Dear Neatoramans: my trusty old gas grill has been having some trouble lately, so I'm mulling the decision to get another one to replace it. Should I go with gas and be better for the sake of the environment? Or go with flavor and buy a charcoal grill?
So. I've got a question for you: What do you prefer, a gas or a charcoal grill? And why?
Real fire, the effort of starting it, the anticipation while it gets to the right temperature. Makes it all taste even better.
wood > charcoal > gas
If you care about time/effort/smoke:
gas > charcoal > wood
the low time/effort required means I never hesitate to use it
A wood/coal burning BBQ adds flavor.
Its that simple
A gas grill is NOT the same as an oven. The grill can reach much higher temperatures and give meat a good charring that is not possible under any kitchen broiler.
I use my gas grill 2-3 times per week... when I had the charcoal one, I'd use it about once every couple of weeks because the clean up was a pain and it would always involve at least an hour of work from start to finish. With gas, I have nicely grilled food on the table in 15 minutes and little clean up.
Yes the flavor may not be there but there are a lot of rubs, marinades and sauces that will get you 90% of the way there. Be creative.
I went from using a coal fired Weber to gas fired Weber and there is no taste or quality difference that I can detect, but the gas grill is much more reliable and will stay the correct temperature for as long as I need it, unlike the coal grill.
So you have to use a Gas barbie.
On a fire ban day you are not allowed the anti mosquito citronella candles either so what with there being no smoke and no candles the main course is usually you.
i've cooked on my fair share of grills and always prefer the coal burners to gasser.
i heart my chargriller with side firebox.
Clean up is a small price to pay for the taste. Oh and fill the Weber only on one side, this will give you some control if your fire gets out of hand, play around with the vents to learn fire control.Enjoy!
However, if you always seem to find yourself in a hurry to cook, especially during the week, gas might be better from a speed and convenience factor. It's not unlike the difference between using the oven and the microwave. You give up a bit of taste for convenience and speed.
If you're someone who does a lot of vegetables and white meats (pork, fish, chicken) then the simplicity and easy-to-acheive steady heat of a gas grill is the better choice. If on the other hand you tend to do a lot of red meats, a charcoal bbq adds a certain flavour but it's a more time consuming method.
This is where you have to think about when and how often you cook on a grill/bbq. If it's strictly a weekend affair then you'll probably be able to find the time and effort required to properly prepare and stoke a charcoal bbq. If you see yourself using this frequently during the week where you're liable to be a little pressed for time, go with the gas grill.
As for the flavouring, keep in mind that there are smoker boxes that can be added to a gas grill. They're small, usually cast iron trays that you can fill with flavoured wood and place under the grills to simulate the bbq effect.
Personally I prefer the convenience and versatility of the gas grills but I have to admit to owning one of each because sometimes it's just plain old fun to go through the procedures of getting the charcoal just right.
thats why i have both.
Charcoal takes a little longer, and it takes some talent and the flavor is the reward.
but sometimes if its done wrong, your food could taste like lighter fluid :P
you could throw wood chips in both grills to smoke some flavor into the meat. (be sure its in a metal container if being used in a gas grill otherwise its a pain to clean)
Gas is quicker and any moron could grill with gas but its good if you're cooking for a big group of people who don't want to wait.
My grill has a chicken rotisserie and i prefer to use it instead of the charcoal because i know it will be cooked evenly.
so really, its users choice.
Hank Hill style or Charcoal
Get a Primo or a Big Green Egg ceramic grill. We cook everything from cornbread to pizza on ours. Lump charcoal is nothing like the kingsford that your dad used when you were a kid. It honestly takes maybe 5 minutes more to get to temperature than the 5-minutes you already spend with a gas grill. Plus you can cook at 150 or 750 deg F. Low and Slow baby!
wood/smoke flavor: get a chimney starter. put coals/wood in top, paper in bottom, light paper; then prep food and have wine. 10 minutes later, fire will be ready.
low tech, more primal: you get to look at fire, and fire is cool. major mistake people make while cooking with fire and too high of heat. don't use too many coals. let the fire go down before cooking. leave one side of the barbie without coals so you can move the food off fire if needed.
less expensive = good.
easy to clean: this is important, because you want wood/smoke flavor, not burnt grease flavor. just use a hose to clean out the body of the webber. as for the grill, get a grill cleaning brush available anywhere. take the light weight grill out of webber and through it down on the deck, patio or piece of plywood next to grill, whatever. scrub both sides of grill. put grill back on webber. take damp cloth or paper towel and wipe down grill. take paper towel with a tad bit of oil and wipe down grill again. whole process takes less than five minutes.
in the summer i do this 3 or more times per week. it's easy and yummy.
charcoal is great for cooking for 5 or more, but a real waste to cook a couple hamburgers.
charcoal for parties, gas for personal.
I recommend that you go with Natural gas, it’s clean and cheap and if you can have your BBQ hooked up to a gas line, you never have to worry about an empty tank.
