Gas or Charcoal???

Isn't that an interesting question? Kind of like "would you like paper or plastic?" but not quite that easy of a decision. Well, it may be if your decision making skills are either "white" or "black". Your thoughts may be something like this, "I prefer the savory flavor of Charcoal grilling" or "I much more prefer the easy grilling and clean up of Gas". There may also be a few other motivating factors in your decision, so I will give you a few "pros" and "cons" of each method so that you can make an educated one.

Food cooked on charcoal grills is without a question better tasting than cooking on a gas grill. This is the single most motivating factor in die-hard charcoal grillers. The cost is the other motivating factor. You can find a cheap charcoal grill for about $20 and a nice one for about $50+. Portability is also a good thing about charcoal grills. You can find really cheap portable grills to take on family outings and also have a blast while grilling at the same time. On the other hand, charcoal grills are harder to start. You have one of two options: first, buy MatchLight and have the starter fluid already soaked into the briquettes, or the old fashion way of doing this is to manually soak the coals with starter fluid and then hope for an even coat. After getting it started you need to wait until there are no more flames until you can start cooking. Also, cleanup can be a nightmare if you are not careful. Ashes, grease, and coals need to be cleaned up after each and every time you use your grill and they aren't easy to remove from clothing.

Gas grills on the other hand don't have the "savory" flavor that charcoal does. It's kind of like eating a bunch of french fries without salt or ketchup, sort of bland in my opinion. Good luck with finding a cheap gas grill for less than $100. Really nice ones run into the $1000's. Unless you have a Ford Extra Heavy Duty Crew Cab you can forget about taking that gas grill anywhere but your back porch. If you run out of gas then you are out of luck my friend, especially if it’s after business hours. Gas grills do have many pros about them though. To start out, with a gas grill all you have to do is turn on the gas and press a little red button. You can also better adjust the temperature with a manual flame control. For example, you can have one side on hot cooking your well-done burgers, while another side is on medium cooking your medium burgers. The cleanup is quite easy, just let it warm up and then wipe it down. No mess is involved.

So I guess it really boils down to are you looking for flavor and cost, or easy use and easy cleanup? The decision is yours so make an educated one. Good Luck!

Verse of the Day: Psalm 32:1 "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!"