Argos Home Gas & Charcoal BBQ review: a ‘ridiculously versatile’ budget hybrid BBQ but at what cost?

If you’re after the best outdoor BBQ grill solution for a fleeting UK summer, first you’ve got a choice to make: gas or charcoal? The former’s great for quick after-work cooking, but then gas isn’t cheap. The latter is far better from a taste perspective but naturally takes longer and is harder to clean up afterwards. But which is best? Luckily, you don’t have to pick, because nowadays hybrid BBQs are available that blend both cooking methods.

They’re not all created equal, however. Some are simply gas BBQs that offer the facility to burn charcoal on the burners, while others like the Argos Home 2 Burner Gas and Charcoal BBQ I’m testing have separate areas for either type of cooking. Naturally, that means you don’t get as much cooking space for the gas, but it does allow you to use both fuels to their full advantage independently, which is a big selling point for some.

And even better, as you’ll see from the price of this unit, you don’t have to pay mega money for this luxury either. I’ve put this budget hybrid BBQ through a rigorous set of trials, cooking slowly, quickly, and in some cases using all of the features it has for a single cook. So, let’s get cracking with my evaluation…

Argos Home 2 Burner Gas and Charcoal BBQ overview

Testing the Argos Home 2 Burner Gas and Charcoal BBQ

Build

If you’re picking this BBQ up from a shop via click-and-collect or similar, the first thing you need to know is that it’s seriously heavy, weighing in at 38.75kg, and comes in a large box that’s not very wieldy. Bring a friend, because it’s a struggle for one person.

Opening the box, I was greeted with an at-first confusing array of parts, but I quickly found the instructions and got to work.

This is where the first frustration cropped up. I found the instructions to be tricky to decipher, and I ended up taking several wrong turns during the build - I struggled with their drawings lacking detail and badly translated English.

Sadly, things didn’t improve when I started screwing bits together, because the screws themselves gave every impression of being made of cheese; so easily did my electric screwdriver chew them to pieces! I was worried at times that I’d run out of useable screws for the whole build but luckily they packed extra and I had some leftover. Time will tell how the exposed metal will fare over several winters.

Overall, the build took me a frustrating, sweary 3.5 hours, which personally (and I'm sure you'll agree!) is far too long. But even more disappointingly, the finished article doesn’t feel very well made either. Push it from the side and the legs bend. The wheels don’t feel particularly robust either.

But in fairness, after saying all that, the cooking features do seem pretty solidly constructed and I noticed some clever features I was excited to put to the test, including the variable height grill and the neat vent and chimney air management for the charcoal side.

There’s a space underneath for storage, a spice rack in front of the charcoal section and a small work surface next to the gas section. It also comes with a two-year warranty, which is something, but based on the build alone, this hybrid BBQ seems best for use over a couple of summers, not necessarily for years to come.

Fuel

For these cooks, I used a 13kg Calor Propane Patio Gas, which is overkill for a grill of this size and will likely last years rather than months unless you’re using it every day.

My favoured charcoal is Big K Premium Grade Lumpwood, which you can get on the firm’s website for £8.99 a bag. I’ve supplemented that with a variety of smoking chips from Pit Pro, the subscription service that provides a lot of the rubs, sauces and recipes I use.

Cooking

This is where the BBQ started to claw back some points. I’ve found this unit ridiculously versatile, and as such it’s well-matched to my outdoor cooking repertoire. It’s at its best when used for longer cooks, with the charcoal section big enough to hold a spatchcocked chicken and still have room for indirect cooking by having the coals off to one side.

When it’s time to ramp up the heat, the variable-height charcoal basket comes into its own. You can get the coals seriously close to the griddle, which means you can easily achieve decent colour. I used it for searing the aforementioned piri-piri chicken’s skin to a wonderful finish after its slow cook, just like you get in Portugal.

Heat management is taken care of by the chimney on top of the lid, coupled with a vent on the side of the grill, and this did allow me to make corrections to the cooking temperature after a bit of initial learning.

The thermometer affixed to both lids seems to work very well, managing accuracy of between plus or minus 10-15 degrees centigrade when compared with my Meater wireless thermometer. It didn’t feel particularly good quality when installing, but alas the numbers don’t lie – I’ve seen far worse performance from built-in temperature gauges in the past.

It’s worth noting that the warming shelf will get in the way of larger cooks, though. I ended up removing it altogether on the charcoal side.

On the gas side, it’s slightly less impressive. I found the two burners don’t let enough gas through for proper quick flame-grilling, and as a result, I ended up with some lacklustre burgers that would have been far better cooked on the other side.

