Memorial Day through Labor Day is what’s known as grilling season, yet only 10% of people actually follow that. 37% of people will grill through fall for tailgating and until the weather really gets cold, and 38% don’t stop grilling at all.
The results are from a survey done by ButcherBox of 2,000 respondents across the US, called their Grill Index. For those not familiar, ButcherBox is a flexible meat delivery service that will ship fresh cuts of beef, chicken, pork and seafood option to your door. In other words, they’re perfect for anyone that reads CookOut News.
Grilling Holidays
While people think of Memorial Day and the 4th of July as traditional grilling holidays, it turns out pretty much any food centered holiday is also a grilling holiday. According to the survey results, 25% of respondents grill on Thanksgiving, 24% on New Year’s Eve, and 20% on Christmas.
This data is backed-up by what Traeger said on their Q4 earnings call.
While not traditionally thought of as an important grilling day, Thanksgiving is one of our largest cook days of the year with members of the Traeger and across the country delighting their friends and family with Traeger smoked turkey and sides.
Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Traeger – Q4 2022 Earnings Call
Pellet Grills and Griddles Have Similar Ownership
While charcoal and gas grills are dominant, consumers have done a ton of pellet grill and griddle buying recently. Both are new to the outdoor cooking scene, and they both have a similar percentage of ownership.
Another interesting takeaway from the ButcherBox survey is that consumers have more than one outdoor cooking device. Below are the details.
What type of grill/smoker appliance do you own? Check all that apply.
| Charcoal grill/smoker | 55.00% |
| Gas grill/smoker | 49.11% |
| Pellet grill/smoker | 15.74% |
| Kamado grill/smoker | 6.20% |
| Electric grill/smoker | 18.49% |
| Portable grill/smoker | 19.71% |
| Flat Top Grill | 14.02% |
| Other | 0.46% |
Learning to Grill and Inspiration
Social media engagement is something that outdoor cooking companies often point to for measuring the success of their products. The numbers support that thinking.
While most people learn grilling through watching other people and trial and error, almost 16% of people learned by exploring online. Beyond that, 52% of respondents get grilling/smoking inspiration or recipes from social media, with about 48% also citing cookbooks/blogs.
Getting Better at Grilling
The type of protein that people are least confident about grilling is fish, with only 37% being very confident. While they’re most confident at cooking burgers and dogs with 73% being very confident.
To gain confidence 69% of respondents cited more practice would help, with another 44% wanting to learn the basics. That’s opportunity for grill companies because 77% of people wished they used their grill more often.
The reasons why they don’t use their grill more are all things that marketing and engagement from grill companies can help. 11% of respondents don’t do it more because they feel intimidated or not confident, 36% only know how to grill specific types of food, and 39% only grill for special occasions or gatherings.
There’s not doubt that the best way to get better at grilling is just by doing it. Beyond grill companies teaching, ButcherBox can certainly help too by providing steady deliveries of meat.