Barbecue: industry standard vs individual preference

Self-tutoring about barbecue Btu ratings: the tutor mentions a sticking point.

I read about how much heat a barbecue needs to produce to be effective: it’s widely agreed, it seems, to be around 80-100 Btu per square inch of cooking area.

Years ago, our old barbecue rusted out, so I replaced it with one that produces 90 Btu per square inch. It was a good name with a nice end-of-season price, so I felt I’d delivered the goods. My wife disagreed.

From her point of view, a barbecue needs to output at least 50,000 Btu to the main cooking area, period. The barbecue I bought, having only about 400 square inches of cooking space, output 36,000 Btu. While this is well within industry standards (90 Btu per square inch, as I mentioned), she has always found that barbecue isn’t powerful enough.

I definitely agree that, in winter, the barbecue can struggle to reach cooking temperature when it’s cold. My wife points to that fact as proof it lacks power: to her mind, a barbecue should never hesitate to reach cooking temperature, summer or winter. Since the barbecue we owned before this one always seemed to reach cooking temperature easily, no matter what the weather, her point is easy to understand.

The current barbecue – the one my wife finds lacking – was bought many years ago; it’s since rusted out. I’ve been looking around for a replacement, and notice that most barbecues seem designed around the idea of 80-100 Btu per square inch rather than the idea of 50,000 Btu minimum. Yet, there seem to be a few my wife might approve:)

Source:

ferrellgas.com