Best Hooded Gas BBQs Australia 2026:
Weber and Everdure, and the Parts That Wear Out

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Hood or flat lid: what I counted as hooded

A hooded gas BBQ is one with a domed lid deep enough to close over the food, so the BBQ works as an oven as well as a grill. That's what lets you roast a chook or cook a thick steak through without drying it out, and it's the line I've drawn for the four picks. Three are Weber, sold by Weber BBQ Australia, the brand's local storefront, and one is an Everdure Force sold by Amazon AU.

The best-ranked big BBQ I left out is the BeefEater Clubman. It's a classic four-burner on a trolley, and Amazon AU ranks the stainless BD16440 #24 in Gas Grills, but BeefEater's own spec sheet for that model lists no roasting hood, and its lid is a flat weatherproof cover rather than a hood. The black BD16640 Clubman is the same idea. A flat lid keeps rain and leaves off the plate, which is fine for sausages and onions, but you can't roast under it.

I've also left the smaller Weber Q models out, the Baby Q, the Q2000 and Q2200 and the Q2800N+, because they're covered in our portable gas BBQ guide. The one Q that made it is the Family Q+, which sits on its own cart and is built as a backyard BBQ. Most of the other big BBQs I found on Amazon AU were natural gas versions, US propane models or griddles without a hood, and none of those suits a typical Australian backyard with a 9kg bottle.

Burners, sear zones and the extra burner

Burner count is the first number on most BBQ listings and the least useful on its own. The Spirit E-325 and the Genesis E-325 are three-burner BBQs with two Boost Burners each, which Weber says put 40% more power into the Spirit's sear zone and 35% more into the Genesis's, and the Genesis listing puts its sear zone at about 400°C. The Everdure Force is a two-burner, and the Family Q+ adds what Weber calls a + burner for high searing and low and slow cooking.

What matters more than the count is being able to run one side hot and the other side low. That's how you sear a steak and then move it across to finish, or roast with the burner under the meat off and the outer ones on, and it's why a three-burner with a hood is a more useful BBQ than a four-burner flat plate for most families. A two-burner can still do it, just with less room between the hot side and the cool side.

None of the four listings gives a burner rating in megajoules, which is the figure that tells you how fast a BBQ goes through gas. For a feel for it, a 9kg LPG bottle holds roughly 450MJ of energy, so a BBQ burning 40MJ an hour with everything on high would empty it in about 11 hours, and most cooks use far less than full power for most of the time. If running cost matters to you, ask the seller for the total megajoule rating before you buy, and compare it with the others.

Cast iron, enamel and what rusts first

The cooking surface is the part you'll be looking after every week. The Spirit and the Genesis have porcelain-enamelled cast-iron grills, and the Spirit adds a cast-iron half hotplate while the Genesis adds a cast-iron griddle. The Family Q+ and Everdure listings don't describe their plates at all. Enamelled cast iron holds heat well and cleans up easily, but the enamel can chip if it's knocked or scraped with a metal tool, and bare iron under a chip rusts within days.

A chip isn't the end of a grill, and an oiled one usually holds up for years. Brush the grills while they're still warm, wipe a light coat of cooking oil over any bare cast iron, and use a brass or nylon brush rather than steel wool. Don't leave a wet grill sitting in a closed hood overnight, because trapped steam is how surface rust starts. A grill that's gone orange can usually be scrubbed back and re-oiled rather than replaced, which is worth knowing before you order a new set.

The cookbox is the other place rust shows up. Weber says the Spirit's cookbox is cast aluminium, which won't rust or peel the way painted steel does, and the Genesis and Family Q+ listings don't state theirs. Grease is what actually rots a cookbox from the inside, because it holds moisture against the metal, so scrape the grease tray and the bottom of the box every few cooks. A grease fire under the plate is also one of the common ways a BBQ gets damaged, and a clean tray stops most of them.

The hood, the thermometer and roasting

A hood turns a BBQ into an oven, and a thermometer in the hood is what makes that oven usable. The Family Q+ lists a lid thermometer and the Genesis lists a thermometer in its title, while the Spirit and Everdure listings don't mention one. Hood thermometers read the air near the top of the hood, so they run differently from the grill surface, and I'd treat one as a guide to how hot the hood is rather than a reading of the meat underneath it.

For roasting, the trick is indirect heat: turn on the outside burners, leave the one under the meat off and close the hood. That's where a three-burner makes life easy, and where the Family Q+'s extra burner earns its place for low and slow cooking, according to Weber. A separate probe thermometer in the meat is the only way to really know when a roast is done, and it'll tell you far more than the dial on the hood ever will. Keep spare batteries for it in the kitchen drawer.

Close the hood and the heat climbs fast, so don't walk away from a hooded BBQ on high. Grease in the tray can catch once the hood's been shut for a while, and a fire under a closed hood is much worse than one on an open plate. Keep the grease tray clean, lift the hood slowly so the hot air comes out away from you, and keep the hood closed when you're preheating, not when you've wandered off to find the tongs.

