BBQ: Coal or Gas?

iMax

Saw this online yesterday. Anyone got any opinions on it ?

MediaTank

iMax wrote: »

Saw this online yesterday. Anyone got any opinions on it ?

Looks interesting. Appears to do what the 'Flavorizer Bars' on a Weber gas grill do at a fraction of the cost. Worth a punt I would think.

iMax

I wonder could you use a cast iron griddle in the same fashion. I have an aluminium one with teflon coating so won't be trying it unfortunately... but I might see if I can pick up a cast iron one in tk maxx

vibe666

i was always a charcoal guy, but since buying our own house and having a garden instead of living in an apartment, home bbq's became more common and the mess and fuss of charcoal was starting to put me off. we had had a few bbq's on my brother in law's gas bbq and they seemed to work out fine, so we invested in a gas bbq from woodies when they were on special and haven't looked back since.

5 minutes after i turn the thing on i'm cooking and the ability toregulate the heat on both sides of the thing is a godsend, not to mention the top shelf and lid with thermometer so i can see the cooking temperature (and a side hob for cooking off stuff in a pan too).

the gas lasts for ages and the whole thing is so easy to clean by comparison to the old kettle bbq that it's a no brainer imho, assuming you're doing a lot of bbq's which we do tend to be doing more often, even if we don't actually eat outside its still a much nicer flavour than cooking inside imho.

mum2be

It's that time of year again. I had a charcoal bbq and I need to get a new one. I'm looking for opinions on gas bbqs. How do they compare to charcoal ones? Thanks in advance.

foodaholic

I just got rid of my gas BBQ as it had no where near the flavour you get with charcoal. I'd stick with the charcoal

The Hill Billy

Threads merged.

tHB

mum2be

Next question, is a griddle plate on a gas bbq worth having? Looking at
4 burner with griddle or 2 burner without griddle. Does the griddle plate take up too much grilling space? Any ideas or advice? Thanks

TheKBizzle

I would go with gas. You can buy the woodchips in homebase and you just need to soak them in water for 30 mins and wrap them in foil to smoke in the bbq and I find you get all the taste of a charcoal bbq doing this.

stimpson

TheKBizzle wrote: »

I would go with gas. You can buy the woodchips in homebase and you just need to soak them in water for 30 mins and wrap them in foil to smoke in the bbq and I find you get all the taste of a charcoal bbq doing this.

I did this and it's just not the same - I even had a smoke box for the wood chips. I sold my 3 burner gas yesterday on adverts as I got better results with a disposable. I have a 47cm weber on it's way so weather permitting I'll be cooking without gas by the end of the week.

I've been looking at some videos online over the past few days and I'm amazed at what can be done with a kettle bbq.

Brian?

The answer is both.

I use my kettle for proper BBQing; ribs, smoking various bits of pork, smoked chicken etc.

I use my gas BBQ mostly for grilling; burgers, chicken fillets, steak in a hurry, sausages etc.