Charcoal or Gas Grill? (1 Viewer)

Looking for a grill for the patio. I was all set to buy an gas grill, when a friend who's in a BBQ club, suggested the Weber kettle grill. Now I don't know what to get. I hate the idea of messing with charcoal, but I hear that charcoal gives the food a better flavor. What's the consensus? Thanks!

A BBQ club? I must join.

Gas. The only thing better than a gas grill is a built-in gas grill.

I gotta vote for charcoal. I love my Weber! Yes, it's a little messier, but the food tastes way better.

charcoal charcoal charcoal, charcoal is the best.

charcoal is the best!

To me nothing tastes better than stuff grilled over Mesquite charcoal. For me it's definitely worth the extra hassle.

Absolutely Weber Charcoal. I put my gas grill on the side of the road and havent looked back. Plus, with charcoal, you can use wood chips.

If your looking for quick ways of BBQing then gas is the way.

If your looking for flavorful food then charcoal is the way to go.

I know I miss the flavor of having a charcoal grill, but I don't want to give up the time it saves me by going out and turning on the gas and igniting and waiting a couple minutes for the grill to heat, instead of waiting about 20-30 minutes for the charcoal bricks to turn gray.

There are currently some gas grill that have the option to put a pan full of charcoal on top of it which then heats up the charcoal. I am not sure how well this works, but I have seen it in the stores.

If I had the room I would certainly have both.

Paul

Charcoal certainly gives better taste, but the preparation and mess just isn't worth it IMHO. My friend and I moved into our houses at the same time last year, and he bought a nice charcoal grill, I bought gas. We were talking the other day, and I grill out probably 2-3 nights a week from March-October, whereas he grills out twice a month...the reason? The hassle of having the charcoal on hand and it not being wet, getting the fire lit, having the coals at the right temp, having the heat evenly distributed, and keeping it that way for the duration of cooking.

Gas all the way. If you want, save up and get a smoker or Little Green Egg as a secondary outdoor cooker.

Charcoal no question.

Go for the Weber One-Touch Gold, or Platinum if you've got the dough.

A few sweeps of the handle and the ash goes into attached ash catcher. Mess objection, check!

I can't argue the time question, but I think the extra 10-15 minutes are well worth it. And it's not like you have to sit next to the grill that extra time. Go to the fridge and use it as time for one more Bud!

Also gives the flexibility to use a variety of smoking chips.

Charcoal is great, but gas is just so much more convenient. Gas grills are as convenient as your oven, so you're likely to use them more often. Plus, you can add a cast iron smoker box for wood chips that really adds to the flavor.

Its strange the best stake I've ever eatin came from the oven and was Broiled.

As faras the Gas or Charcoal Like everyone says It depends on the amount of time you want to spend getting it ready.

I would also say Smokers give the best flavor in most food, slow roasted smoked foo, MMMMM hard to beat.

So far the answers seem spilt. I'm just as confused as ever.
Lots of mentions for the Weber charcoal grill. That was the one that was recommended to me. As mention by wally, the one touch grills seem to be more convenient to clean.

A BBQ club? I must join.

Yeah, sounds pretty yummy. Don't know if they have monthly meetings, but I know they do go around to BBQ contests.

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I'm reminded of the "King of the Hill" episode where Hank Hill thought that his propane gas was the best way to cook burgers (until he tasted a charcoal cooked burger and was addicted)

I will second the notion of a gas grill with a tin full of wine soaked Hickory or Mesquite wood chips for the "smokey" flavoring. It isn't as good as a regular grill using good charcoalized wood chips and hickory chips, (never, ever use lighter fluid. For like $10 you can get an electric grill lighter, and you wont have that terrible lighter fluid taste in your food. What a fast way to ruin a BBQ!) but it works almost as good, and it is much faster.

Matt

I have a gas grill with a natural gas connection. I use it nearly everyday. I buy wood chips, oak, mesquite, hickory to put in it, if I want the flavor of wood. I agree that charcoal is best way to grill, but I'm not coming home every night and starting a charcoal fire. I find gas with wood chips to be a good compromise given my time and energy constraints.

So it really comes down to convenience. If you want to buy charcoal, lighter fluid or electric starter, empty ashes, etc you'll get better flavor. If not, go with gas grill that you can put wood chips in.

I used charcoal for years, but I've switched to gas for the grill. Gas is just too convenient and I like the fact that I can have the grill heated up to around 600 degrees in fifteen minutes (Weber Summit). With gas I can grill something in the evening after world. With charcoal I'm only grilling on the weekends.

When I want that smoky flavor, I have a old fashioned wood-fired smoker that I'll use. Sure, it takes all day to cook a meal, but what a meal!

-greg

i have a gas grill - the vermont castings vc 30 which i love!
a lot of people state that charcoal tastes better. i'm not sure i completely disagree, but there's one thing i always think about.
how many people bbq but don't marinate (or flavor) the food in some way? for the most part, i think the marinade "masks" (in a good way) that oft-mentioned charcoal taste anyway.
i see two main benefits to having a gas grill. the first (as already mentioned) is ease-of-use. it is ridiculously easy to operate and clean a gas grill.
the second benefit is the ability to more accurately control your cooking zones. with my bbq (a three burner) i can have three different zones of heat and instantly control it. if i were to do this with charcoal, i have to be more careful about the charcoal placement, plus it's more of a hassle to maintain (or redistribute) that heat.
okay...all that being said...there is definitely something "cooler" about using charcoal, but i'm just not into it. the convenience far outweights that cool-factor.

Both have their merits and one isn't inherently better than the other. It definately comes down to what fits your lifestyle and what how much time/effort you are willing to put into it.

I know for me, gas is the only way to go. When I get home from work, I can walk onto the deck and with the turn of a knob, have the gas grill going. I use my grill 4-5 times a week but if it were a charcoal grill I probably would use it once a week at most.

If this grill is mainly for weekend backyard BBQs, you may be more inclined to go with charcoal. If you're interesting in using it more often for dinners during the week, you would probably be better off with gas.

i have a Traeger wood pellet grill and will never go back to gas or charcoal. as easy as gas with taste better than charcoal. flip a switch and it self ignites and feeds the pellets from the hopper to the firebox automatically.
www.traegerindustries.com

I have a Traeger as well and also will never go back to charcoal or gas.
The oven and stove get very little use in that last 2 years as a result. I will only cook bacon, baked potatoes, cob and asparagus on the Traeger. Never again on the stove or oven. Smoke foods, cook a briscuit, you name it.
In fact I am about to put the pork on in a few
Extremely simple to use, many choices of pellets, almost impossible to ruin anything.
It's one "flaw" is that it can't sear.