Charcoal or Gas Grill? (1 Viewer)

[Ron-P]

CHARCOAL!
Gas grills are nothing but outdoor stoves. Food tastes the same if I'd cooked it in the kitchen. Nothing can beat the flavor of charcoal cooked food. I'll never buy a gas grill. Sure, it takes a bit more time, but the outcome far exceeds that of saving time.
Peace Out~

 

[Ted Lee]

Gas grills are nothing but outdoor stoves. Food tastes the same if I'd cooked it in the kitchen.

say what?!?! why...them's fightin' words!

 

[Dave Falasco]

I disagree with that as well. Cooking over an open flame, no matter what the source, is quite different from cooking "in the kitchen" (unless of course you have an indoor barbeque or something). I will concede that charcoal grilled food tastes better, but again it comes down to that classic charcoal taste versus convenience and ease of use, and my tastes fall on the latter side of that equation. I wish we could get away from the whole "one is better than the other", though. Obviously that will always come down to personal preference. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and I believe those have all been laid out in the preceding posts. As I said, I have both, and I would hate to give up either one.

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

I have charcoal and have converted several people with the taste. A charcoal grill is much less expensive. I have a vintage Weber but will be upgrading to the Platinum next spring. I've never had wet charcoal, I keep mine out of the rain. It's a little messier to handle but my parents have a Weber gas grill and the insides (especially down below where the flavorizer bars and burners are) are filthy and cause constant flare ups, which I've never had on charcoal. Cleaning that out would be way more trouble than scooping out the ashes once a month. Some people say they only use charcoal on weekends, but that's them and not the fuel. I use mine year round, no matter the day or weather. When its -30 I just shovel a path to the barbeque and light it up.

I didn't read every post, but if nobody has mentioned it, forget about lighter fluid and electric starters and those little white foam things. Throw them all away right now and get a Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Started. Two pieces of news paper and a match are all you need for red hot coals (and very even to boot) in twenty minutes. Even if you only use charcoal once a month, get a chimney starter, the best $15 you'll ever spend on the barbeque.

In closing, charcoal. If gives your shirt a smell that can be had no other way. That smell. That smokey smell. Smells like...victory.

jeremy

 

[Dan Lindley]

Just to second the vote for the Weber Performer which uses gas to light the charcoals and has the nifty system for sifting the used charcoals into a bin for easy dumping. Not cheap, but also kinda cool in that it approximates the best of both worlds. Lots of fun.

Do you think messing with fire over long slow cooks (perhaps with a beer) is fun? (ie true slow cooking BBQ, not grilling)

Adding lump charcoal (actually available at Walmart I recently discovered) and soaked chips at intervals?

Not only is the taste great with charcoal, but there is some primordial fun.

I respect the ease for gas lovers, no doubt. But the performer minimizes the burdens of charcoal and adds..... charcoal! Fire it up!

Best, Dan

 

[Pamela]

Got any favorite salmon preparations you'd like to share?[ QUOTE]

Sorry to say, I've never cooked it before. But I've had it at friends, and it's delicious!





My head is spinning. Now I'm thinking charcoal again. Maybe I should just stick with the microwave?

 

[Philip Hamm]

You can put soaked Mequite chips on most gas grills and they make gas taste better than it would otherwise. Charcoal, IMO tastes better, but I'm a gas man all the way. The convenience rules.

 

[Greg Yeatts]

I agree with Mr. Hamm. I soak mesquite chips in water for 10 minutes, make a pouch of aluminum foil, fill the foil pack with the wet chips and place the foil packs under the grill grates. The convenience of gas and the flavor of hardwood. How can you go wrong?

 

[Dave Falasco]

Don't forget to poke holes in the top of your smoker pouch to let that delicious, delicious smoke out.

 

[Matt Gordon]

I think one thing is clear, Pamela: don't try surprising your guy with a grill because there's a 50% chance you'll get the wrong kind.

You have a lot of other's opinions, and now I suggest you get the most important: his.

In a similar vein, I've told my wife to never get me anything for the home theater; let me pick it out because most of the time, I already know what I want.

 

[Tony Whalen]

I must be a rank amateur at this stuff.
I've always used gas. Charcoal just always seemed like a pain...and I know for a fact I wouldn't BBQ as much. During the summer, I'll use the grill 3 times a week, or more. Actually, not just summer. Just as long as it isn't snowing out.
But I say I must be an amateur because I never thought about using chips in a gas grill, either with a smoker box, or just balling 'em up in tin foil.
Guess what I'll be trying this week?

 

[wally]

(especially down below where the flavorizer bars and burners are)

Go Charcoal and you will never have to say, or type "flavorizer bars". Ever!

Ditto on the Newspaper Chimney Starter, and Lump Charcoal. The best things about Lump Charcoal is it is very light, and makes a cool sound when you dump it from the bag into the kettle.

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

Chimney starter for charcoal? BAH HUMBUG I say. Get an empty box from say a case of beer (emptied at the last BBQ), fill it with some newspaper, sticks from the yard and such. Then light the puppy on fire. That bondfire going in your grill will stoke your 'primordial fun' nerve. Plus it's an easy way of disposing of some garbage. And lights the coals damn fast too.

Andrej

 

[David Brass]

I had no idea that this would be such a hot topic.

I refuse to be grilled on this issue.

Stick a fork in me. I'm done.

 

[Pamela]

Quote:

*groan*

 

[Matt Gordon]

Pamela --
I am so sorry!!! And embarassed. I got this post mixed up with another post somewhere else where a lady (not named Pamela, but Dianne) had just got married.
When I went to post that (second) opinion, I got the two mixed up. As soon as I saw your response, I knew what I'd done.
If I was being a sexist pig, I'd cheerfully admit it, but in this case it was an honest mistake.

 

[Pamela]

I am so sorry!!

No problem, Matt. I wasn't offended, just puzzled. I thought maybe I was typing things I didn't remember!

 

[Matt Stryker]

I've never had wet charcoal, I keep mine out of the rain.

Rain isn't as much the problem as the 100% humidity down here in the summer, even when you keep it inside the bag in a rubbermaid container. As you can imagine, that makes rust a pretty formidable enemy too. It gets kinda muddy feeling, and is hard to light. He usually ends up the smaller bags, but that of course costs a bit more.

I'm intrigued by the gas/gas-charcoal grills mentioned though. Might be nice to have the capability to do charcoal stuff when I have time on the weekends.

 

[Jim J]

I'm intrigued by the gas/gas-charcoal grills mentioned though. Might be nice to have the capability to do charcoal stuff when I have time on the weekends.

If you are talking about the Performer® I and someone else mentioned:

Don't misunderstand, you can only cook with charcoal. The gas is only for lighting the coals

 

[Dave Falasco]

There is a gas/charcoal grill out there, though. I think it's made by Thermos? I used to see ads for it quite often, where a guy was taking his grill out for a walk, and two girls came over to pet it as if it was a dog.
Can't find a link for it, but here is one by Char-broil. No idea if these are any good, but if you really can't decide between the two...