Campers' Guide to Outdoor Cooking

Pedestal / pedastal gas grill: propane or natural gas?

Written by GHP on 12:00 AM

Campers’ Guide to Outdoor Cooking

Pedestal / pedastal gas grill: propane or natural gas?

The pedestal / pedastal gas grill is a popular choice for barbecuing outdoors. Managing the gas grill’s heat is easier than a charcoal grill because on the gas grill, heat is controlled by a dial. Although it uses gas as a fuel source, this grill cooks the food by heating up lava rocks or porcelain briquettes that in turn transfer heat to the cooking surface. The briquettes also add “barbecue” flavour to the food by vapourizing the drippings, similar to a charcoal grill.

If you purchase a natural pedestal / pedastal gas grill, you must have a licensed gas fitter come and pipe a gas outlet to an area near your grill, usually 12 feet from the outlet, where you’ll have to restrict your cooking. You’ll need to refill the propane grill tank periodically; a grill-sized propane tank (referred to as a 20-pound tank) will get you 15 to 20 hours of action, depending on the British Thermal Units (BTUs) produced by the gas grill.

As a rule of thumb, for a 30000 BTU grill running at full power, it uses up about 1.4 pounds of propane an hour (one gallon of propane weighs about 4.24 pounds). This produces about 15 hours of grilling time. A 20000 BTU grill burns about 0.9 pounds per hour, or 22 hours of cooking time. A 10000 BTU burner uses about 8 ounces or propane an hour resulting in 40 hours of use from a single tank. Be sure to take into account that most backyard chefs do not run their grills on high all the time, so judge accordingly.

It is recommended that you purchase a gas-fired grill with two or more burners, ideally positioned side-by-side, since even distribution of heat and the ability to cook with indirect heat is essential for a pleasant grilling experience, both for the cook and the people eating the food.

Also, burner quality trumps over the actual number of BTUs. Higher-quality pedestal / pedastal gas grill have deflection devices over the burners to ensure even heat distribution and use stainless steel for the actual burners.

Many pedestal / pedestal gas grill offer auxiliary side burners. Although a side burner will add between $100 and $200 to the purchase price, it is a nice accessory to have as you can prepare side dishes and keep gravies and sauces warm. Most side burners produce between 11000 and 15000 BTUs.

Campers’ Guide to Outdoor Cooking