Gas or Charcoal Grill?

The Splendid Table's® How to Eat Supper, By Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Dear Lynne,

What kind of grill do you think is best, gas or charcoal?

Marie in Chicago, IL

* * *

Dear Marie,

The word "best" is tricky. What I prefer, both for taste and challenge, is cooking over wood charcoal, or hardwood, which I've burned down to the hot coal stage. The grill I yearn for is a large, shallow, rectangular box with vents. It's made of stainless steel, and takes charcoal or chunks of wood. It has a steel rack you can raise and lower and a domed lid attached to the base by a hinge so you can do covered cooking. And it costs the earth.

The poor man's version is the shallow box charcoal grill which works well, as does the kettle grill that's sitting outside my kitchen door right now.

All that said, gas grills couldn't be bettered for convenience. You come home from work, flip it on and cook. Clean up is easy too. If you don't mind the clean up and have the time to wait the 20 minutes or so for coals to get to the right temperature, go for the charcoal model. Otherwise, use gas and some wood chips.

Host, The Splendid Table®, American Public Media's national food show and co-author of The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories and Opinions. Ask questions and find Lynne, recipes, and station listings at splendidtable.org, on facebook and twitter, or 800-537-5252.

Copyright 2011 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

 

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Comments

[Mister Grumpy]

04:52 PM on 06/04/2011

Gas is easier, but charcoal tastes better............

It must be from all the charcoal ash that lands on your food while cooking it................

[rjesq719]

04:28 PM on 06/04/2011

While I have both, I have to say that my gas grill is probably in use for 90% of the time that I cook outside. Wood chips if done right can give you that smoky flavor and I love the flame control-- if you take something off the gas grill and it isn't perfectly done, reigniting the flame and cooking it at a top temp for 5 minutes is of course a million times easier than charcoal-- charcoal is more primal, so it is great for things like steaks and chicken for the flavor as well as sausagaes; but it is always a little bit of a guessing game as to how hot the coals are and how long they will burn. Gas of course as long as you have enough propane in the tank, stays at a constant heat level for as long as you want, so it makes for more relialble cooking. But I love taking my little charcoal grill to the ball game and using one of those BBQ "bags" where you just light the bag and not worry about getting your hands dirty is a great thing...

[robozz]

01:38 AM on 06/03/2011

After 20 years of grilling I'm sticking with my basic Weber grill and lump charcoal. Brickettes are just charcoal dust and binding agents and leave a ton of ash. I also refuse to use starter fuel, prefering starter sticks (big matches made from saw dust and wax). I dislike the petrol flavor from the fuel. The best thing about a weber (or any kettle grill I guess) is that if you want to grill steaks just leave the lid off and it gets nice and hot. For BBQ ribs and chicken (w/ soaked hickory chips) you can control the heat easily with the lid and the vent. I never have problems with flare-ups or fires. The best thing about the Weber grill and lump charcoal is that when I'm done grilling I put on the lid and close the vent the fire goes out and there's usually enough coals for another meal down the road. Best way I found to clean the grill is using the 'pumice-like' stones. They clean down to nice silver every time.

[cameron d]

11:51 PM on 06/02/2011

What would Hank Hill do?

[BuckyJamesDio]

12:13 AM on 06/03/2011

Recommend propane and propane accessories, of course.

[MIvoter1231]

02:46 PM on 06/04/2011

Taste the meat, not the heat.

[BuckyJamesDio]

09:06 PM on 06/02/2011

This is why I have both - the gas grill (which is used most of the time) is on the patio and the Weber is in the shed. When grilling fish, chicken, vegetables, or similar foods that are seasoned or marinated, I usually use the gas just because of the ease factor. When grilling steaks, it has to be charcoal, because that smoky flavor from charcoal just can't be matched on a gas grill. You can use wood chips in the gas grill to kinda get the same effect, but that's cheating. Okay, I'm totally craving a rib-eye right about now ...

[tster1965]

12:06 AM on 06/03/2011

I agree...a charcoal grill is best for steaks.