Best BBQ Deals UK Bank Holiday 2026: Pellet, Kettle, Gas and Pizza Ovens Worth Buying

The May bank holiday is the actual start of UK grilling season

The early May bank holiday lands on Monday 4 May 2026. That gives most of the UK a three-day weekend with mid-teens daytime temperatures and the first proper run of dry evenings since last September. Retailers know it. Currys, AO, Argos, B&Q, Wickes, John Lewis and the Amazon UK Outdoor Cooking storefront have all opened spring promotions over the past week, and the deepest cuts go live this Saturday morning, 2 May.

This is the more honest discount window of the year for UK barbecue buyers. The Memorial Day weekend three weeks later (Mon 25 May) gets bigger headlines because the US mattress and appliance brands run that one, but the bank holiday this Saturday is when outdoor cooking specifically gets its annual reset. Stock left over from 2025 model-year clears, the new pellet and pizza-oven SKUs land at introductory pricing, and the gas-giant ranges that have stopped selling get knocked down hard to make floor space.

Three things have changed since the 2025 bank-holiday round-up everyone was reading last year, and they reshape what's worth buying:

• Pellet grills are no longer niche. Traeger, Weber, Ninja and Z Grills all sell pellet grills in the UK now at sensible price points (£499–£1,299 mostly). They cook better than gas, taste better than charcoal, and do low-and-slow without anyone tending a fire. The 2025 holdouts — "you can't get pellets in the UK" / "they're an American thing" — were already wrong then and are completely wrong now. Sainsbury's and B&Q both stock pellets in 9kg bags.
• The big-format gas grill era is fading. The 6-burner stainless-steel hood-and-side-burner grills that defined the 2010s UK garden centre are quietly being discontinued. Weber's Genesis II range is still on shelves but the Spirit II three-burners sell faster than anything bigger now. If you walk into Wickes this weekend, the floor space is split roughly 40% pellet, 30% kettle, 20% gas, 10% pizza oven. Five years ago that was 70% gas.
• Pizza ovens are the new dishwasher. Ooni, Gozney and the Ninja Woodfire all sell at volume now. £349–£599 for the entry-level models is a real price, the cook quality is genuinely better than a domestic oven, and they double as smokers and grills with the right accessory. Two years ago this was fashion; this year it's mainstream.

This guide walks the categories in priority order, names which models are worth the bank-holiday spend, and flags which "deal" pricing is actually just MSRP theatre. UK pricing throughout. Where prices are quoted, they reflect the live promotions running on 1 May 2026 and will likely deepen by Saturday morning.

Pellet grills — the lead category this year

Pellet grills are wood-fired barbecues that auger compressed hardwood pellets into a fire pot, with a thermostat-controlled fan keeping the cook chamber at a set temperature. You set 110°C for a 12-hour brisket or 230°C for a hot-and-fast steak, and the grill manages itself. The flavour is closer to charcoal than gas, the convenience is closer to gas than charcoal, and the actual cooking floor — temperature stability, smoke ring, fat-to-meat finish — is better than either.

The 2026 UK pellet grill market is roughly four serious contenders.

Traeger Pro 575 — the default choice

The Traeger Pro 575 is the entry to Traeger's WiFi-enabled range. 567 sq inches of cooking space, 90–260°C range, app-controlled, and what most people compare every other pellet grill against. UK list is around £1,099 but the bank-holiday floor is closer to £849–£899 at Amazon UK and the major garden centres. At £849 it is the easiest single recommendation in this guide.

Honest cons: it's a heavy unit (62kg), the powder-coat finish on the cheaper pellet grills marks easily, and the WiFi app sometimes loses pairing after a router reboot. Not deal-breakers but real.

Weber SmokeFire EX4 — the premium pick

Weber's SmokeFire range is the brand's answer to Traeger and it is genuinely better-built. The EX4 has a 95–315°C range — 50 degrees hotter at the top end than the Traeger Pro, which means you can sear properly without a separate gas grill. The 672 sq inch cooking surface is bigger too. List around £1,399, bank-holiday floor around £1,099.

Honest cons: the higher temperature range burns through pellets faster (about 0.7kg/hour on full sear vs 0.4kg/hour on the Traeger at low-and-slow), the warranty service in the UK is patchier than Weber's gas range, and at £1,099 you are at the price point where a kettle BBQ plus a separate Ooni outdoor pizza oven might serve you better.

