Barbecue Season - gas or charcoal?

[Smudger]

I've just had to buy a new gas barbecue as the old one 'fell over' during the storms.

What surprised me was there seems to be a move back to charcoal from gas - there seem to be a lot more available in the shops.

Most of the decent gas BBQs were advertised on websites, but when you go to the shop, the only ones they have are the cheapy ones, and I'm not going to buy without checking out the sturdiness, as these things have to last a fair amount of time.

So I was wondering, what do Hexus peeps prefer? Gas or Charcoal (or other fuels)?

I'm firmly on the gas side as at a mate's (charcoal) barbecue yesterday, the cooking window was so thin that not all the food got cooked - once the flames had dies, there was only about 20 minutes cooking time. I was sat there thinking, ah, just fire up another burner...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Gas=more convenient.
Charcoal=more authentic BBQ experience.

[Smudger]

See, to me, charcoal and 'authentic' just mean 'burnt'.

I've found that with flavourisers and lava rocks and such, the flavour can be just as 'barbecue-ey'

[Flibb]

Charcoal!!

Spotted this Weber on Hotukdeals the other day,
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/webe...-79-99-1883243
I have used that shop before and they were pretty good. I regularly cook on a friends Weber and have been impressed.

[Saracen]

Gas=more convenient.
Charcoal=more authentic BBQ experience.

That. Exactly.

[Ttaskmaster]

Wood, with coals as a second choice!

See, to me, charcoal and 'authentic' just mean 'burnt'.

That's because you're attending typical British barbecues... Get yourself along to a decent South African braai - It will change your whole outlook!!

[b0redom]

A few years ago, I bought a proper gas BBQ. Weber Spirit E320 Premium. Best investment ever! It stays outside all year around - mostly without a cover as I'm too lazy to keep putting in on.

The 'flavour bars' are a pretty good approximation of the effect of charcol, but it's way more convenient than cooking on charcol.

[finlay666]

Lumpwood charcoal and some nicely soaked wood chips for flavour

[TeePee]

Charcoal is fine and fast if you use one of these:



I'm shopping around myself, but my house has a natural gas connection outside for a grill, so I will probably use that.

[wasabi]

Wood fired metal pizza oven here. Can hit the high temps but can get there in 15 mins unlike dome pizza ovens which are an all-day affair. Can double as a barbeque too. Oven is much more flexible than a BBQ although you do have to wrap stuff up to stop it getting smokey.

[peterb]

he thing with a charcoal BBQ is to get distance between the charcoal bed and the food - and the patience to let the charcoal get to the white ash stage when all the heat is radiant. The distance is so that when the fat drops onto the hot charcoal bed, the flames don't burn the meat.

The best charcoal BBQ (IMHO) is to get a 45 gallon oil drum, and cut it down the middle (top to bottom). Fabricate a couple of cross pieces for a stand, and you can use concrete reinforcing mesh as a grid, laid on top. (you can always use a finer grid on top of the mesh. Put three or four inches of lump wood charcoal in the bottom, light it, leave it for 45 minutes, and then it is ready to cook.

And given the size of a 45 gallon oils drum (and one drum makes 2 BBQs, you have enough cooking area to cook for a lot of people!

[scaryjim]

Sorry, but if you're not using charcoal you're not barbequeing. I'm sure you're having a lovely outdoor cooking experience, but it ain't a barbeque - it's a grill.

I've never had a problem getting everything cooked perfectly on a charcoal barbie - it's largely a question of, as peter says, getting the distance between the grill and coals right and moving anything that looks like getting seriously flame-grilled; although you can also do wonders by having different amounts of coal at different points along the grill to give you "hot" and "cool" cooking areas. My last barbie - Easter day - was so windy that I basically ended up with a furnace (in fact, I've just noticed this week that the coal grill appears to have bent under the combined heat and weight of the charcoal!), but because I had sections at the ends where there were less coals, I was able to manage all the cooking speeds without problem.

Another trick is to make sure that anything prone to burning outside before it's cooked in the middle - chicken and vegetables in particular - are well marinated in something oil-based.

[Ttaskmaster]

Put three or four inches of lump wood charcoal in the bottom, light it, leave it for 45 minutes, and then it is ready to cook.

Blimey, where do you get your coals?
I prefer wood because, while all the different coals we can get are usually ready for cooking within 10-15 minutes, they also burn out and lose heat just as fast.

Another trick is to make sure that anything prone to burning outside before it's cooked in the middle - chicken and vegetables in particular - are well marinated in something oil-based.

Vinegar-based marinades work well for that too, for some reason.

[scaryjim]

Vinegar-based marinades work well for that too, for some reason.

Oil-based ones protect the outside from burning and help conduct (or perhaps convect? not sure) the heat inwards. Oil boils at a much higher temperature than water so you get a better build up of wet heat in the food, anyway. I suspect vinegar works by effectively partially cooking the food during the marinating process - the acids break down some of the proteins in a similar way. You can actually effectively "cook" thinly sliced fish by drizzling it with lemon juice and just leaving it

[DeludedGuy]

Sorry, but if you're not using charcoal you're not barbequeing. I'm sure you're having a lovely outdoor cooking experience, but it ain't a barbeque - it's a grill.

So true, gas BBQ is just like using a grill, what's the point, might as well use your indoor grill.

[vicar]

Charcoal = Barbecue, nothing beats the smell of burning coal.