcoal. But she does say that there’s “a lot more work” to cooking on charcoal, owing to the time it takes to heat. “With a gas barbecue, you turn it on, 15 minutes later you’re ready, and you’re done in a half hour.”

So all I have to do now is make up my mind.