Information on Gas Grills

Natural Gas

• Gas grills are available in natural gas and propane models. Natural gas grills require a natural gas line that runs to the location on your deck or patio where you want your grill installed. This cost and hassle is offset to a degree by the maintenance and cost of a natural gas grill once the line is installed. You never have to take out your propane bottle to get it refilled and your fuel costs will be substantially lower.

Propane Grills

• Propane grills run off of bottled liquefied propane (LP). The advantage to a grill with a propane bottle is that it is self contained. You can easily move it around your deck or even take the grill up to the cabin for the summer. The downside is that when you run out of fuel, you have to take the bottle to an exchange program or have it refilled. A fuel gauge is a helpful accessory so that you don't try and host a barbecue only to discover that you're out of propane.

BTU

• Both natural gas and propane barbecues are described in terms of the number of "BTUs" or British Thermal Units that they put out. This describes how much heat the grill creates. However, posting high BTUs is a marketing ploy used by grill manufacturers. To understand how much heat is generated on the cooking surface, take size of the grill and the BTUs into consideration. A good grill should create at least 100 BTUs for every square inch of cooking surface.

Additional Features

• Some grills have additional options such as a secondary burner on the side of the grill. This is convenient for cooking side dishes that need boiling water, such as corn on the cob. Some grills are rotisserie-ready or equipped with a rotisserie kit that will allow you a new way to cook chicken with your grill. These grills may also include a special rotisserie burner at the back of the unit.