Gas bottles, regulators and leak checks

The three Weber picks are listed as LPG versions, and Australian retailers list the Everdure HBG2B as LPG too, so all four run off a standard bottle in the cabinet or beside the BBQ. Check the stamped test date on the bottle collar before every season, because gas cylinders in Australia need re-testing every 10 years, and most swap services won't take an out-of-date one. A brand new bottle usually needs its first fill at a gas supplier rather than a swap cage.

The regulator and hose are the parts that wear out first, and they're also the easiest to replace. Rubber hoses crack and go stiff in the sun, and the rubber seal on the bottle fitting hardens with age. Look at the hose every season for cracks, kinks and chafing where it touches the cabinet, and replace it if it looks tired, with a hose and regulator rated for your BBQ. Never use thread tape or sealant on the bottle fitting, because it's designed to seal with its own rubber seal.

Do a leak check every time you connect a bottle. Mix a little dishwashing liquid with water, brush it over the bottle valve, the regulator and the hose joints with the gas on and the burners off, and watch for bubbles. Bubbles mean a leak, so turn the bottle off and fix the joint before you light anything. It takes two minutes, and it's the one check I'd never skip on any gas appliance, including the ones in our patio heater guide.

Natural gas versions of the Weber BBQs are sold as separate listings, and they aren't interchangeable with the LPG ones. Converting a BBQ between LPG and natural gas, or running a fixed natural gas line to the back deck, is a job for a licensed gasfitter in every state. Look for the gas certification label on the data plate of any BBQ you buy, and keep the manual, because a gasfitter will want the model number and the parts list from it if you ever convert.

Ignition and the parts that run on batteries

Ignition is the part that most often stops working on a gas BBQ, and it's the electrical part of a BBQ that we actually understand from the workshop side. The Spirit has what Weber calls Snap-Jet ignition, where you press and turn each burner's knob to light it, and the other three listings don't describe their ignition. Push-button igniters on BBQs are usually either a piezo clicker, which needs no battery, or a battery spark module, and in my experience the battery kind fails more often.

A battery igniter that clicks weakly or not at all usually needs nothing more than a fresh AA or AAA battery, and the battery compartment is often a screw cap on the control panel. If a new battery doesn't fix it, check the thin wire from the module to each electrode for melted insulation, and look for a cracked white ceramic around the electrode tip. Grease and spider webs on the electrode stop the spark jumping to the burner, so a wipe with a dry cloth often brings it back.

Spiders deserve a paragraph of their own. They build webs inside the venturi tubes that feed gas and air into each burner, and a blocked tube gives a lazy yellow flame or a flame that sits outside the burner, back near the knobs. If a burner lights unevenly or the flame looks yellow and floppy, turn the gas off, pull the burner out and run a venturi brush or a long pipe cleaner through it before you use it again. Make it a job for the start of every summer.

Where it lives: wind, covers and clearance

A hooded BBQ needs clear space around it and above it. Keep it well away from the house wall, timber fences and anything overhead, and never set one up under an umbrella, a shade sail or a low pergola roof, because the hot air out of an opened hood goes straight up. The manual for each BBQ sets out its clearances, and they're worth reading before you choose the spot rather than after the pavers have gone down.

Wind matters too. A gusty breeze across the front of a BBQ can blow burners out or push flame back towards the knobs, so position it side-on or back-on to the usual wind if you can. The Family Q+ cart has a front door on the cabinet and the Everdure comes with a stand, and whichever you buy, keep it level on pavers so the grease drains towards the tray instead of pooling at one end of the cookbox where it's hard to reach.

A fitted cover is worth buying the same day as the BBQ. UV fades paint and cracks plastic knobs, rain sits in the hood and on the grills, and a cover keeps leaves, possums and spiders out between cooks. Let the BBQ cool before the cover goes on, and take it off on a dry day now and then so moisture doesn't stay trapped underneath. If you're setting up an outdoor area around it, our outdoor lounge settings guide covers the furniture side.

Warranties, parts and the yearly clean

Warranty is where these four separate most clearly. The Genesis lists a 12-year limited warranty, the Spirit a 10-year limited warranty and the Family Q+ a 5-year limited warranty, while the Everdure's Amazon listing doesn't state one. Limited warranties on BBQs often cover parts like the cookbox and lid for longer than the burners, igniters and grills, so read the breakdown on the maker's site before you lean on the headline number.

Parts are the other half of that story. Weber and Everdure both have replacement plates, covers and other parts sold through Australian retailers, which is worth checking for any BBQ you plan to keep for ten years. Write down the model number when it arrives, 1502495 for the Family Q+, 1502457 for the Spirit E-325, 1501739 for the Genesis E-325 and HBG2B for the Everdure, because parts are usually listed by model number rather than by name.

Once a year, give it a proper clean. Take the grills and flame shields out, scrape the cookbox down into the grease tray, check every burner for blocked holes and cracks, and look over the hose and regulator. It's a couple of hours on a three-burner, and it's what keeps a $1,000 BBQ going for a decade rather than five summers. If you'd rather have something that manages its own temperature, our pellet grill guide covers the electric-fed alternative.

