Gas or charcoal grill? (Happy: propane, water, fish)

[eichlerfan]

Hello, my name is Hank Hill, assistant manager for Strickland Propane. I sell propane and propane accessories. Our motto is "taste the meat, not the heat"...

OK, I'm not really, but I couldnt resist.

[scottinpdx]

I am really loving the Traeger Grill but when it comes to Charcoal vs. Gas, I prefer Charcoal but gas is so much quicker.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by love roses

We don't use lighter fluid to light our charcoal, Just use a chimney. I think I would like a gas grill for veggies because I can't see going through all the fuss for a few things.

Same here. Chimneys are so much better and they don't leave that nasty lighter fluid taste. You can buy them most anywhere - Academy sells a standard one (HEB might have them too) but I got a really nice Weber one at a BBQ place.

[Dd714]

This is the solution:

1.) Get a gas GRILL - charcoal, gas, electric, etc. You are cooking by direct open flame heat and searing the meat as fast as possible without burning the meat. Heat source is not important. It won't have time to get any flavor in except for the seared crust and some from the grease, etc, hitting the heat source and flaming up. Trust me, any gas vs. charcoal taste is purely phycological. And, don't call "grilling" "bbqing". See #2 to see what a BBQ really is.

2.) Get a charcoal/wood BBQ SMOKER - Now this is BBQing. I've seen gas and electric smokers as well, some with methods to add wood chips. But the best performing smokers I have seen use charcoal and you add wood (oak, cherry, etc). Now this is where the flavor of the heat source will come in, particularly the wood smoke. You cook low and slow, indirect heat.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

It is so easy to consistently and properly cook a beautiful steak medium rare with a GOOD gas grill with nothing more than pepper and sea salt.

With charcoal - not so easy to do consistently - and can't be done in 20 minutes.

Oh yes you can with a Big Green Egg searing it at 650-700. The ultimate in charcoal(lump) cooking.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by Moonlady

Same here. Chimneys are so much better and they don't leave that nasty lighter fluid taste. You can buy them most anywhere - Academy sells a standard one (HEB might have them too) but I got a really nice Weber one at a BBQ place.

Wet a paper towel with olive oil and use that to start your grill. Works wonders.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

Yes. Now I feel rather dumb, because water vapor is of course a product of combustion of wood and hydrocarbons. Many of the dangerous gasses and most of the water vapor in wood is burned off when making charcoal. But I haven't been able to find in my searches too much about the actual products of burning charcoal. If the charcoal is pure carbon, and it is burned in pure oxygen, then the only product should be carbon dioxide. But most charcoal is full of impurities, and combustion is seldom complete, so I believe goodly amounts of carbon monoxide, smoke and other pollutants are also produced. That may be why the meat tastes good, but also why this is a dirtier way of cooking.

I have a Big Green Egg and a Weber kettle now. I am deciding between a couple of the higher end Weber gas grills to add to my collection. I am retired and grilling/smoking is part of my lifestyle. There is a health reason to limit the amount of charcoal cooked food you eat and gas provides a supplement to help you cook more often. Cast Iron is wonderful and helps to provide a great buffer between heat source and food. In addition the Big Green Egg plate setter does a great job for indirect and convection cooking. It never hurts to have a wide repertoire of tools at your disposal. I wonder how much difference there is between direct smoke from coals to food and indirect smoke in a smoker if food is in cast iron? Love food cooked in cast iron on the egg with the dome down sizzled and smoked.

[AmishlandtoDFW]

TuborgP and others, I got a BGE about a month ago after cooking with NG grills for years (7-10 of NG, 15+ total of LP+NG). Frankly, I likely still would be using NG, hooked to the house if the grill I had purchased would have been convertible like I thought it was (my mistake--I looked a a lot of lower end grills the day I bought it. I was trying to NOT spend $1500 on a gas grill like I had back in Amishland...)

Long story short, I decided to return it & spend a bit more & get ONE cooker that could, as Tuborg says, do it all: smoke at 225 for 20 hours (just did a brisket last weekend and it was AWESOME), reach 750 degrees in about 20 minutes to sear the dickens out of a steak or any other hunk of meat (I have done this too, of course--any new "egger" tries it...), or even maintain a constant temperature to convection bake litterally anything (Monday night we did brick oven pizzas-amazing!).

As the BBQ/Grilling Guru, Steven Raichlin says, [sic] "anything that tastes good done any other way can have it's flavor enhanced on the grill."

I take an issue with a previous poster commenting about gas forced air heat being moister than electric baseboard heat though. While it is true that the byproduct from the combustion of natural gas is water vapor, that water vapor is not typically completely exhausted into the air ducts into the living space. The process of "forcing" the warm air through the ducting to warm the house dries it out, a lot of times to the point of being drier than electric heat, in my personal experience, which was why in my last house (again in Amishland), I installed a whole house humidifier on the plenum of my gas forced air furnace.

I did agree with this particular posters other point however, so this is not just a slam.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by JERiv

I've noticed what is used is usually due to regional preferences. That is, in PR, everyone uses charcoal. In CT, everyone uses gas.

What about TX? Gas or charcoal? What does everyone use?

Thanks!

I don't think it is regional at all. You will find both here in Austin.

I prefer gas for convenience and do NOT agree that charcoal imparts more or better flavor. If you know what you are doing, you can get the same flavor from gas as charcoal.

[woodinvilleguy]

I converted my Weber LP grill to NG and I love it. I never have to go out and get a tank filled or buy coals.

I do have an electric water smoker that I use with wood chunks for smoking meats low and slow. Tomorrow I put the pork shoulder on for a 17 hour smoke. yum