Charcoal in a Gas BBQ??

raddo

After clening the bbq, thanks to earlier posters for help and tips, I know am going to cook on it again!
I have a gas bbq and the lava rocks look the worse for wear and I was wondering if I can use normal Charcoal instead of them??

noby

Mine look pretty bad too, but I still use them. Charcoal with a gas flame under them might just burn away too quickly. Why not just light the charcoal and forget about the gas.

I recommend using soaked wood chips to get a bit of barbecue flavouring with the gas.

olaola

No, you can't use charcoal. Lava rock is used to dissapate the heat so you don't have hotspots where your burners are.

What gives the flavour is the smoke, not the charcoal. So as long as you have fat dripping onto ANY heat source you'll get the 'BBQ' flavour.
You should change your lava rock about every year or so - as they'll get so fat engorged, eveytime you light the BBQ they just flame up and burn everything.

The Hill Billy

You should also beware that ash from the charcoal could block the gas outlets. If you don't like having scruffy lava rocks, buy nice new shiney ones in Woodies, etc.

gabbngabby

I like to use charcoal...even tho I wouldn't turn down some grilled chicken from a gas grill at someone else's BBQ! I just use charcoal on my own BBQ time

arybvtcw0eolkf

olaola wrote: »

What gives the flavour is the smoke, not the charcoal. So as long as you have fat dripping onto ANY heat source you'll get the 'BBQ' flavour.
.

I've a feeling thats just going to be ignored.

I switched from charcoal to gas a few year's back, only difference is gas is much cheaper and wasier to use. Absolutely no difference in taste between the two.

noby

If that was in response to me, then yes olaola is correct, but the wood chip imparts a different flavour. Maybe not strictly speaking the bbq flavour, but certainly a flavour of cooking on an open fire. The soaked wood smolders on the gas bbq, and closing the lid for a while captures that smokiness.