New BBQ purchase – talk me out of buying gas

[Mick]

Hey all.

I know the BBQ connoisseurs will talk up charcoal cookers, but I’m not sure I can be bothered. Am I misinformed that there’s a lot more work and preparation and clean up involved compared to gas?

I am happy to pay for a good gas BBQ as I love my food and want to learn more about the art of cooking great BBQ, so feel free to talk me out of buying gas...

Cheers,

Mick

[Jackson]

I'd say go for the charcoal BBQ. IMO, the biggest advantage a charcoal BBQ has over it's gas-fuelled bretheren is the flavour you get from the charcoal. Once you roast a leg of lamb or pork in your new charcoal BBQ, you'll never go back to roasting meat any other way. Make the jump!

[cupofchloe]

It is usual in the UK to have a charcoal BBQ, rather than a Gas BBQ.

The smell is amazing and you can add hickory smoking chips to add a beautiful smoked flavour to the meat.

In terms of clean up, it's pretty quick - you usally just chuck the coals away and clean down the grate. However the time it takes to get it burning is quite long and you will often end up with a less consistent cooking method - with some charred edges of meats or sausages that take ages to get hot in the middle.

This type of BBQ is for the patient person.

[Kermit]

[MartyH]

Hey Mick, it really depends on what you like to cook AND EAT! If you want to do stuff like roast pork with crackle, ribs, brisketts, you want to cook it slow and get the charcoal smoky flavor. Gas is easy and fine for snags and burgers but you might soon want to go for it and do big slabs of beast. Give it a whirl. Marty 

[ProjectPete]

Charcoal better flavours and more fun but gas is still great and far easier to maintain.

Seriously,why not have both? I do and I love it. I do my special meals and showing off with my charcoal/weber but when I want to keep things simple and whip up sausage sizzle for example, I go with gas.

So it comes down to what you plan to use it for and of course your budget.

[ProjectPete]

But at the end of the day,if you can't be bothered with charcoal...don't. You'll only dread the effort and maintenance and never be happy with your BBQ

[aly]

Hey @Mick,

Tough one.

We received the Char Griller Deluxe as a gift and thought it was great! Being keen fisherman, we love that we can smoke some freshly caught trout on the griller.

Having said that, it is far easier to cook up some steak and snags on a gas BBQ. If we had have purchased a BBQ before receiving the griller gift, we would have gone gas as we'd definitely get more use out of it purely based on the effort involved.

Goodluck!

[MoonshineBen]

Since I started with charcoal, I haven't really gone back to gas, but have it there in case I want a quick cook. Charcoal cooking is a commitment, from preparation, clean up and maintenance - but the flavour's amazing. Add a good dry rub or marinade on it, and it's out of this world.

[Kermit]

What rubs do you use @MoonshineBen?