Gas or charcoal?

[fidgiegirl]

We have a charcoal grill and like it, but don't use it that much. I grilled on my parents' gas grill last weekend and really liked it! Even liked the flavor, which I thought I would not.

How about you? Gas or charcoal?

[SteveinMN]

Charcoal! I just think it tastes better. That said, marriage brought a gas grill because it's "easier to use". OK. If I don't want to be the only one cooking everything on a charcoal grill, gas it is.

[bae]

In an ideal world, real wood charcoal. That nasty compressed brick stuff isn't.

I use a boring old Weber gas grill for most standard BBQ applications, or an Evo grill for more ambitious stuff, or a smoker for things that need smoked.

[fidgiegirl]

bae, we do use the wood charcoal. It's pretty amazing. We use a smoke stack thing to heat it pretty quickly.

Maybe my true beef (haha) with our grill isn't that it's a charcoal grill, but that it is pretty small. So when we have guests, we can't make more than about four burgers at a time. If we want to put on a basket of veggies, fuggheddaboutit.

Hmmm, if I could have a free gas grill, though . . . and you do find them once in a while, though typically they are busted.

[bae]

bae, we do use the wood charcoal. It's pretty amazing. We use a smoke stack thing to heat it pretty quickly.


Those work great!

I used to be a wood bigot too :-) That's what I use for smoking as well, it is the only way to go. When I was remodelling my last house, and we had to cook every night over the BBQ grill for 3 months, that's when I got the gas Weber, and it's been really handy.



Maybe my true beef (haha) with our grill isn't that it's a charcoal grill, but that it is pretty small.

My large-grill applications are solved with my Evo gas "grill", essentially a large Mongolian BBQ:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tF-FSm3oNww/TDkI5SsLegI/AAAAAAAABKg/J5eFp3Y5MBQ/s512/img_0330.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Oi42fCeuuec/TDkI9-8DoPI/AAAAAAAABKs/A_osGFwT1H4/s512/img_0333.jpg

I am in the process of assembling the parts to build a charcoal-fueled blacksmith forge, and when I get there, I will set up a local production facility for wood charcoal, and then I think I'll go back to wood for most BBQ things. I think of the Weber gas grill as more of an "outdoor oven/stove" than a real BBQ.

[Rosemary]

We use a gas grill. It's so much easier than charcoal - I will never go back. The propane tank does not need to be filled very often, and the grill is always about 10 minutes from being heated up and ready to go.

[pinkytoe]

Texan barbecue masters would never use gas. DH uses charcoal or wood only. For him, it is the ritual of getting the fire going, gathering pecan twigs and getting the heat just right. And then smoking sometimes for hours for things like brisket.

[artist]

Charcoal tastes better. Gas is easier to use. My husband likes to have a gas grill, so that is what we have.

[happystuff]

We had a HUGE gas grill way back when. I'll be honest, the silly thing scared me to death! Like pinkytoe's dh - there's just something about starting the fire and getting it going, etc. Charcoal here.

[Float On]

Charcoal.
That Evo grill of Bae's looks really interesting.

[Blackdog Lin]

Ditto on the interesting Evo gas grill.....but we are charcoal (with added wood chunks for even more flavor) purists. As far as DH is concerned, if you're gonna grill outside on a gas grill, well, you might just as well cook it in the house. The results are the same, he says - no real flavor can come from a gas grill.....

[Simpler at Fifty]

We use both. DH likes to make certain things on the weber and others on the gas grill. When I was growing up my Dad made a grill and we only cooked over wood. He would call the neighbor to let her know we were grilling if she wanted to grill when we were done. The coals were just perfect for a second person.

[fidgiegirl]

We use both. DH likes to make certain things on the weber and others on the gas grill. When I was growing up my Dad made a grill and we only cooked over wood. He would call the neighbor to let her know we were grilling if she wanted to grill when we were done. The coals were just perfect for a second person.

Yes, we always used to make s'mores after we were done with the meal! But now I can't have graham crackers so we haven't. But it is fun!

[dado potato]

I use a Primo grill (ceramic lined) which requires natural lump charcoal. I like that the ashes can be applied as a top-dressing around deciduous trees and lilacs. Where I live the soil is acidic, and neutralizing the soil is beneficial to certain plants. Phosphorus also is dissolved by rain.

[domestic goddess]

I guess, because I did not grow up in a barbecuing family, I must be the only person on earth who doesn't care if I ever eat barbecued food. Up until I was married, the only time I ate any grilled food was if I was visiting somewhere else. We never owned a grill of any kind. After I was married, my dh wanted to grill occasionally, but he didn't really know what he was doing, because he and his father couldn't get along long enough for him to learn anything, so I also (by default) became the one in charge of grilling. So we didn't grill more than once or twice a year, and some years, not at all. Our next door neighbors grilled, though, and I could inhale all the starter fluid I wanted to as they were quite generous in their use of it. Now, if someone sets it in front of me and there is nothing else, I'll eat it. I mean, I don't intend to starve! But I do think that if you are going to use a gas grill, you may as well cook inside. Since we have AC, using the stove isn't a problem in the summer. I make frequent use of the crockpot on hot days, too.

[creaker]

I think charcoal tastes better, but gas is much easier.

I hate the smell of starter fluid, though. When I did use charcoal, I used to use a cylinder shaped thing with holes in the bottom to start the charcoal instead.

I was at a reunion recently and someone brought their gas grill - it was unreal. It looked like a house oil tank that had had the top third cut off and remounted as the lid with handles, temperature gauge, etc. And then it was all mounted on a trailer so it could be hitched up and towed anywhere.