Bar-b-ques

[chris2fer]

Hello all AVEN folk. For years I have had to argue  the difference between  (and preference for) a charcoal fired bbq versus a modern gas bbq. I will reveal my thoughts as the chat progresses. ..Your thoughts please ?!!

[RK800]

Oh boy, this is gonna be good.

[Yeast]

I'm glad my neighbor got a gas barbecue. Before this they would light a charcoal barbecue in their driveway which happens to be right next to my living room.  If I didn't close all the windows immediately my house would smell like an oil refinery disaster. Then I started thinking. All that foul stuff filling my house was filling their food.  Maybe not as much as in my house but if I were still working I could probably carry their steak into the lab and find things like creosote.  That's the stuff they have to clean out of your chimney to keep it from exploding. It's also carcinogenic.  I once said why not just marinate the steak in gasoline and light it up? Someone told me not to reveal their secret recipe. 

[thylacine]

Myself I like a little hibachi with charcoal; they are cheap and small, but not for a big barbecue.  I used to have a gas grill but I was always afraid the thing would blow up.

[Guest Jetsun Milarepa]

I have never eaten barbecued food, but many a time I've been on the receiving end of what @Yeast says....in my case it's usually 'quick! take in the washing!' I'd like to make sure i minimise my exposure to stomach cancer as well.

[Skycaptain]

I find the biggest odour problem is with the lighter fuel. The actual barbecues aren't too bad. 

From a cooking point of view you get better temperature control with gas than charcoal, whereas charcoal can impart a smoky flavour that has can't. Also gas gets up to cooking temperature much quicker 

[Muledeer]

I use a gas grill.  They do impart unpleasant flavors into the food it: 1) they are not properly cleaned or maintained ..........and 2) when the burners wear out they impart the taste of the cooking fuel (propane).  Otherwise, I think they are consistent and convenient.

[SorryNotSorry]

Cooking with charcoal isn't just some crude mechanical process. There's an aesthetic to it.

 

Light the coals and wait until all the fuel has been burned out. At that point, parts of the coals should be glowing hot enough to be able to cook meat on the grill.

 

For flavor, I feed little butt-ends of oak onto the burning coals (I save up these small pieces of oak in my woodworking shop). They'll make a lot of smoke which will flavor the meat, then they'll burst into flame, which thoroughly cooks the meat. Using maple instead of oak will give a milder smoke flavor. The trick is to feed bits of wood onto the fire only one or two at a time, or else you'll burn the meat.

[Grumpy Alien]

I couldn't even tell you what the difference is other than what fuels the fire

[Pramana]

I would say that a wood-fired grill is superior to charcoal, and charcoal is superior to propane/natural gas.