There’s a barbecue on display around town for every type of outdoor cooking: tailgate, balcony, low-end, high-end, propane, gas, electrical and more. One unique take on broiling is the Big Green Egg®, an American-designed smoker and grill based on an ancient, Asian clay cooker called a “komodo” that has developed a cult following.

Safe new electric barbecues for the balcony now feature microwave-like panels for ease of cooking. Also in the grill mix are barrel- pig- and cow-shaped models as well as high-quality outdoor pizza ovens. But the real story in Calgary, one that began several years ago and is expected to continue even more aggressively this year, is the outdoor kitchen trend.

With million-dollar homes still springing up all over the city, it’s no surprise to see beautiful decks, patios and elaborate outdoor kitchens in backyards from north to south.

Many of Calgary’s retailers—Barbecues Galore, Hearth and Home, Diamond Fireplace and Stove, Jerome’s Appliance Gallery Inc. and Trail Appliances—are in the game, working with customers to design and install outdoor kitchens that range in price from several thousand dollars to more than $20,000. And, yes, Costco sells its version of a modular outdoor kitchen for less than $1,000.

An outdoor kitchen is usually custom-configured with modular storage compartments and countertops that contain appliances such as a main grill, side burners, wok station and sink. You can add elaborate lighting, beer dispensers, refrigerators, fully-powered food prep centres with retractable cutting boards (powered for mixers and appliances), warming drawers to keep food and beverages hot, all kinds of storage compartments and drawers and grill carts.

Barbecues Galore and Jerome’s Appliance Gallery sell Lynx and DCS by Fisher and Paykel. These brands are recognized as being at the high-end. In its TASTE Magazine, DCS President Mike Goadby notes, “there’s just something fundamentally satisfying about feeding the ones you love”. Canadian manufacturers are breaking new ground in outdoor kitchen modules. Hearth and Home sells Canadian-made Jackson Grills, based on Vancouver Island. Founded in 1999, Jackson is now one of Canada’s leading “Specialty Grill Manufacturers.”

Napoleon grills of Barrie, Ontario is the only brand Diamond Fireplace and Stove retails in terms of outdoor kitchens, while Barbecues Galore also carries Napoleon. At Calgary’s Trail Appliances, a well-known Calgary retail fixture, sales consultant and grilled food lover, Ken Peterson swears by two North American brands, Vermont Castings and Fire Magic of California.

The best way to start planning your outdoor kitchen is to have an idea of the space you’ll use and the type of cooking you'll do. Visit the websites; the manufacturers carried by local retailers all have their product lines online. After that, the experts advise you talk with as many of retailers as possible about the relative merits of brands they carry and the custom construction (masonry, usually) that they can line up for you. They’ll help you design and install your outdoor kitchen.

Many of the good quality brands available such as Lynx, DCS, Brander, Jackson Grills, Vermont Castings, Fire Magic, Napoleon, Broil King and Weber are worth checking out. You’ll get a good idea of features, so even if you don’t end up spending as much money as some of them are worth, you will know what you are getting.

Because of the demand for high-end kitchens, some retailers have benched themselves from the lower-end game. But although there are fewer retailers catering to people shopping for BBQs under $1,000, there’s still plenty to choose from in the lower price range.

The first thing you’ll need to do is determine price range. Talk to a retailer about what you can get for the money you’re prepared to spend.

Next, decide whether you want a propane, natural gas or electrical barbecue. Each has its advantages: Propane models can be moved around the deck or patio with ease, but fuel can be costly. Natural gas is the cleanest-burning solution and eliminates the inconvenience and potential safety hazard of running around town in your car with a full tank of propane in the back. Finally, electrical grills are the right choice for any balcony. They’re safe in ways that propane BBQs are not. Once you know what fuel you’re burning, think about who you are as an individual and how you like to cook.

Serious cooks love food. If that’s you, you’re going to cook a range of meals and you’ll be forever on the lookout for new ideas. Most of your grilling will be “direct cooking”. As a serious cook, you might want infrared rotisserie burners for roasting, infrared bottom burners for seared steak perfection, indirect burners for bread, buns, cakes and pizzas under the grill hood and extra grills for smoking meat and fish.

If you’re a family chef, you’re probably grilling outside for fresh air and convenience. The family needs to eat; you’re the cook. The outdoor kitchen is a calm, but highly-productive place to prepare meals. If you cook large quantities of food, mostly through direct cooking, look for a propane or natural gas barbecue with ample grilling space that will allow for the following cooking methods: Direct and indirect cooking, rotisserie, infrared bottom burner, convection style and smoking.

The party host is often more interested in conversation than food. In your perfect world, everyone gathers around the grill and the party sizzles along with the food. You’ve got an outdoor fridge or a stainless steel cooler on wheels. You flip burgers with one hand, and serve drinks with the other. We recommend a large, but not prohibitively expensive, propane barbe­cue. And you may want to consider lower BTUs for slow cooking and to save money on fuel. While good-quality, middle-of-the-road grills fire up about 45,000 BTUs, you can slow-cook anything at about 25,000 BTUs.  NL