One last thing from the workshop side: phones and Bluetooth meat thermometers don't love a BBQ side table. A phone left face-up beside a closed hood on a summer afternoon gets hot enough to dim its screen and slow down, and doing that every weekend ages its battery fast. A meat thermometer's base station isn't built for grease and drizzle either. Keep phones in the shade, and if one has gone hot and won't charge, bring it to our Erina workshop before you keep charging it.

The 4 picks, $841 to $1,799

Prices are Amazon AU at time of writing (2026-11-13) and move week to week. Ranks are Amazon AU category sales ranks, checked the same day. Three of the four returned no rank of any kind from Amazon AU's API, so that's stated on each card rather than guessed.

Side-by-side comparison

What we see fail in the workshop: BBQ igniters and the gadgets beside them

BBQs themselves don't come into an electronics workshop, but the small electronics on and around them do, and they fail in a handful of predictable ways. Battery spark igniters, Bluetooth meat thermometers and the phone on the side table running a recipe or the music all live in heat, grease and the odd shower. Most of the faults come back to batteries and moisture, and most of them are easy to head off.

Decision tree: which one should you actually buy?

• Want a hooded BBQ on a cart with the best Amazon AU rank? → The Weber Family Q+ at $919 ranks #16 in Gas Grills, takes up to 15 burgers, has a lid thermometer and a 5-year limited warranty.
• Short on space, like a balcony or courtyard? → The Everdure Force at $841 is a two-burner on its own stand. Australian retailers list a high hood, but the Amazon listing is thin, so check it when it arrives.
• Cooking for a crowd and want three burners? → The Weber Spirit E-325 at $1,099 has two Boost Burners, a cast-iron half hotplate and a 10-year limited warranty.
• Want the longest warranty and the most kit? → The Weber Genesis E-325 at $1,799 lists a 12-year limited warranty, side tables, a thermometer, a warming rack and a griddle.
• Want a four-burner flat plate for sausages and onions? → That's the BeefEater Clubman rather than a hooded BBQ. Its spec sheet lists no roasting hood, so I've left it out of the picks.
• Phone or meat thermometer cooked on the side table? → Stop charging it if it's swollen or hot. Bring it into our Erina workshop and we'll check the battery and board and tell you what it needs before you spend anything.

Frequently asked questions

What is a hooded BBQ?

A hooded BBQ has a deep domed lid that closes over the food, so the BBQ can roast and bake as well as grill. With the hood down and the burner under the food turned off, heat moves around a roast the way it does in an oven. A flat-lid BBQ, like the BeefEater Clubman, has a lid that keeps rain off the plate but sits too close to the cooking surface to roast under. All four picks in this guide have a hood.

Is a 3 or 4 burner BBQ better?

For most families, three burners with a hood is the more useful BBQ. Three burners let you run the outer two and leave the middle one off for indirect roasting, or run one side hot and one side low for searing and finishing. A fourth burner adds room for a crowd but uses more gas, and it only earns its keep if you regularly cook for eight or more. The Weber Spirit E-325 and Genesis E-325 in this guide are both three-burner BBQs.

How long does a 9kg gas bottle last on a BBQ?

That comes down to the burner rating and how hard you run it. A 9kg LPG bottle holds roughly 450MJ of energy, so a BBQ burning 40MJ an hour with every burner on high would empty it in about 11 hours. Most cooking uses a fraction of full power, so one bottle usually covers a good number of weekend cooks. None of the four listings in this guide gives a megajoule rating, so ask the seller if you want to work it out for your BBQ.

How do I check a gas BBQ for leaks?

Mix a little dishwashing liquid with water and brush it over the bottle valve, the regulator and every hose joint with the bottle turned on and all burners off. Watch for bubbles, which mean gas is escaping. If you see any, turn the bottle off, tighten or replace the joint, and test again before lighting. Do it every time you connect a bottle and at the start of every season, and replace a hose that's cracked, stiff or chafed. Never use thread tape or sealant on the bottle fitting.

Why won't my BBQ igniter spark?

On a battery igniter, a flat or corroded battery is the most common cause, so try a fresh one and clean the contacts first. If it clicks but there's no spark at the burner, grease or spider webs on the electrode tip, a cracked ceramic insulator or a damaged wire is usually to blame. If it sparks but the burner won't light, a spider web in the venturi tube is a likely culprit, and a venturi brush clears it. Follow the manual's manual-lighting steps in the meantime.

Can I convert an LPG BBQ to natural gas?

Some BBQs can be converted and some can't, and in Australia the conversion has to be done by a licensed gasfitter, because it involves changing injectors and sometimes the regulator. Weber sells natural gas versions of its BBQs as separate listings, which is usually simpler than converting one. If you might want natural gas later, check the manual for a conversion kit before you buy, and allow for the gasfitter's time as well as the parts.

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