With the return of spring come the new lines of outdoor cooking equipment. Manufacturers are dressing up old ideas and putting out new ones to help separate you from your money with lots of shine features and bigger and better grills. So what should you be looking for?
The big news for grill manufacturers this year is the recession. Grill sales in the United States were down about 8.5% last year. The interesting thing is that the biggest part of the decline was in stand-alone gas grills between $400 and $500. Built-in units actually increased in sales. This follows the trend towards more and more expensive grills.
Gas Grills
Following the trend towards more expensive grills, several manufacturers have introduced high end lines in the past year. From Weber's $6000 Vieluxe to Char-Broil's new professional series stainless steel 3 and 4 burner units, which can run $1,100. These grills are becoming more and more of a status symbol with people willing to pay lots of money for large, stainless steel grills that impress neighbors, friends and family alike.
As the industry seems to continue to move more towards stainless steel, Weber has redesigned its popular Genesis Series gold and platinum grills with a stainless steel lid. The genesis silver grills still have the enameled sheet metal lids. The Weber Genesis series grills will run anywhere from about $350 for the most basic grill to around $1400, for the genesis platinum C. Weber also continues to produce the Summit series grills in the $2,200 to $2,500 range.
New this year is Jenn-Air's entry into outdoor grilling. After having make upscale indoor grills and cooking equipment, they have finally introduced a stainless steel, freestanding, gas grill. The Pro-Style Outdoor Grill boasts 50,000 BTU's in either natural gas or propane. You'll find this grill retailing around $1,500.
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