Is grilling over gas better than charcoal?


 
whether using gas or wood or charcoal or briq's, as long as the heat stays outside (and not having the oven on inside on +30oC days), it's all good :)
 
Wow, just read this through.

Great taste!

Less filling!

But, the original question has merit.

Is grilling over gas better than charcoal?

Is it 5:30 on a Wednesday, and did I just get home after a long day at work, tired, to find my lovely bride of 32 years has decided that I am grilling tonight? (No surprise, this happens 3-4 times a week). If the answer is yes, then gas is best. It is head and shoulders above charcoal, no comparison. It tastes better by a mile.

Or...

Is it 5:00 on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the backyard is inviting...time to get the kettle out and fire up the coals? A beer in my hand, maybe the granddaughter is playing close by. Maybe my son is home, or we're having people over. Then, the charcoal tastes best. It is head and shoulders above gas, no comparison. It tastes better by a mile.

I read a few posts that say there isn't much difference in taste, or charcoal is slow, or gas is lazy. All that is true, and all that is false.

If nothing else, those of you who don't use charcoal because there's no difference...it's there. Maybe you don't notice in the flavor, but it there in time. In slow, lazy, quality time spent with family and friends. If you approach it from this aspect, you will learn to love charcoal.
 
T Waite said:
Wow, just read this through.

Great taste!

Less filling!

But, the original question has merit.

Is grilling over gas better than charcoal?

Is it 5:30 on a Wednesday, and did I just get home after a long day at work, tired, to find my lovely bride of 32 years has decided that I am grilling tonight? (No surprise, this happens 3-4 times a week). If the answer is yes, then gas is best. It is head and shoulders above charcoal, no comparison. It tastes better by a mile.

Or...

Is it 5:00 on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the backyard is inviting...time to get the kettle out and fire up the coals? A beer in my hand, maybe the granddaughter is playing close by. Maybe my son is home, or we're having people over. Then, the charcoal tastes best. It is head and shoulders above gas, no comparison. It tastes better by a mile.

I read a few posts that say there isn't much difference in taste, or charcoal is slow, or gas is lazy. All that is true, and all that is false.

If nothing else, those of you who don't use charcoal because there's no difference...it's there. Maybe you don't notice in the flavor, but it there in time. In slow, lazy, quality time spent with family and friends. If you approach it from this aspect, you will learn to love charcoal.
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Wood chips on the gas grill add color and flavor. I was charcoal-only until last fall (for about 8 years, before that I only had gas while a friend or two had charcoal). Gas is good. Len put it right - so long as it isn't heating up the house :)
 
I didn't say I don't notice a difference, I was addressing those who did say it. Wood chips will only do so much. It will help with low and slow, but a hamburger or thin pork chop isn't going to be on long enough to pick up much flavor let alone any color.
 
The journey is just as important as the destination.

Sorry, I have a Char Broil (love it), with both charcoal and propane. If I'm cooking outside, just starting the grill with charcoal gives me a chance to relax. If I'm in a hurry, I can use a chimney. IHMO, propane is more messy, especially with fatty foods as the drippings don't burn off like in charcoal.

Either charcoal or propane, the act and time of cooking the food with family is just as important is eating the food.
 
JustinC said:
The journey is just as important as the destination.

Sorry, I have a Char Broil (love it), with both charcoal and propane. If I'm cooking outside, just starting the grill with charcoal gives me a chance to relax. If I'm in a hurry, I can use a chimney. IHMO, propane is more messy, especially with fatty foods as the drippings don't burn off like in charcoal.

Either charcoal or propane, the act and time of cooking the food with family is just as important is eating the food.
Click to expand...

I went to a family bbq today & enjoyed everything! 2 of my cousin's husbands cooked up 3 types of pulled pork and several racks of ribs for around 50 people, and the only complaint I had was one of my ribs tasted a little salty at first. One was complaining of no smoke ring in the electric smoker but who cares? They had 2 propane powered charbroil smokers & then a new electric smoker made its debut. They both are interested in building UDSs, so we'll have a fall project on our hands, hopefully.....

My contribution was Miss Piggy's Mustard Sauce & some #5...., a little over 32 oz of each.
 
Charles H. said:
That being said I used the Genesis as an extra oven at Thanksgiving and Christmas, not so sure a kettle could really pull off that trick.
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We use our Weber all the time in lieu of an oven, Charles, especially in the summer when it's just too hot most days to even think of turning on the oven. We cook all kinds of things in there like we would in an oven. When you've been using a Weber charcoal grill for years, it's not difficult to gauge the temperature and we use an oven thermometer if necessary to monitor the temp. We sometimes use an indirect fire on one side of the grill, an indirect fire on both sides of the grill or even a small ring of charcoal all the way around -- depending on what we're making and/or what configuration our roasting/baking pan is. I'm not a baker but you can bake a darn pie on a Weber grill if you want.

I think both gassers and charcoal grills have their place. We never got a gas grill but that's just us as we love charcoal and we love our Weber and we never really considered needing something faster. We're retired now but we don't have kids, always ate later than most and did lots of our prep work ahead if necessary when we were both working so we used the Weber a good deal on "school nights" in addition to our weekends, which were often occupied by our WSM. I always knew we ate well but we both got used to our co-workers asking us regularly what we had for dinner the night before and drooling over our answers. They couldn't believe we ate so well every night. But then again, we had no kids so we had more time than most upon arriving home at night.

Like I said, I have no desire to debate charcoal vs. gas even though our preference I charcoal. But I had to pipe up to let you know a Weber charcoal grill makes a great oven!
 
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