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Most tailgate party cooks prefer chicken or burgers; Some spend over $1000/year on tailgates

Weber's Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling
Weber’s Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling

Web Watch knows that there’s nothing that tastes better than some meat cooked fresh on the grill.

And when it’s football season, you have to have a grill to really do the tailgate up right.  Web Watch even won a Weber Grill a few years ago in a football tailgating cookoff contest with our grilled steak sandwich with carmelized onions.  One of the judges even came back to our setup and took an extra sandwich with them “for the road” when the competition was over. 

So we have that going for us.

Which brings us back to today’s point – that when it comes to tailgating and grilling, nobody knows their stuff better than the folks over at Weber.

Which is why every year Weber releases their own WEBER TAILGATING STUDY, a look at the tailgating habits that we should expect to see this upcoming football season.

The survey asked over 1000 people questions about how and what they grill.  Here are some of what they found:

  • 50% reported that they consider themselves a “gourmet griller”.
  • “Basic grillers” spend $441 in tailgating groceries each year, while “gourmet grillers” spend an average of $1,001 per year. 
  • Gourmet grillers prefer chicken (43%), ribs (39%), bratwurst (37%), and steak (33%)
  • Basic grillers prefer hamburgers (70%), bratwurst (45%), chicken (42%), and hot dogs (42%)
  • The average gourmet tailgate brings in about 20 people per event.  A basic tailgate will host about 14 people.
  • The favorite grilling accessories for tailgates are tongs (90%), spatula (77%), and a grill brush (70%).  A gourmet griller will also bring skewers (62%), wood chips (49%), or a meat thermometer (45%)
  • 12.5% of Americans over 18 have tailgated at least once in the past year — averaging 3.4 tailgates each.  Those ages 24-34 are most likely to tailgate (19%).
  • What type of tailgating fuel is being used?  Charcoal is most popular (58%), with gas (48%) a close second.  Smokers (10%) and electric grills (7%) were less popular.