Ninja Woodfire OG701 — the budget winner

The Ninja Woodfire is technically an electric grill that burns wood pellets for flavour rather than heat. That makes it the cheapest "real pellet flavour" entry at £349 list, £279–£299 bank-holiday floor. It's also small (149 sq inches), portable, and runs off a 13-amp domestic socket — no gas, no propane, no large pellet hopper. For a flat or a small terrace it solves the "I want grill flavour but I have no garden" problem better than anything else on the market.

Honest cons: it is small. A single rib rack fills it. The pellet flavour is genuinely there but milder than a true pellet grill at the same cook. And electric resistance heating means it doesn't get above 260°C, so searing is competent rather than excellent.

Z Grills 700D4E — the value spec play

Z Grills are the Chinese-built equivalent of Traeger. Same cooking format, similar build quality, half the price. The 700D4E is around £499 list, £399 bank-holiday. 694 sq inches, 80–250°C, no app but a proper thermostat. If your spec-per-pound calculator is the dominant decision-maker, this is the answer.

Honest cons: brand support is thin (UK distributor is small), accessory and replacement-part availability is months not days, and the resale value is poor — Traeger holds value, Z Grills don't. Buy it if you'll use it for a decade; don't if you'll move it on in three years.

Browse Amazon UK BBQ and outdoor cooking deals

Kettle barbecues — the under-rated bank-holiday play

The kettle BBQ is the most under-rated category here. A proper Weber kettle outcooks every gas grill under £600 on flavour, costs less, and lasts three decades. The bank-holiday cuts on kettles are smaller in percentage terms than on pellet grills, but the absolute price is so low that the maths is straightforward.

Weber Master-Touch GBS 57cm — the one to buy

The Weber Master-Touch GBS 57cm is the kettle that has been the benchmark for fifteen years. Porcelain-enamelled bowl and lid, hinged Gourmet BBQ System cooking grate (so you can drop in a wok, sear plate, pizza stone or rotisserie attachment), one-touch ash sweeper. List around £279, bank-holiday floor around £219–£229. At £229 there is no honest argument for buying a £400 gas BBQ instead unless your only reason for grilling is convenience and you don't care about the food.

Honest cons: it is charcoal, so it takes 25 minutes to come up to temperature, you have to manage ash, and you cannot grill on a balcony with no proper outdoor space. If those things matter, this is the wrong category.

Weber Original Kettle 57cm — the budget version

The non-GBS Original Kettle is £179–£199 on bank-holiday. Same bowl, no hinged grate, no ash sweeper. The cook quality is identical; the convenience features are what you give up. If the gap between £199 and £229 is real for you, take the Original. If it isn't, take the Master-Touch.

Napoleon Charcoal Professional 22 — the alternative

Napoleon's 22-inch charcoal kettle is the closer alternative to the Weber. Slightly heavier build, better hinged grate, marginally less premium finish. £259 list, £219 bank-holiday. Comparable choice to the Master-Touch — pick on whichever brand has stock in your local size.

Browse current outdoor cooking deals at Amazon UK

Gas grills — buy mid-tier, skip the giants

Gas BBQs are still the volume category in UK garden centres, but the maths has shifted. The £200–£400 mid-tier (three-burner Spirit-class units) is sensible. The £600–£1,200 giants (six-burner stainless monsters with side burners) are bad value at any price — they cook the same food as a £400 grill, take twice the patio space, and most owners use two of the six burners 90% of the time.

Weber Spirit II E-310 — the sensible default

The Weber Spirit II E-310 is a three-burner gas grill, GS4 grilling system, porcelain-coated cast-iron grates, 10-year warranty, 38,000 BTU. Cooks well, lasts a decade, and the bank-holiday price drops it from £549 list to roughly £399–£429. At £399 it is the easy pick if you want gas convenience without overspending.

Honest cons: the side shelves are small, there's no rotisserie capability without an add-on, and the open-cart design means storage is exposed unless you buy the Weber cover separately (around £45).

Char-Broil Performance Series 4-burner — the budget gas pick

Char-Broil's Performance Series 4-burner sits at £259 bank-holiday, down from £349 list. Steel grates, 36,000 BTU, four burners. Build quality is a step below Weber but the cook is fine. If you grill burgers and chicken and don't care about the lifetime of the grill, this is the right level.