The ‘flame tamers’ (the cover over the burners to stop bits of food catching fire) don’t work particularly well either, so there was a bit of flame taming to do myself, but the worst part about this design is the holes in the base, which had bits of food and grease hitting the floor as I was cooking. Not great for me, but brilliant for the dog! There is a grease drip tray underneath the centre of the area, but this does nothing to catch the stuff that comes out of the sides.

Plus, from a hygiene perspective, I’d like to have seen a facility to have a tray of sand underneath the flames to better catch and store grease.

So it’s a taste of two halves. The charcoal-fired side works very well indeed, whereas the gas side could do with some improvement.

Cleaning

The grills themselves are simple enough to tidy up with a wire brush when still hot, but it’s a massively fiddly job to deep clean both sides properly.

There are holes all over the place and areas that will be tough to reach without specialist equipment.

But that said, most people only deep-clean their BBQ once a season anyway, just before putting it away for the winter, so this shouldn’t automatically put you off. Just be ready for it with the BBQ cleaner when the time comes.

Price

Given the build quality, I wouldn’t say that this BBQ represents particularly brilliant value for money, but with that being said, I recognise that it’ll be the perfect solution for some people. Especially if you're looking for the duality of charcoal and gas cooking without the blessing of a large garden or storage. It’s worth noting that for less cash, you can pick up a four-burner gas BBQ and a much larger charcoal one or even a smoker from the same brand, so if you’ve got the room then you’ll effectively double your cooking area for the same money.

Still, there are others you might want to consider. Hybrid BBQs of the other type (gas and charcoal together) are quite a bit more expensive, with Outback’s range a stand-out performer in this regard. There’s also the fully convertible type, like the Char-Broil Gas2coal range, which is more reasonably priced, but you need to commit to using one fuel or the other rather than both at the same time.

Overall verdict: Is the Argos Home 2 Burner Gas and Charcoal BBQ worth it?

If you’re after an all-in-one solution to outdoor cooking for between two and four people, then it could be worth giving this BBQ garden room. Just be aware that while you're getting a good price for the beauty of charcoal and gas in one grill, it does compromise on build quality. It may provide some delicious BBQ dishes this year and next, but we don't see it lasting for years to come.

It's also a great option for those looking for the flexibility to cook on different fuel types in a stylish, compact design, but bear in mind that it will take a while to put together and doesn’t perform quite as well as more focused products like those mentioned above.

3/5

How I tested the Argos Home Gas and Charcoal BBQ

Here at Modern Gardens magazine, we’re keen to ensure that we’re offering you sound advice on your purchases, whether they’re big or small. Our expert team of reviewers put every product to the test across a range of both subjective and objective factors to come up with a verdict you can trust.

We’ll grill, bake and slow cook, with meat, vegetables and seafood, and furthermore, we’ll test the effectiveness of the thermometers against a control device, and the additional accoutrements such as hanging hooks, grease capture devices and storage.

But we’ll also go into detail on how things taste, any tricks we’ve picked up and of course, how easy the BBQ was to build and how good the instructions were.

When it came to the Argos Home Gas and Charcoal BBQ, it’s fairly obvious that I tested both fuel sources – charcoal and gas - with equal weighting and endeavoured to put them to use across as wide a range of cooking styles as possible. I tested all the components for a month to ensure I was offering a balanced review and compared it with similar products in the market.

Other items to consider:

Argos Home 2 Burner Gas and Charcoal BBQ FAQs

Are hybrid BBQs any good?

Hybrid BBQs can be the perfect solution to outdoor life, but I’d urge you to do some reading up first and understand what you’ll be using it for and how, before taking the plunge.

Can a grill be gas and charcoal?

Yes, in fact, the Argos Home 2 Burner Gas and Charcoal BBQ is one with the ability to cook on gas and charcoal on the different cooking areas at the same time. However, there are different designs available to suit many use cases, including ones that require you to cook on gas or charcoal - not both at the same time. Do your research and pick the best one for your lifestyle.

Is charcoal BBQ cheaper than gas?

Yes, charcoal BBQs are cheaper to buy, but they're not actually cheaper to run in the long term. A gas canister may be more expensive but lasts for many more cooks than a bag of charcoal will which will add up with repeated purchases.

What to read next:

Best gas grill under £200 for seamless outdoor cooking

10 best BBQ smoker grills for your summer cookouts

Best budget BBQs for al fresco cooking without the hefty price tag

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Gareth Evans is an experienced editor and journalist reviewing things for decades. While he's an automotive writer first and foremost, he has a lifelong passion for all things food and drink which extends into outdoor cooking. He's had a wide range of BBQs over the years and loves to experiment with flavour profiles.