Hello,
I am buying a new barbaque to finish up my back yard, I am considering a weber but I am not sure how many BTU's I should get, I thought the recommended amount was about 200 BTU's per square inch of
surface, but I read here Help Planning a Barbeque and Choosing The Perfect Barbeque Grill
that I only need around 100, would this be enough or should I go for the "man" overkill?

On Jan 11, 7:57*pm, relativehelp <relativehelp.
> wrote:

>> that I only need around 100, would this be enough or should I go for the
> "man" overkill?

The main complaint one hears about gassers is not enough heat for some
things like searing steaks.
Never heard anyone complain about having too much available.

?
"relativehelp" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hello,
> I am buying a new barbaque to finish up my back yard, I am considering a
> weber but I am not sure how many BTU's I should get, I thought the
> recommended amount was about 200 BTU's per square inch of
> surface, but I read here 'Help Planning a Barbeque and Choosing The
> Perfect Barbeque Grill' (http://tinyurl.com/625vyyz)
> that I only need around 100, would this be enough or should I go for the
> "man" overkill?

More is better. You can turn down the flame on a powerful grill, bt you can
get any more than high on a weaker one.

In most cases, you preheat on high to sear meats but do the actual cooking
on a lower temperature. Weber is one of the better grills around. I've not
kept up with brands, but any of the better ones are pretty good. In the
past, the $119 models at the big box stores tended to start having problems
early on and did not cook evenly.

On 1/12/2011 6:51 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> ?
> "relativehelp"
> > wrote
> in message
> ...
>>
>> Hello,
>> I am buying a new barbaque to finish up my back
>> yard, I am considering a
>> weber but I am not sure how many BTU's I should
>> get, I thought the
>> recommended amount was about 200 BTU's per
>> square inch of
>> surface, but I read here 'Help Planning a
>> Barbeque and Choosing The
>> Perfect Barbeque Grill'
>> (http://tinyurl.com/625vyyz)
>> that I only need around 100, would this be
>> enough or should I go for the
>> "man" overkill?
>
> More is better. You can turn down the flame on a
> powerful grill, bt you can get any more than high
> on a weaker one.
>
> In most cases, you preheat on high to sear meats
> but do the actual cooking on a lower temperature.
> Weber is one of the better grills around. I've not
> kept up with brands, but any of the better ones
> are pretty good. In the past, the $119 models at
> the big box stores tended to start having problems
> early on and did not cook evenly.


More *is* better. I have a little TEC Cherokee
infrared grill that gets plenty hot. These days a
lot of gassers have at least one IR burner
specifically for steaks. I wouldn't be without one.

"relativehelp" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hello,
> I am buying a new barbaque to finish up my back yard, I am considering a
> weber but I am not sure how many BTU's I should get, I thought the
> recommended amount was about 200 BTU's per square inch of
> surface, but I read here 'Help Planning a Barbeque and Choosing The
> Perfect Barbeque Grill' (http://tinyurl.com/625vyyz)
> that I only need around 100, would this be enough or should I go for the
> "man" overkill?
> --
> relativehelp
>
>
BTU is a measure of energy, not temp. A BTU is defined as amount of heat
required to raise the temperature of one 1 pound (0.454 kg) of liquid water
by 1 °F (0.556 °C) Almost all the BTU figures are listed for grills with a
propane or natural gas flame grilling the meat. Propane heat is not hot
enough to provide a good sear. Most of the sear with current grills come
from the grate under the steak. You need cast iron grates if you're going to
proceed with propane. Even then the sear is marginal.

Most of the Weber grills hit just over 100 BTU/sq. in., as you probably
know. However if you decide on a propane grill that is currently available,
and price is not an issue, Weber is an excellent choice. I've had a Silver
Genesis B for many years without any problems.

A propane powered infrared grill has the capacity to get to a very high temp
with less BTU. They're just starting to hit the market, now that TEC's
copyright has expired. The Charbroil Quantum series uses infrared, although
I think Charbroil has focused on efficiency and fuel consumption more than
surface searing. There hasn't been reviews that specifically address this.
At least I haven't seen any. Consumer Reports didn't say anything about
this.

Hope this helps,

Kent

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:18:27 -0800, Kent wrote:
>
>> A propane powered infrared grill has the capacity to get to a very high
>> temp
>> with less BTU. They're just starting to hit the market, now that TEC's
>> copyright has expired.
>
> It's a patent, not a copyright. Copyrights can be renewed, patents
> can't.
>
> -sw
>
>
You absolutely right. A severe intercourse-up on my part. Thank God you've
clarified.

Seriously, Thanks,

Kent

The rule of thumb on BTUs is that you need 80 to 100 BTUs for every square inch of grilling surface. So a grill with 600 sq inches needs 48,000 to 60,000 BTUs to give you the heat you need. I would lean towards the higher BTU/Sq inch so when you use indirect heat ( turn off the middle burners) to cook chicken or pork, you're not standing out there all night.