Honest cons: 5-year warranty vs Weber's 10. The grates pit faster. Expect to replace it in 2032 rather than 2036.

What to skip: anything with six burners

The six-burner stainless-steel gas grills selling for £899–£1,499 in Wickes and B&Q are the worst value in this whole guide. The cook surface is bigger but you'll never use it; the side burner is a kettle on a hose; the warming rack is a place dust collects. If your honest budget for a grill is £900, spend £429 on the Spirit II and £349 on an Ooni pizza oven and have a much better outdoor kitchen than one big gas unit.

Pizza ovens — the genuine new category

Pizza ovens are the bank-holiday category with the most movement. Two years ago Ooni was the only serious player; now Gozney, Ninja, Witt and ROCCBOX all sell at volume in the UK.

Ooni Karu 12G — the multi-fuel default

The Ooni Karu 12G runs on wood, charcoal or gas (with the optional gas burner). 12-inch pizza capacity, peak temperature 500°C, ready in 15 minutes. £349 list, £279–£299 bank-holiday. The single product that has done the most to convince UK households that a pizza oven is worth garden space.

Honest cons: 12 inches is small for a sharing pizza, and the wood/charcoal mode requires actual fire-management — it's not "set and forget" like the gas mode. If you'd use it for two pizzas at most per cook, take the Karu 12G; if you want to do four-pizza rounds for guests, look at the 16G instead.

Ooni Karu 16G — the entertaining-friendly upgrade

The Karu 16G is the 16-inch version of the same oven. £549 list, £449 bank-holiday. Bigger, heavier, takes the same fuel options, gives you actual New York-size pizzas. The right pick if you cook for four or more.

Honest cons: it's a serious bit of kit at 18kg — not portable in any practical sense. Needs a permanent garden home.

Gozney Roccbox — the premium pick

The Gozney Roccbox is the £499 silicone-jacketed pizza oven that James Martin uses on TV. Gas-only (propane), 500°C peak, 12-inch capacity, ready in 20 minutes. The build quality is the best in the category and the silicone outer means you can touch the oven without burning yourself. Bank-holiday floor around £429.

Honest cons: gas-only means no wood-fire flavour. The cook is excellent but it's a different cuisine to the Ooni Karu's wood-fired output.

Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Pizza Oven — the bargain entry

Ninja's pizza oven (technically the Woodfire OO101 model) is £249 list, £199 bank-holiday. Smaller capacity, lower peak temperature (370°C), runs on a household socket. It is not as good as the Ooni or Gozney; it is also half the price and works on a balcony. If your alternative is a domestic oven, this is a real upgrade.

See current deals at Currys

Outdoor furniture — overstated as a deal category

Outdoor furniture pricing is messier than grills. The "70% off" hammocks at every garden centre are MSRP theatre — the actual everyday floor is the bank-holiday "sale price". A few categories genuinely move:

• Modular corner sofas in PE rattan — Argos, Wayfair and Amazon UK all run real cuts on these around bank holidays, typically 25–35% off. Worth shopping if you actually want one.
• Egg chairs / hanging chairs — saturated category, real discounts in the £250–£400 range.
• Parasols and gazebos — moderate cuts, but the genuine spread between retailers is small.

What doesn't really discount: branded teak (Cotswold, Bramblecrest), high-end hardwoods, and bespoke fitted furniture. The list-price discipline holds year-round in those segments.

The honest play: if you need outdoor seating for the bank-holiday weekend itself, buy from Argos or Wayfair — both have same-day or next-day delivery — and accept that you're paying retail. If you can wait two weeks, the late-May / Memorial Day weekend cuts are slightly deeper in this category than the early-May ones.

Accessories — where the small wins are

Accessories is the category where small spends compound. None of these will define your weekend on their own, but together they are the difference between a grill that gets used twice a year and one that gets used twice a week.

• Instant-read thermometer (Thermapen, ThermoPro TP-19, Inkbird IHT-1P) — the single most useful £25–£90 you can spend. Pick the ThermoPro at £35 if you're starting; the Thermapen at £79 if you cook seriously.
• Chimney starter — £15–£25, halves the time to charcoal-ready and stops you needing lighter fluid (which makes everything taste of petrol).
• Long-handled grill tools — the Weber kit at £49 is fine; the budget Char-Broil set at £19 is also fine. Don't overpay.
• Cast-iron grill press — £15–£20, transforms smash-burgers and chicken thighs.
• Pellet smoker tube — £18, lets a kettle or gas grill do cold-smoke flavour without the pellet-grill spend.
• Heat-resistant gloves — £15–£25, the difference between competent and incompetent fire management.
• Pizza peel and infrared thermometer — £30 combined, makes a pizza oven actually usable.

