Barbecue with Gas Grills or Charcoal Grills
24 April 2010
The American tradition of barbecuing always seems to generate the age-old debate over which type of grill is the best ... a charcoal grill or a gas grill. Both types of grills have their advantages and disadvantages and you should choose a grill based on your own tastes and needs. When picking a grill, consider your budget, your planned grilling location, your taste preferences and even your schedule.
A charcoal grill is simply the more traditional of the two, and a lot of people love it for this reason alone. It involves the primal enjoyment of working with fire and working the heat source to properly cook the food. The heat source is hotter in general, but is more uneven, which requires the chef to pay attention to the grill and to know exactly what they’re doing; to be a “grill master”. The charcoal grill is most loved because of the smoky or grilled flavor that it gives to the food, which the gas grill will not do. It takes longer to cook food with a charcoal grill, but in return for your hard work, you get a smokier, more traditional flavor in your food. A charcoal grill is usually much cheaper to buy than a gas grill because it requires less assembly by the manufacturer. A gas grill can be quite expensive, so you should analyze your budget and get a grill you can afford. Also, a bag of charcoal costs slightly less than a comparable amount of propane, so even the upkeep of a charcoal grill is also cheaper.
A gas grill is much more convenient for cooking regular meals. It basically has a similar convenience as your oven. A gas grill requires only the flip of a switch to light and a few minutes to warm up. The food also cooks more quickly and more evenly than it does on a charcoal grill. These advantages can benefit a family that would like to cook regular dinners on their grill, a busy family with less time to cook, or a family that eats dinner later in the evening,. They don’t have to wait as long for their food as they would have to with a charcoal grill. A charcoal grill would be better for family picnics or vacations, times that are more relaxed and leisurely. Another advantage of the gas grill is that when it is operated properly, it is a lot safer. Unlike a charcoal grill, which requires an open flame for part of its operation, a gas grill can be put in much smaller spaces, including patios and decks and nearer to the house, because there is no exposed flame. And, with a gas grill, small children and pets are in no danger of an open flame. The amount of supervision is cut drastically from the necessary supervision with a charcoal grill. Consider the space you have for your grill and any safety issues specific to your family. A gas grill is also much easier to clean. The surfaces get less carbon on them and are made to easily wipe clean. A charcoal grill gets heavy with carbon and requires a lot of scrubbing to get clean.