If you want a “GOOD” BBQ, try a Vermont Casting or better yet, a Napoleon. I have a Napoleon and I love it. The burners and grills are made of stainless steel and they don't corrode.
I have fond memories of roasting marshmallows on a charcoal grill, something my mom always said that we couldn’t do on a gas grill. I don’t know whether it was due to the fact the flavor would be off, the temperature on a gas grill would be too high, or the goop from the marshmallows would mess up the workings of the gas grill if the goop dripped, or it was some combination of all three.
My father-in-law has a really nice gas grill that will have food ready in under 30 minutes, making grilled food available on weekdays. It’s convenient, but I miss the taste of a nice roasted marshmallow afterwards. I think that kids like “cooking” something themselves, looking at the fire, and of coarse the taste.
I agree with the others who say to get both. I would get a nice gas grill and a cheapy hibachi grill if only for the marshmallows. I want to do this when my own daughter gets old enough.
Here is an exert from the article- "The gorillas have become a hindrance for the charcoal trade," Mr. Emmanuel de Merode, director of Wildlife Direct told National Geographic News on Friday. Wildlife Direct is a conservation group based in the DR Congo and Kenya that supports the park rangers working in Virunga.
Mr. De Merode added: "There's a very strong incentive for these people to kill the gorillas." Mountain gorillas in the park are estimated at 370 out of a total of 700 mountain gorillas worldwide. Seven gorillas have been killed in separate incidents this year alone.
Problem solved!!
Next Question. :)
It's expensive, but worth every penny:
http://www.biggreenegg.com/
The boys are part of an illegal trade that may pose the biggest threat to one of the most pristine places on the planet, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park.
The park's dense forest is rapidly being depleted of its trees to satisfy the almost insatiable demand here for charcoal, which is used for cooking and heating by the millions of people living in this troubled region."
I live in Omaha and use Kingsford charcoal exclusively. Their website says "Today, the Kingsford Products Company remains the leading manufacturer of charcoal in the U.S. More than 1 million tons of wood scraps are converted into quality charcoal briquets every year." No gorillas die so I can eat my dead cow.
Weekends = Charcoal.
I love both, besides what's really important is the quality of meat and marinade.
Weber and similar kettles are OK, but you can do better.
As close as you can get to a 55-gallon drum cut in half (or a brick-and-mortar equivalent) is better.
Mesquite charcoal (I import mine from Lazarri in San Francisco (Brisbane actually) -- http://www.lazzari.com/retail_page1.html )
Start the fire in a metal chimney -- paper egg box in the bottom, charcoal in the top. Ready to go in about the same time as the gas abomination.
(And I wish you would fix your password-login problem.
Today.)
Charcoal: BETTER TASTE
The dude who talked about the marinade said it best though...you can cook the shittiest steak with the perfect marinade on a friggin stick in a firepit and it will be delicious. It's all about the marinade, not the venue for the cooking.
BUT -
Charcoal is better, environmentally speaking. Gas releases fossil fuel carbon into the atmosphere. Charcoal doesn't burn as clean, but the fuel is already part of the present-day carbon cycle.
At high temps, they grill food. At medium temps, you can roast beautifully. But at low temps they are a full-on smoker and produce the tastiest, smokiest, most succulent barbecue you've ever had.
They are very expensive, but you will NEVER go back to either gas OR charcoal.
http://www.traegergrills.com/
http://www.chargriller.com/duogrill.html
This company is where I got my charcoal grill and it is heavy duty! The grates are cast iron and really heavy, of they need to be seasoned.
Personally I use charcoal, because well, I like to cook. You have to realize charcoal grills get messy too.
I cook with a gas stove all winter, why would I get a gas grill for outside?
Charcoal isn't hard to use and yes, it tastes better.
It takes more time, but why are you in a rush?
Relax grab a beer and watch those embers burn!
I use the gas grill for 'grilling' and the smoker for BBQ
If you are going to simply grill things, steaks, fish, chops, tofu... go gas, its fast... not a lot of process,
If you want the 'smoke' flavor on a gs grill soak some hardwood chips and place in a small pan on the grill prior to cooking the meat.
Now if you want to nock your dick in the dirt... BBQ, buy a smoker no a weber... and taste the magic
Even here better men then us (I make assumptions here about you, my apologies) have argued about the Traeger being an "authentic" smoker as it takes all the "real work" out of low and slow BBQ. However, as I have previously stated, there are few absolutes. If you use a Traeger and you and your guests are pleased with the results and I use a Weber Virtal Bullet smoker, more power to both of us for enjoying smokey goodness. I have seldom found true backyard BBQ that disappoints. I find it all the time in large corporate so called "BBQ" chains.
Peace!
The Japanese Kamado smoker is also a wonderful addition on your patio.
For grilling at the beach, I prefer a cast iron hibachi, at home I use a weber.
Or as some folks here have stated you could go for a gas grill but use some soaked wood chips to give it a smokey flavor. :) Good luck!
http://www.amazon.com/Weber-847001-Performer-Charcoal-Touch-N-Go/dp/B000659KDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1216332674&sr=8-1
Probably the best money I've spent on a grill.