Browse Amazon Outlet for grill and outdoor cooking accessories Browse Amazon Warehouse for open-box BBQ kit

What's already running this weekend (live as of 1 May 2026)

The promotions confirmed live or imminent on the major UK retailers as of Friday morning:

• Amazon UK has Spring BBQ Event running through Mon 4 May, with deeper cuts going live overnight Friday into Saturday. Traeger, Weber, Ninja and Ooni all participating.
• Currys has a bank-holiday sale running through Monday with outdoor-cooking SKUs, plus Currys-Specific finance offers (0% interest over 12 months on £499+ purchases).
• Argos Spring Bank Holiday sale opens Saturday morning with grill, garden furniture and pizza-oven categories all in the discount band.
• B&Q has its yearly garden-centre clear-out running, deeper on furniture than on grills but worth a walk-through.
• John Lewis Bank Holiday Edit launches Friday 1 May at 18:00, with the deepest cuts on Weber and Ooni.
• Wickes running 15-25% off on most outdoor cooking, plus full Weber Spirit lineup at the lower of two recent floors.

How to shop the bank-holiday weekend without overspending

The four-step ritual that works:

1. Decide tonight, not Saturday morning. Pick the category (pellet, kettle, gas or pizza oven) and the budget before you walk into a shop. Walking in undecided is how you walk out with a £900 six-burner gas grill you'll regret in November.
2. Shop Saturday morning, not Monday afternoon. The deepest cuts run all weekend but the popular SKUs (Spirit II E-310 in black, Master-Touch in copper, Karu 12G with gas burner) sell out from Saturday lunchtime. By Monday you're picking from what's left.
3. Cross-check three retailers on every grill £400+. Currys, Amazon UK and the brand's own site routinely have £30–£80 spreads on identical SKUs. The price-comparison tabs are five minutes well spent.
4. Don't buy a grill bigger than your patio. The single most common mistake. Measure before you order. A Weber Spirit II E-310 needs 1.5m of clear depth in front of it for safe operation. A Traeger Pro 575 needs 2m. If you don't have the space, the next size down cooks the same food.

The single decision in one paragraph

If you have £400–£500, buy the Weber Master-Touch GBS 57cm at £229 plus a Weber Spirit II E-310 if your budget stretches, or skip the gas and put £279 toward an Ooni Karu 12G pizza oven. If you have £900–£1,200, buy a Traeger Pro 575 at £849 and stop reading. If your space is a balcony or small terrace, buy the Ninja Woodfire OG701 at £279 and an Ooni Woodfire pizza oven at £199. If you have £1,500+ and want one purchase to cover everything, the Weber SmokeFire EX4 at £1,099 is the answer. The categories to skip are the £600+ six-burner gas giants and the discounted-from-fictional-MSRP rattan-style outdoor sofas. The bank holiday is real on grills and pizza ovens, mediocre on everything else.

Related guides

• The Global Shopping Calendar 2026 — every UK and US sale window worth marking, with bank-holiday cuts ranked
• Memorial Day 2026 Sales Preview — three weeks after the May bank holiday, separate categories worth waiting for
• How to Spot a Fake Sale — five tricks UK retailers use during bank-holiday weekends
• Best Air Fryer Deals 2026 — the indoor counterpart to outdoor cooking, separate discount calendar
• Amazon Warehouse Hidden Gems — the open-box section often beats bank-holiday pricing on accessories and last-year's grills

Browse Amazon UK Daily Deals Browse Amazon UK Lightning Deals Browse Amazon Outlet — overstock and clearance Browse Currys for outdoor and garden tech

Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, StealsAndFinds earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only include products with verified affiliate links in our database — we do not invent links or recommend products we have not verified exist. Specific brand and SKU mentions (Traeger, Weber, Ninja, Ooni, Gozney, Z Grills, Char-Broil, Napoleon, Witt, ROCCBOX) are editorial; affiliate links for these merchants are not yet live in our system at the time of writing — links above route to verified Amazon UK and Currys storefronts where the same models are sold. Pricing reflects live promotions on 1 May 2026 and may shift across the weekend.