Quick cooks: Why start up the charcoal?


 
Bill Klinke said:
charcoal grilling in the winter in SE michigan just means I roll out a market umbrella or two from the garage and put a kettle grill(s) under it.
electric charcoal starter works in cold weather (even the one I found at a garage sale - Meteor brand, so old the box says 'made in california'.)
But if I ever was going to go to the dark side (grin) I would have to get a gas line installed, rather than haul LP tanks around.
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Piping my gasser into house gas was one of the best grilling mods I have done.
 
MichaelM said:
Piping my gasser into house gas was one of the best grilling mods I have done.
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I was always wanting to do that for my gasser until I found out about the temp differences between natural gas and LP. Combine that with his little I actually use my gasser anymore and it's a non-starter for me now. But, it definitely would be much easier, for sure.
 
I have a gas line that runs out to my grill, but I've never bothered to hook it up.

First, because I already had an LP grill. And second, buying an extra LP tank for $25 was my final solution to this problem.

Especially these days when you can get an unlimited supply of clean new replacement tanks at the gas station for free when doing a blue rhino exchange.
 
I have never had a problem firing up my kettle, even just to grill 4 burgers. To be fair, these burgers are 8oz bacon burgers from my local butcher lol

I'm not an anti-gasser snob, but I really don't foresee that type of grill ever seeing my patio. If my dining experience has to change just to save 10 minutes out of a 24 hour day, then I have other problems. :p
 
MikeLucky said:
I was always wanting to do that for my gasser until I found out about the temp differences between natural gas and LP. Combine that with his little I actually use my gasser anymore and it's a non-starter for me now. But, it definitely would be much easier, for sure.
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Well.... From what I read, LP has a flame temperature of 3573°F while natural gas has a flame temperature of 3525°F. Forty-eight degrees hotter is hardly worth mentioning when we're talking about thousands of degrees and my grill won't ever see that level of heat... never. And I may be missing something but if I get me grill to 500F, using LP, and I get my grill to 500F using natural gas.. How does the max flame temp make a difference? Maybe... I use a bit more natural gas to get to that 500F? Maybe?

I use the gasser for long, low rotis cooking and I truly want to walk away from it, and for when startup time is an issue. Truth told, given how big my gasser is, and how much energy is needed to get the cooking chamber up to temp, it might be a total wash on all counts. In the end, not having to keep LP tanks around, or have to change them, or trips to get them refilled, or worry that I might run out of fuel mid-cook...
 
MichaelM said:
Well.... From what I read, LP has a flame temperature of 3573°F while natural gas has a flame temperature of 3525°F. Forty-eight degrees hotter is hardly worth mentioning when we're talking about thousands of degrees and my grill won't ever see that level of heat... never. And I may be missing something but if I get me grill to 500F, using LP, and I get my grill to 500F using natural gas.. How does the max flame temp make a difference? Maybe... I use a bit more natural gas to get to that 500F? Maybe?

I use the gasser for long, low rotis cooking and I truly want to walk away from it, and for when startup time is an issue. Truth told, given how big my gasser is, and how much energy is needed to get the cooking chamber up to temp, it might be a total wash on all counts. In the end, not having to keep LP tanks around, or have to change them, or trips to get them refilled, or worry that I might run out of fuel mid-cook...
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I agree, my main gasser is NG and it's the go to for roti and quick cooks. Being in my mid seventies hauling full propane tanks is a pain, literally. Don't miss that at all.
 
Rich Dahl said:
I agree, my main gasser is NG and it's the go to for roti and quick cooks. Being in my mid seventies hauling full propane tanks is a pain, literally. Don't miss that at all.
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I started using Propane Taxi a couple years ago. Same price or (often) cheaper than Lowe's. I still have to haul the tank from the deck to the front of the garage; but it beats putting it in the car, driving to Lowe's, paying for the exchange, walking back to your car for the empty tank, then waiting for some fool to get outside and actually give you your new tank. :D
 
27F and snow flurries today.

I was outside for exactly 10 seconds to start the gasser.

Was up to 400F and cooking exactly 4 minutes later. 30 seconds outside to flip. Then 30 more seconds to turn off and bring the food in.

Charcoal can't do that.
 
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