***The old charcoal grill, you’ve decided, is on its last legs, the summer grilling season is just around the corner, so you’ve decided to hop down to Home Depot and up a new rig. Well, before some eager sales guy tries to talk you into dropping eight grand on a shiny new Weber Vieluxe 56-inch Stainless Steel Gas Grill, complete with four and a half square feet of cooking surface, six SR18 stainless steel primary burners, 361 square inches of warming rack, a built-in smoker system, an infrared rotisserie set-up, and two side burners that you could use to smelt iron ore if you needed to (listed shipping weight: 692 pounds), whoa up for a minute and ask yourself some honest questions about your outdoor cookery needs, for example:

How Big a Grill Do You Need?

When it comes to outdoor cooking, many guys seem to think the bigger the grill, the better. In general, bigger grills cost more money, and there’s not much point in paying for a lot of cooking capacity that you’re never going to use.

Needless to say, if you routinely cook outdoor feasts for 20 or 30 of your pals, you’ll need a big rig. Maybe you’re a candidate for one of the super-sized units now put out by nearly all the manufacturers--the giant Weber Vieluxe, perhaps the Coleman 6000 (another six-burner monster that pumps out 60,000 BTUs but retails for under $1,000--an excellent combination of size and price), or, if you’re strictly a charcoal man, maybe the awesome Texas Pit Master's 600S Charcoal Grill (this baby comes with a side smoker box and an infrared gas grill on the back side, nearly 700 square inches of cooking space, is manufactured from 16- gauge stainless steel and weighs in at 370 pounds, all yours for a shade more than $3,000).

But really, when’s the last time you cooked an outdoor meal for thirty people? Are you prepared to spend a few thousand bucks to own a grill that looks cool but is gross overkill for 99% of your grilling operations? And hey, if you’re smiling right now and nodding your head, more power to you!

If your usual grill operation involves feeding yourself, the missus, and a few of your friends, coughing up the dough for one of those super-sized grills is just tossing money away. Look for something with 350 to 500 square inches of cooking space, a two- or three-burner unit (assuming you’re in the market for a gas grill), something not all junked up with features you don’t want. If you’re looking for a gas grill, check out the Weber Genesis Silver B, an excellent grill available almost anywhere for under $600 (way under if you wait for the sale). A smaller, cheaper version is the Silver A; a larger, pricier version is the Silver C, identical to the B but with a side burner. Among the gas grills, the Weber Genesis Silver B rates as a Best Buy.

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And if your preference is cooking over charcoal, maybe you’ll want to check out the line of charcoal grills manufactured by the Aussie Grill Company, an upstart in the American market that features very nice smaller grills with redwood frames (much more attractive than the usual tube steel frames) and heavy cast-iron parts that will give you many years of service.

Once you’ve decided on size, buy the highest quality grill you can afford. Look for solid construction from heavyweight materials, chip-proof and rust-proof exterior finishes, cooking grates made from heavy metal (vs. thin wire). Several manufacturers now offer grill grates made from stainless steel, which solves forever the “rusted grill” problem. In gas grills, the quality of the burner units is also critical. Light, flimsy burners will only last a few seasons so look for burner units with real heft. Stainless steel exteriors are handsome and relatively expensive but essentially impervious to the elements--they’ll last a lifetime.

Serviceable gas grills can be purchased at Sears and many other places for around $200, charcoal grills for even less. But high-quality units that will last a decade or more start around $500 and go up from there.

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See also:

• Charcoal or Gas?
• History of BBQ
• Recipes
• Rubs
• Sauces
• Smokin'
• Styles of BBQ
• What is BBQ?