How we choose the BBQs we recommend

No BBQ on this site has been cooked on by us yet. Our picks come from paperwork that can be checked: certificates, spec sheets, warranty terms and shop prices. Here is what we look at, in the order we look at it.

First: is it legal to connect?

Every gas BBQ sold in Australia must be certified and carry a compliance plate with the Gas Compliance Mark and the certifier's mark (the Australian Gas Association is one certifier), and you can look up any certificate on the gas regulators' national database at equipment.gtrc.gov.au. Natural gas connections and conversions are a licensed gasfitter's job under AS/NZS 5601.1. New LPG cylinders use the LCC27 valve: an older POL appliance works with them, but a new LCC27 appliance won't fit an old POL cylinder, and regulators say not to use an adaptor. We look up each gas pick's certificate, and we don't recommend a gas appliance we can't find certified.

A gas BBQ we can't match to a current certificate doesn't make a guide, however cheap it is.

Then the specs that change how it cooks

For BBQs that means cooking area, number and type of burners, total heat output in megajoules per hour, hood height and whether it can roast, grate and hotplate materials (cast iron, porcelain-enamelled, stainless), body material and rust resistance for coastal Australia, gas type (LPG or natural gas) and cylinder fitting, ignition type, weight and footprint, and the warranty, split into body and burners because they usually differ.

Coastal rust and the warranty split

A painted steel body near the coast can rust through in a few summers, so body material counts for as much as burner count on a guide for Australian yards. Makers usually give the burners a different warranty from the body, and some cover only parts after the first year; we quote each part's term from the maker's Australian warranty page, not the headline number on the box.

The price on the ticket and the real price

Prices are read from each shop's own page for the exact model on the date on the card. In November 2026 the gas BBQs here ran from about $350 to $3,100, pellet grills from about $600 to $1,600 and covers from $27 to $150. Most BBQs are sold without a cover or a gas cylinder, so the guides add those, and a gas or pellet running cost, before calling one good value. Amazon's prices are never printed here because they change through the day; its button takes you to the listing at today's price.

Owners, by-laws and fire bans

Owner reports on retailer sites and BBQ forums tell us which hoods warp, which igniters fail and which hotplates rust first. We also check the rules that decide what you can use: strata by-laws that ban gas cylinders on balconies, natural gas versus LPG bayonets, and total fire bans that rule out charcoal on the worst days.

What you won't find in our guides

• Cooking results presented as ours. Heat-up times, temperatures and smoke flavour are the makers' or owners' claims and are labelled that way.
• A gas BBQ without a certificate we could find.
• A paid ranking. No brand has paid for a place, and any BBQ a maker supplies will be disclosed on its page.