Sure it takes a bit more skill to maintain the desired temp but that's the fun and well.... skill of it. Grilling and BBQing is really easy once you do get the hang of it.
As for the time issue, BBQing is a long process if its done right. Grilling is fast, BBQ is slow because its all about smoking the food, which is low heat. If you cook your ribs like you cook a steak you don't know what you are missing. A slab of ribs should take no less than 4 hours to cook, try it you'll never do it any other way again. Also try to smoke other things, once I learned to smoke a turkey breast on my grill I put my deep fryer away for good. Now my smoked turkey is thanksgiving day staple and I live in NW Ohio so its cold.
As for grilling and the whole marinade issue. Sure marinades can make something taste good but if you cook it right it tastes good without the marinade. Someone upstream mentioned putting coals on one side of the grill and that's spot on. Put the majority of the coals on one side, a few on the other and leave a space with no coals.
_
And don't let the "hassle" of charcoal cooking stop you from making a single steak for yourself. You're worth it!
Gas grills make it easier to maintain a constant temperature, they cook quicker, and clean easier. There's nothing charcoal can do that gas can't do better.
The only thing charcoal grills have going for them is that they are inexpensive. This can sometimes result in poor construction -- I've used charcoal grills that had plastic handles that melted the first time they were used, or that were so top heavy that they tip easily and spill hot coals all over my friend Kim's wooden porch. I still owe her a paint job on that porch.
Long story short, go gas. You'll pay more for a quality grill, but it will easily pay for itself in time and money saved (charcoal adds up quick) in the long run.
I always think of that episode of King of the Hill where his family is sneaking behind is back and grilling with charcoal because it tastes so much better.
Seriously, get a coal chimney. It makes charcoal grilling so effortless and then you will wonder why you ever had a tasteless gas grill.
I currently have a charcoal grill, but it uses gas to start the charcoal. It's unbelievably easy. You get the benefits of both worlds; Quick start and great taste. It uses a tiny gas tank take that can easily be refilled for just a couple bucks.
I have the same model Adeel Khan has. It's perfect.
http://www.amazon.com/Weber-847001-Performer-Charcoal-Touch-N-Go/dp/B000659KDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1216332674&sr=8-1
Which comes back to my question I posted at 4:20 am on July 17th (yes I got up especially just to post that comment).
>Ummm what are we cooking?
Doesn't the meat have any input to the cooking equation?
I go camping alot and use natural material found in the local enviroment to cook using canp fires and ground ovens! And that you said about the gas being better for the enviroment is probably not true as the gas canisters have to be forged the gas extracted from crude oil in the ground shipped around the world refined compressed in to a canister taken to a shop and finally sold to you to be driven home to use untill empty and then taken back to the factory!
Where as coal is mined dried outdoors put in to a truck baged and sold the packaging is biodegradeable and renewable. Wood is renewable as is charcoal the enviromental benifits for an oldfashioned coal burner are much better and its cheaper!
(also the ash is good for youre compost heap full of good stuff for the plants!)
You can always get faux-flavor but you can't unburn a steak.
I vote gas or both, but not charcoal only.
Charcoal or Wood Chunks are the only way to cook on a grill. Anything else just isn't "real."
Get a Traeger wood pellet grill. I own one, and couldn't be happier! Google Traeger and check them out!
jp
Just for you know :
- Gas is a fossile energy which is adding C02 to the atmosphere.
- Charcoal is a renewable energy which is therefore not adding C02 to the atmosphere. (The wood it came from has teaken its carbon from the atmosphere).
So the choice is a no-brainer : charcoal, obviously.
And please buy local made charcoal and not charcoal brougth to you from the other side of the planet and possibly endangering gorillas !
regarding the BBQ- if you're concerned about pollution, it really depends on how often you plan on using it. if you prefer charcoal but grill more than a couple times a week, you may want a gas grill instead. but if you don't grill that often, charcoal it up. it does taste better, even if it takes longer. but grilling isn't just a process of cooking meats, it adds to social atmosphere. there's nothing like a bunch of people standing around arguing over who's grilling techniques are better. no joke- it happens every time. even my boyfriend and i argue over who will cook the better meat. and i'm a vegetarian! charcoal does taste better. but if you go for the gas grill, make sure you're getting good cuts of meat. i mean, don't be afraid to spend some cash on it because you shouldn't HAVE to slather it all up with rubs and sauces and marinades.. those just cover up the taste of the meat. grilling is supposed to enhance the flavor of your meat, so don't mask it by covering it with sugary sauces. rubs are ok because they're just basic seasonings. organic and well-raised meats always taste better.. but i'm biased.
Charcoal pollutes a lot and can't be used on balconies.
Gas avoids that 'electric' taste you get from broiling or frying.
Natural gas grills could be supplied from your composting toilet (kitchen and bath, special order)
with gas because then its just grilling
if you want great taste and texture
you have to be willing to put the hard work in.
and well when using all those marinades and artiffical flavorings its just not the same.