Defining Quality

How do you know you’re getting a quality grill or barbecue?

Here at BBQMad we pride ourselves on quality – but this isn’t about us, it’s about you and how you can make sure you’re getting good value from your stainless grill or barbecue.

There are loads of stainless steel grills and barbecues out there on the market. It’s a fantastic material, slick and beautiful and you don’t need any finish on it to make it look smart. They are all the rage for many reasons, and you can pick them up all over the place.
It’s important to make sure you’re picking a quality grill or barbecue, you need to make sure you’re getting a good grill for the right price – like a wise man once said – buy cheap, buy twice.
So how do you know you’re picking the right one?

There are 2 main points to consider:

Different grades of stainless steel:
Stainless steel comes in many different forms. Try to find out the grade of stainless steel that your grill or barbecue is made from. You’ll typically see grades in the 300s or 400s. 400 grade stainless steel is not as durable or resitant to corrosion. If you want a strong, rust & bacteria resistant material, go for 300 grades every time. 304 is commonly used for catering equipment (amongst many other things) and is naturally a fantastic material for barbecues and grills.
An easy way to tell if you’ve already got your hands on your grill, is to see if it’s magnetic. High quality 304g stainless steel is not magnetic – it’s lesser counterpart however is. So if your magnet sticks, you’ve got 400 grade stainless.

Grill diameter:
You’ll find that some of the cheaper stainless steel grills on the market use very thin bars. This can cause issues with strength once you’ve loaded your burgers on to the barbie, and you’ll see that the grill itself starts to bend and warp.
If you are certain that you’re getting a 304g stainless steel grill, then a standard 3mm bar will be sufficient for most uses.
You can get grills in much thicker diameters which stand up better to prolonged heat. It’s important to think about the way you’ll use your barbecue and the type of fuel you will be burning. Different fuels burn at different temperatures. Wood for example, burns a lot hotter than charcoal. So if you are planning on cooking with wood, maybe think about getting a 6mm or 8mm grill. Not only will it look the part, you can be sure it’ll last and wont warp with the heat.
At BBQMad we only use 304 grade stainless steel for all of our barbecues and grills. Absolutely everything is made to measure, so if you want thicker stainless steel we’ve got what you need.
Drop us a message if you have any questions or want to enquire about a custom grill.