From Derrick Riches,
Your Guide to Barbecues & Grilling.
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Most gas and charcoal grills are bought through a major chain retailer. Lowe’s Home Improvement is one of the biggest sellers of gas grills. This year Lowe’s has some new products and some improved products. If you choose to shop at Lowe’s for your outdoor cooking equipment remember one rule, know before you go. Knowing what you are looking at before you get the sales pitch is the secret to eliminating buyer’s remorse.

Lowe’s will be carrying two major brand names and three store brands this year. Relegated to the back of the aisle will be some Char-Broil gas grills and taking up less floor space this year than ever will be a few (maybe one) Weber. The three in store brand gas grills will be the Jenn-Air line, BBQ Grillware line and the new Perfect Flame Grills. Perfect Flame and BBQ Grillware are made and imported by the same people. Lowe’s owns these names and licenses the name Jenn-Air from Maytag (now a division of Whirlpool).

The Jenn-Air grills have been very successful for Lowe’s’ since they were introduced in 2004. This year we have an improved line of grills ranging from the 62,000 BTU 7-Burner grill island unit (price undetermined as of this writing and available in select stores of through special order) to the $699 45,000 BTU 3-Burner unit. This year’s improvements include large wheels replacing the bad casters previously used that were prone to breaking or bending. Also the overall size of the units has been slightly decreased while the BTU output has been increased. This addresses slower preheat times and lower temperatures that have been mentioned in the past. The carts have also been redesigned to be more attractive and to reduce problems of seam gaps around the welded edges. Prices are up $50 to $100 on most units. In April Lowe’s will have available a Jenn-Air refrigerator unit and sink unit to allow you to assemble your own outdoor kitchen.

The grill I am probably going to get asked the most about this year is the Perfect Flame 52,000 BTU 4-Burner. This is a dual head grill, meaning it is basically two grills welded together. The advantage is that you could have a chicken on a rotisserie on one side and grill steaks on the other. The problem with this grill is that each side is a small, two burner gas grill with limited heat output and little space to cook. The indirect grilling space is very limited in this arrangement. This unit is virtually identical to the Coleman 7700 introduced a few years ago. The other Perfect Flame grills are very similar to last years BBQ Grillware grills. They are both imported from the same Chinese manufacturer by Lucas Innovations.

The BBQ Grillware line has been reduced to two grills including the 42,000 BTU 3-Burner. These are basically knockoffs of Char-Broil gas grill. Lowe’s will be carrying 6 models of Char-Broil grills ranging from the total stainless steel 62,500BTU 5-Burner at $499 to the super discount Quickset at $99. Lowe’s contract with Weber is typical of Weber, meaning while only a few models may be in store you can order through Lowe’s all Weber products that are not exclusive to another store.

As for charcoal grills, Lowe’s will have a drum style charcoal grill under the BBQ Grillware name for more than $200, a Brinkmann large box charcoal grill for $199, a Char-Griller charcoal grill/smoker (smoker box is optional) for $199 (plus $55 for the smoker box), and of course a selection of Weber Kettle Grills.

As for smokers you will find a BBQ Grillware big box smoker similar to the Great Outdoors Smoke that has been pretty popular with the barbecue crowd. Beyond that they will only carry a typical set of Brinkmann trash can smokers (electric, charcoal or gas).