Which do you prefer, a gas or a charcoal grill, and why? Do you have any grilling tips that are tried and true?

 

I’m buying a new barbque this summer and I don’t know which type to get. I admit I don’t have a lot of experience. My job was always to prepare the food while someone else cooked it lol.

 

We have two gas grilles, one small one on the foredeck rail and a larger one on the top deck. On the boat, gas is a lot better because of fire safety, when you turn off the gas the fire is out, charcoal would be hard to quickly extinguish.

When grilling red meat or pork, I usually sear them at high temperature and then reduce the heat to slow the cooking, much juicier. We grill everything from hot dogs to beef tenderloins, fish and chicken I do on a grill mat at medium temperature.

Five out of seven dinners have grilled meat or fish on our plates.

 

Right now I have a charcoal and pellet grill.
I have had a few gas grills also. I like the charcoal for steaks. The pellet grill is very versatile, and does every thing well. I do spend lots of money on pellets tho. I think I'm pretty good at grilling. I get lots of complaints on my grill cooking.

 

I have always owned a charcoal compared to gas. Brother is teaching me ins and outs cooking that was never taught.l (ie spreading them out after they turn grey). Brother told me about container that you put newspaper in with coals to get them done quicker.

Prefer old school way which is coals but then you have to wait compared to gas.

Hint: Never leave plastic cooking utensils on grill as they melt.

That happened to me last week and didn't think about it. Tongs melted on grill.

 

I have a huge balcony now and I want to put a grill on it. I feel like gas might be safer. What if I drop a charcoal thingy and it sets the whole thing on fire!

 

Gas would be would be better for a deck for fire safety.

 

Smokey Joe

Best grill ever for when you wanna go drinking.
I mean camping...

 

Gas is easier for someone who has not grilled a lot.

 

Shooter has always had a gas grill.
Except on the river, where we cooked with wood we scavenged.
Gas is easy and does the job but charcoal or wood does make it better.

One thing, if you cook on a stove you can cook on a grill, wood, charcoal or gas. Not a lot of difference.

Except with wood or charcoal you want your fire to burn down to hot coals before you start cooking the meat.

We used to say, if you can make it in the kitchen we can make it on the river.

 

If I had a gas grill, I'd chunk it out the window. There is no comparison of gas vs wood. Tenguy was looking at a smallish pellet grill
that would work perfect for you. I have the Traegar 575 which can handle anything I want to smoke. Also have a PK grill to charcoal
my steaks over.

I gave my detailed Brisket techniques to Rixer and he promptly ran away. I bet that cheapo bastardo opened a BBQ stand in California...

My aunt had a friend that bragged continually on his ribs. So she challenged him to a rib cook-off. I gave her my rib technique, and when it was all said and done,
he got on his knees and bowed to her excellence...very humbled.

 

This is a lot of super helpful info. I had no idea there were so many options!

 

Get yourself a gas grill. No hassle, no fuss. Light it up and you’re good to go. You don’t wanna be fucking around with charcoal, that’s not for you. Don’t forget to grill your buns. I enjoy my hotdog stuffed between a warm toasty bun ❤️

 

You will never win a BBQ cook-off with a gas grill. Ask yourself: do you want real BBQ or ease of operation?
Gas grills are super easy.

 

Not everyone is interested in winning the national or neighborhood bbq cookoff. But, most everyone does want to put good quality food on their plate.

There is more to award winning bbq than what appliance it’s cooked on. It requires considerable preparation time and lots of attention for hours. Not to mention high quality ingredients and more than a passing amount of knowledge.

On the other hand, I’ve had really good pulled pork made on a stove top in a Dutch oven. And great ribs off a gas bbq.

Burgers, fish, kabobs, chicken, and even pizza can be made on a gas grill, without spending a lot on the appliance, the fuel it requires and the ultra expensive “gourmand” ingredients. Not to mention the time required to put it all together, start to finish.

 

@Cherrypop you get a smokles electric griller with a water base that can be use indoors or outdoors, super easy to clean. They are avadible at amazon,walmart and a couple other places. The top of the range ones got even temrature controls. The nice part is you can use it all year long even while snowing in doors because of the smoklesness. I use mine two to three times a week and done from steaks,chicken,fish,burgers and toatsties.
This was done indoors about a half hour ago on one.

 

I got a huge gas grill. Infrared heating technology. I got it for free because some old guy upgraded to an even bigger grill. I use it year round if it's not -40°F. Too cold this winter. But it does the trick in hot weather when you don't want to heat up the house. Or stand outside to long. No messing around with charcoal. Just light it up and throw food on it. But wood fired bbqs do taste better. In my opinion. I just go with propane for the ease.

 

Charcoal/wood hands down makes the best food. You can alter the flavor of whatever you are cooking by using different wood. Plus, with charcoal, you can cook at a very low temperature. That lengthens the cooking time but makes for some outstanding meat.