Some Interesting Facts About Barbecuing:

• 3 out of 4, or 76%, of US households own a barbecue grill.
• 66,200,000 individuals have barbecued in the past year(1).
• 61% of grill owners own an LP gas grill; 48% charcoal grill; 9% natural gas grill; 7% outdoor electric grill; 1 in 7 (15%) barbecues with an indoor grill.
• The typical grill owner owns 1.4 grills. About half (48%) of all grill owners own a gas grill only; 3 out of 10 (29%) own a charcoal grill only; while nearly 1 out of 5 (18%) owns a both a charcoal and gas grill.
• Although men are more likely (66%) than women to be the household member who barbecues, women are more apt to decide when and what foods to be barbecued.
• 58% of grills are used all year round.
• The Fourth of July is by far the most popular holiday for barbecuing, with 3 out of 4 (76%) grill owners barbecuing, followed by Memorial Day (58%) and Labor Day (51%).
• Hamburgers, steak, hot dogs, and chicken breast are the most frequently barbecued food items.
• The most popular woods used to add smoke flavor: mesquite, hickory, and fruitwoods such as apple and cherry.
• Food tongs and long handled forks are the most often used barbecue utensils. Aluminum foil and skewers for side dishes.
• Discount stores are the most common outlet for purchasing grills.
• There are 3,223 barbecue/grill specialty retailers in the U.S. and Canada(2), plus tens of thousands of mass market retailers all over the United States.

Sources:

• (1) American Demographics, May 2000
• (2) Hearth & Home’s Annual Survey of Barbecue Retailers, July 2001

All other information from:

• Barbecue Industry Association 2001
• Barbecue Lifestyle Usage & Attitude Study
• HPBA Barbecue Industry Statistics