BBQ - Gas or charcoal

If its gas then it has to have a cast griddle and lava rocks, at that point its easily the equal of charcoal - those gas bbq with wire grills and no lava rocks are not a BBQ.

The advantage of gas is ease of use or more importantly to me it makes the BBQ an impromptu choice such as last night when we were having burgers - chucked the BBQ on and they were much better than being grilled or fried but you wouldnt be doing it with charcoal as often as we do having the gas!!

Not sure what is meant by the cleaning and gas pipe bottle hassle, never cleaned it over than scraped down and the pre season clean (same as a charcoal one) and never done anything other than replaced the gas bottle on that side.

Charcoal is more fun but does limit the times we would have one, we have a charcoal one knocking about and a wood burner to play with fire ;)
 
We had a brick built BBQ at our last place and got a fair bit of use out of it. However I've decided to go gas (with cast grill/griddle and lava rocks, Shimmyhill) now. The decision is largely practical; for ease/speed of use and because we've not really got anywhere to site a proper coal BBQ in this garden. The gas one can go on the deck without fear of incinerating the overhanging trees or smoking out anyone sitting there.
 
depends how often id be using it to be honest.
there have been summers where ive cooked on the bbq every day for a week. i wouldnt have done so had it of been a charcoal bbq.

i do prefer charcoal bbqs because of the experience..but for convenience and speed, the gas is where its at.

personally i will be buying a big green egg as soon as humanly possible.
 
We have always had Charcoal, but as a small family 2 adults 1 child, its very rare we fire it up for anything other than occasions.

I myself could eat bbq every day lol. I have been tempted for a while to go Gas with the lava rock and so on. I know it is not the same but if it gives 60% of the taste and smell then its worth using. if doing steak, burger, chicken and so on just fire it up and bang. none of this do we have charcoal waiting for it to do its thing, even with a chimley starter its still a pain in the backside
 
No messing around here

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After further reading, I'm actually leaning towards a gas BBQ with lava rocks mainly for convenience and the fact I'd be able to use it more often. What's a good model to go for, budget of around £300.
 
Sirrel Squirrel said:
After further reading, I'm actually leaning towards a gas BBQ with lava rocks mainly for convenience and the fact I'd be able to use it more often. What's a good model to go for, budget of around £300.
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A Weber one touch ;)

Don't kid yourself that spending all that cash on a gas BBQ for 'convenience' is worth it or your time is that valuable, I'd say you save 10 minutes only at the detriment of taste is your time worth that much? or is your schedule that busy you can't spare 10 minutes before you plunk yourself down in front of the PC?
 
I'm largely 'meh' about the difference, gas has a number of factors going for it with ease-of-use and clean-up although you do have tolerate the inevitable butthurt of charcoal-devotees.

Look at it the same way as, I dunno, jars of pasta sauce. It only takes 10-15 minutes to make it from fresh but a jar makes it a damn sight easier and also you're probably more likely to make something with it too. Likewise I think with a gas bbq the start-up and clean-up advantage can mean it's more likely to be used as a regular cooking option vs an 'event'.
 
JRS of suace lol, I'm never more likely to use them. If you can't chop up an onion and a clove of garlic and chuck in a can of chopped tomatoes.
 
Yeah I'm not sold on that analogy either - jar of preservatives VS an extra 5 mins chopping up fresh ingredients that cost 1/3? I know which I'd choose.

Back on topic - charcoal for me every time ;)

I got a really nice firepit/grill from "The Range" *shudder* a couple of weeks ago, which lights really well (has a grate in the middle with a sort of chimney under it) could cook on it after ~20-30 mins, with the added bonus that after you're finished cooking, take the grill off, chuck some logs in and you have a nice roaring fire =D
 
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Gas every-time for a cooking, the charcoal gets used once or twice a year for a change.


IF you really like BBQ then you will get a Gas one and use it 3-4 days a week 52 weeks a year. If you don't like BBQ food and just want to have fun then get a charcoal grill you will use twice a month in the summer.
 
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