Since we have been talking about some of the basics of barbecuing, I thought we would kind out Gas or charcoal? Who is gong to come out the winner? One of the first things we need to address is the pocketbook. Especially in today's economy. Grills which use charcoal are always the cheaper of the two.
You can always find a good, good deal on a charcoal one at Walmart, usually starting around $29 and up, and not up even that far. So that would be a good deal for anyone. Then there is the old standby, the Weber charcoal grill. A lot of guys got their first start on one of those and still swear by them today.
With their design you can even cook over indirect heat. You can do my famous Beer-Can Chicken on one of them. By the way, I give that recipe away in our opt-in newsletter. It's free!
Gas grills are just about always more expensive. Most times where the top level of the charcoal grills start taper off is where the lower priced gas grills begin. Unless you really go low. And sometmes you can find a really good bargain. I know that at the end of the BBQ season a lot of stores put them out in the aisles with a ridiculously low price just so they do not have to store them in the back all winter long.
Two things on that:
1) you can get it….and wait until next spring to try it out. Or,
2) you can just simply barbecue all year long like we do out here in Calif.
Hey, we spent a lot of years in frozen Colorado and I have even barbecued out there in the winter. If you love BBQ you will find a way to do whatever the weather. Just don't do what I did when I was twenty and did not know a thing about this. It was raining outside so I took my BBQ into the garage. Yeah, I know, I can hear you all laughing. Ok, Ok, so it was not so smart! Remember I told you that if you stayed with me we can turn you into an expert here.
How do you think I know all that? It's because if there has been a dumb mistake, I have done it. And that is the purpose of this blog. We want to help turn you into the neighborhood superstar of the barbecue world. I know we can do it. It is not that hard.
Next we need to think about who it is that we are going to be cooking and grilling for? If you and your wife are all along and do not plan on ever entertaining a bunch of friends and you never have any family over, then do you really need that $1500 huge, smoking barbecue/grill/smoker/stovetop/oven/….you get the point. You need the right size for what you are going to use it for.
I have a friend out in Central Calif. and every Monday night he has an open house for all of his neighbors and friends. And people from his church come out for this get together. So in his case, that little round Weber might not fit the bill. Enough said about that subject.
Safety Concerns
Which one is safer? Remember, we are talking about Gas v charcoal? Which one is going to come out the winner? If you have a lot of little ones running around, the charcoal grills are a lot lighter and some just have the three legs. This makes it a lot easier to turn over and that would be a bad accident. The briquettes would go everywhere, children could be burned, a deck could be set on fire. The fire department might show up and if you happen to live in a small town, then, yes, you would becoome that superstar of the barbecue world in your little town.
But is that how you really want to achieve BBQ stardom in your town?
I am not saying that it is going to happen; just that it is a possibiliity. So be thinking along those lines. If you are like me and it is just you and wife then everything is ok. I spend most of my time inside and think nothing about it because I keep it in sight at all times. So no one is going to be running around it and knocking it over.
Enough said about this for right now. I will continue this another time. Just remember that we give out an awful lot of tips and recipes, including that famous Beer-can chicken one in our opt-in newsletter. Until then, happy barbecuing and be safe.
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