Decent low price BBQ

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  sraymond on 30/07/2012 - 20:20

  Best to go to the supplier's showroom, when you work out who it is, and get the correct info first up.

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    [Deactivated] on 31/07/2012 - 14:02

    There are supplier showrooms for cheap BBQs?

    Or do you mean go to retailers and trust, for example, the kid at Bunnings knows what he's on about?

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  [Deactivated] on 05/08/2012 - 12:56

  bump

  Plays. Halp.

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  [Deactivated] on 15/08/2012 - 13:28

  bump

  Plays. Haaaalp.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSMxRya2S8

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  mrmojorisin on 17/08/2012 - 12:34

  In a previous life (@8 years ago), i used to work for a BBQ retailer (one of the independents) which used to stock the Beefeater/Weber range of BBQs..many years ago, Beefeater was 100% aussie made..and built well..i believe now they are aussie designed, but imported..still good though. Weber is great build, but pricey, and more suited to the US market in sizes etc
  Check out local retailers, and big box stores and see what is fair prices for what you get..don't get sucked in for the extras..this is what they make their money on!

  As your budget is @$500, i would not go down the mains gas path, unless you are a plumber, as the cost for running gas lines will easily be more than the cost of the BBQ..stick with LPG, also due to the pressure difference of gas bottle vs mains, the bottle will also be hotter and quicker to get to the heat. i cant recall the exact breakdown of times from a bottle, but i normally get around 30-40 BBQ's from a single 9kg bottle

  In terms of BBQ quality..the low end are all much the same, stainless on a cheapie is not the high grade stainless (good stainless BBQ will have 25 or lifetime warranty) these will generally have have 1-5 year warranty, and in the showroom stainless looks good, can be a dog to maintain. I prefer vitrous enamel (mine is 15 years old, and still looks brand new) easy to clean and looks nice.

  Hooded BBQ is a great advantage (actually would be hard nowadays to buy with one)..but don't worry about rotisserie/rear grill..most are junk

  for the plates/grill, good heavy cast iron is best. when finished, let it cool down, cover in oil liberaly, and leave it. Only clean it just before you are about to use next time..to clean, on high heat, fresh lemons rubbed over and paper towel to clean up. unless you want to spend the extra on S/Steel..but again..not worth it.

  Side burner, most are useless, unless you get a purpose built wok burner (i just use inside grill)

  Buy the a cover for it, this will increase the life of the BBQ significantly (or store in the shed/garage)

  Last thing, if on bottle gas, buy the SAFETY valve, worth every cent in case of a problem with gas lines..saves a call to fire brigade, have seen this a few times first hand, very scary!

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    [Deactivated] on 18/08/2012 - 01:21

    Thanks for the informative reply.

    I have mains gas already, it requires no installation/plumbing.

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    [Deactivated] on 19/08/2012 - 22:34

    OK, so at BBQ Galore (as mentioned I know nothing of BBQs and this is literally the only BBQ specialist place I'm aware of) the longest warranty is 10 years and those BBQs start at $1,500ish.

    A quick googling suggests anything above that 10 years is going to cost a bare minimum of $3,000, probably more around the $5,000+ range.

    If I'm reading this right and considering my budget, your advice is basically that is just doesn't matter at this end of the range as there really isn't anything "decent" in that price range… yes?

    Note: I'm fine with that. I'll pick up any old crap and throw it out once it dies if this is the case.

    EDIT As an added note: what an awesome margin BBQ manufacturers must have going. A hundred bucks worth of raw materials and they're getting 500+% return on it.

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      mrmojorisin on 20/08/2012 - 10:56

      Hi tantryl,

      Yeah, seems to be the way nowadays, the market is flooded with imports which cater for the low end. and as you had stated, starting price for 10yr warranty and above, starts from about the 1500 mark and just keep going up (from memory, mine was about that 15 odd year ago..so the price hasn't really fluctuated much, but mine has a basic steel trolley, not the fancy cabinet type they now have)

      from memory, the margins we used to get back then would vary from 10-25%, what made the money, was the add-ons things like assemble and delivery and covers used to cost us @15, and we would sell for @80, but quite often, we would throw these in to help sweeten a deal for someone..usual sales thing to value add

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        mrmojorisin on 20/08/2012 - 11:04

        BTW…a sausage cooked on a $200 bbq tastes the same as on a $5k bbq..hehe