OllyK

Well following all the previous debates on here about gas vs. charcoal, I went out an bought a gas BBQ last week. 2 burner with a hood, £114. Not top of the range, but not a cheapo either.

We fired it up tonight and what can I say? What a total dissapointment. I left it for a good 15 mins to heat up the griddle as I do with the griddle on the gas hob inside. It took just as long as charcoal and it tasted as if it had been griddled in the kitchen, bland and flavourless.

Seems I now have an outdoor potato boiler and the old charcoal BBQ will get a fresh coat of paint and new lease of life. All I can say to those who think gas tastes the same is go to the docs and get your taste buds tested, they aren't even close!

Jer

Totally agree, I got one last year from B&Q (New york) and it's crap.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Just burn it both sides, leave it raw inside with a slight taste of firelighter and its pretty much identical to charcoal.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Even veggie burgers taste good using this method

Gas BBQ's are sooooo wrong

Shark Man

Using Butane?

Bin it, its useless in this cold country. Need propane. Personally my fuel of choice is burning fanboy's iMacs

Also soak the lava rock in cooking oil, if its dry, its crap. If its a gas BBQ without lavalock, or synthetic lavarock, it'll also be crap.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Have you tried marinating them first? Delicious

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

gas bbq -why dont you get a corgi gas fitter in and have him make an extension to your cooker pipes and then put your cooker in the garden when you fancy a bbq because i think it is the same.

charcoal- easily the best ,even those throw away ones are great we sometimes buy them when we want a quick throw away no cleaning summer dinner

OllyK

Nope, it's propane, and it's still ****e

Tam the bam

Using a gas bbq is ghey, almost as ghey as having a gas patio heater! you need fire, real fire not gehy fire then you are sorted

Tam

Shark Man

Sod that for my weekly mid-morning bacon,sossies and 8minute Rib-Eye.

Maybe in the middle of a field somewhere. Usually with the odd car tyre thrown on for extra flavour.

Diesel

I agree that they TOTALLY miss the point of what a barbeque is meant to taste like. Mind you Gordon Ramsey has one - the lazy git

I have a Brinkman - you close the lid, adjust the flaps to keep it all at about 300 degrees and the food cooks in the smoke itself. Its an art and yum!

D

mightyyid

BBQ with gas is an art.

I have had both lava rocks version and flame tamers (currently using flame tamers) and both can give a great taste if you use them the right way. Both need a few uses to get going, since you need the flaming from the fat to create the smoke to get the taste. That's why it is always worth buying a BBQ and searing steaks (for example) for a minute both sides then putting them on the burners, with heat low, and letting the fat come off them causing flare-ups - this gives greats smoke and great taste.

Horses for courses - for me, with a nicely bedded in BBQ running on propane, nothing is greater than kids in bed, beer in hand, standing outside with the BBQ smoking. Top feeling.

Treat it well, burn off for 10 mins at the end of a cooking session and then, when cold, give it a spray with the right oil (I import stuff from Aus) or a wipe with olive oil and it will be nicely seasoned ready to go next time...

They do need time to bed in and thus give the best flavour...

dpb

Looked at an 'outback' bbq at local place for this sort of money , both charcoal and gas ( gas was the cheaper ) - they looked just fine and well made

in the end settled for a 25 pound clam- shell charcoal number which seems to do the buisness.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Best one I ever had was a camping gas one with lava-rock. Once "seasoned" it tasted just the same as charcoal.

We did have a charcaol one going too, as both were too small for 4 or 5 people. The charcoal one had a cast iron base, 4 sturdy steel legs, 3 shelf positions, stainless reflector back, and could be used on it's side for rotisserie'd chicken....it even had it's own rotisserie

All for €15.

Alcazar

Klaatu

Never had any touble with either, gas or charcoal...apart from burns, in many countries. One house I rented in Melbourne, had a main fired BBQ...that was pretty awesome!

Coffin Dodger

As mentioned gas is good once the lava rock has soaked up plenty of cooking oil / fat. Gets nice and smoky then with some flames too

It's the convenience of it I like, get home from work, fire it up, and in a few minutes its ready to cook on. Then when you're finished turn it off, let it cool, and put the cover back on. No hot charcoal / ash to worry about or BBQ to clean the next day.

Charcoal is better for taste though, will always use it on camping trips, and sometimes at home on the weekend.

sti-04!!

Just done the above. Great tip

Shark Man

I always burn off everything for 10-15mins after using then scrape and scrub down.

The griddles on my BBQ are cast iron, so need to be coated to stop them rusting and to stop food sticking. Fatty food does this for me, but lean meats, like sirloin or certain cuts of pork may require the griddles to be lightly basted if they dry out. Usually use olive oil for this (its whats handy).

Full clean is every 3-4 months, burn off, scrape down and scrub clean. And any ingrained stuff removed Teppanyaki style (hot griddles, water in a squeezy bottle and a damp cloth), then re-oiled.

Dream Weaver

We have one of those £40 half oil drum charcoal BBQ's and it's the best we've had by far, always provides a good cooking experience.

TopBanana

I got one of these for my birthday:
Smokin Pro BBQ Smoker

mightyyid

Not a problem - first time I've probabaly ever been useful on here!

Deep Singh

I'm investing in a Tandoori oven from The Clay Oven.

Temp in a good tandoor will get to 300-400 degs C.

Fresh Tandoori roti and chicken tikka whenever I want, I can' wait!