I voted gas but agree on all of the good things that charcoal brings to the table. I grill year round so gas is just easier. If its a weekend cook out and I'm cooking a large piece of meat (ribs, pork shoulder or butt, brisket etc.) I will go with charcoal. Slow cooking on a gas grill isn't ideal in my book. I use a Genesis Silver B like Greg, but also have a classic Weber Kettle. Those kettle grills are one of the simplest, but most efficient grills on the market. Not to mention that they are really cheap compared to most gas grills.
-
Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!
You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!
Charcoal or Gas BBQ Grill
- Thread starter andyzee
- Start date
ctenidae
Active member
Back in college we grilled quite a bit, on charcoal. We drank a lot of beer, too. Unfortunately, they often went hand in hand. There's something about swilling PBR that makes you want to grill. After 4-5 beers, the urge to grill would set in. 3 beers later, the charcoal would be ready, and the meat would go on. Chicken takes a beer a side, but that usually turned into 2-3 per side, with predictable results. Fortunately, by that time we'd had enough beer to not really care about the charred nature of our food, and teh charcoal we ate probably helped keep us from dying of alcohol poisoning.
All in all, a win-win situation.
All in all, a win-win situation.
MikeTrainor
Member
I have my charcoal Webber grill. Light it have a beer and it is ready to go. I get home an hour and a half before my GF so I would eat the same time anyways
andyzee
New member
Gotta luv the last two recipes, beer dependent. No better combo then beer and BBQ! :beer:
andyzee
New member
Well, suprised by the results. I expected far more gas than charcoal an it's now 50/50!
noski
New member
Not sure how to vote
I use gas since I grill on the porch year around, but when at the RV I use charcoal. I prefer charcoal for tastiness, but gas for convenient, quick cooking....so I didn't cast a vote.
I use gas since I grill on the porch year around, but when at the RV I use charcoal. I prefer charcoal for tastiness, but gas for convenient, quick cooking....so I didn't cast a vote.
riverc0il
New member
interestingly enough, since AZ'ers tend to have such great taste, i had expected more charcoal than gas and am also surprised by the results! :razz: :smile:andyzee said:
andyzee
New member
riverc0il said:
I kind of figured the same thing, it's the audience. :lol: Good taste people!
Gas, with two kids, a house, hobbies outside of eating & the ability to eat my own cooking, when am I not in a hurry??????
an hour to cook a meal or 25 minutes? Maybe there is a taste difference but it's not as great a difference as say baking lasagna & microwaving it (or broiling a steak & nuking it, no one does that.
The difference is about the same IMO as that of air popping popcorn or the old fashion oil poppers. Oil was better tasting, now with microwaves you only see big poppers in movie theatres & bars.
an hour to cook a meal or 25 minutes? Maybe there is a taste difference but it's not as great a difference as say baking lasagna & microwaving it (or broiling a steak & nuking it, no one does that.
The difference is about the same IMO as that of air popping popcorn or the old fashion oil poppers. Oil was better tasting, now with microwaves you only see big poppers in movie theatres & bars.
riverc0il
New member
if it takes someone an hour to cook a meal on a charcol grill it is either a really large meal or they are doing something wrong. i usually leave 30-40 minutes from start to finish. it only takes an extra 10 minutes to heat the coals properly when done right with the right equipment. i can understand the hectic lifestyle of families when every second counts. my family was very mobile and on the go when i was younger. sometimes you just gotta take a time out to enjoy a perfectly charred hunk o' meat 
while i can completely understand and relate to your time and hectic family schedule and desire for speed, i disagree with the popcorn analogy. the difference between charcol and gas is striking, the difference between bagged popcorn and old fashion oil poppers isn't significant to me. big difference between a cheap bag of popcorn and two $8-10 steaks though!
while i can completely understand and relate to your time and hectic family schedule and desire for speed, i disagree with the popcorn analogy. the difference between charcol and gas is striking, the difference between bagged popcorn and old fashion oil poppers isn't significant to me. big difference between a cheap bag of popcorn and two $8-10 steaks though!
Steaks are the only thing I see a difference with using charcol. Burgers to me don't taste any better on charcol...Now cooking with hardwood.... That is by far the best way to get good flavor.riverc0il said:
andyzee
New member
ALLSKIING said:
That's why I go with the lump charcoal, it's closer to wood.
riverc0il
New member
i have different experiences, my weber kettle makes incredibly good burgers. i definitely notice a difference. actually, i think i notice more of a difference with burgers than steaks now that i stop and think about it.ALLSKIING said:
Funny how we have had completely different experiences....Next Az outing I will cook the steak and you cook the burgers ;-)riverc0il said:
SkiDog
New member
riverc0il said:
Id be willing to bet this is closer to reality, but everyone tastes differently.
Id say that a burger would "accept" the smoke flavor more readily due to the fact that is is a ground meat, therefore has many "voids" the smoke can penetrate. A steak on the other hand is essentially "closed cell" and has to stay longer to absorb the same amount of smoke...and I like my steaks still practically mooing.....so they can't stay on long.
I do find though that if you use soaked hickory chips or mesquite chips onto the hot coals they REALLY impart the flavor onto ANY meat..
And for those of you still using propane...SWITCH...but if you dont want to they make these little metal boxes to put the wet wood chips into to get close to the same flavor as would with burning wood..they work really well too I have tested them.
Try grilling salmon on cedar planks too...SOAK THEM OVERNIGHT FIRST THOUGH..
M
SkiDog said:
I have one of those little metal boxes. They do work nicely. I've never tried using it on my gas grill for the slow and low cooking method. But if I'm going for slow and low I typically use the kettle grill anyway.
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2001
- Messages
- 31,154
- Points
- 0
I might be intersted in trying this in my Weber (Genesis). Do you have a link to the one you use?Grassi21 said:
Greg said:
My little bro gave it to me as a present so I don't know where he picked it up. I just did a quick search and found these. Mine is stamped steel but the cast iron ones at this site have to be more durable.
http://www.americasbestbbq.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryId=7213
SkiDog
New member
Grassi21 said:
Mine looks similar....stainless any of those will work....put directly on the grates....just soak the chips first..I find with the boxes you can even sometimes get 2 uses out of the chips..which on a real fire wouldnt happen...
happy grilling..
M
They do work fine right on the grates. The directions say to place it on the inverted V shaped metal under the grate. But if you need to add more wood you need to remove the grate etc. etc. It works just fine on the grate.SkiDog said:
The good/bad thing about experimenting with a smoker box is that you can really get hooked on smoking as opposed to grilling. I would love to invest in a nice smoker but that would require an additional backyard cooking apparatus on top of the gas and charcoal grill I currently have.
Similar threads
