Before I go and spend my children’s inheritance Gas or Charcoal BBQ ?

I’m not a BBQing man so this would be our first one bar disposable type

Budget £60ish I have gas cylinders already.

Many thanks in advance

Only ever used charcoal, gas BBQ is just cooking outside. However I can see the attraction when it comes to “impulse BBQs”.

Charcoal

Weber charcoal.

MAN MAKE FIRE! MAN COOK* MEAT!

*or in the case of a good steak, man shows meat the fire, then serves it not beyond the help of a good vet.

Charcoal. More fiddly and messy but tastes better when you learn how to grill on coals properly.

Gas. Much less of a PITA so you’ll use it more and easier to control the temperature.

charcoal (never had any trouble with it and wouldn’t consider it “fiddly”)

gas BBQ is just cooking outside

Yep.

Charcoal, but your barbe must have a lid and controllable air flow, to cook properly.

Charcoal.

Gas is an outside hob.

Charcoal=BBQ
Gas=Grill

If you just want a job outside then go ahead, just don’t pretend it’s something it’s not.

Plus, if you run out of charcoal, you can improvise with wood from your STW mandated log burner.

Charcoal. Just bought me a new Weber go anywhere.

Charcoal. More fiddly and messy but tastes better when you learn how to grill on coals properly.

You can BBQ or grill with either gas or charcoal, but grilling and BBQing aren’t the same thing. IME, gas is easier to control the heat, so I’d choose gas for BBQing. However, I’ve never used a high-end charcoal set-up, I imagine they would be pretty awesome.

BBQ versus grill

Edit: Useful comparison of gas versus charcoal

Charcoal. Just bought me a new Weber go anywhere.

got one of these recently; awesome for beach BBQ! Probably want something a bit bigger for doing family meals at home though. If you go charcoal make sure you get a chimney starter – takes all the faff out of lighting & means you can start cooking a lot quicker!

Cooking properly with charcoal is more difficult but satisfying IMO. Gas makes sense though if you just want to get food cooked without having to think about it.

The fact that you’re asking the question suggests that you’ll find gas more preferable 😉

You can also do veg 😀

What’s the point of a gas barbecue?

If you want to do that, just make everyone sit outside and when you use your kitchen hob open the window so you can talk to your guests. Same effect as a gas barbecue at zero cost.

Gas convert.
Much easier to chuck some meat on midweek and lava coals mean you still get good smokey flavour.
Also no need to clean ash.

If you decide on gas the Aldi ones were on offer midweek in store. Worth a look at.

Charcoal if you’ve got the time but gas is quicker/more controllable and you’ll use it loads more – I chuck bacon on it for a butty in the morning, do garlic bread on it, all sorts of stuff.

If your limit is £60 then I’d go charcoal as cheap gas would be ‘disappointing’.

Gas for me..

Charcoal. Anything else isn’t BBQ.

charcoal

Weber charcoal at home and Weber gas for camping. Prefer charcoal but gas is quicker and the the Weber gas has an optional griddle which is great for a fry up breakfast.

After 25 years of charcoal I swapped to gas this year ( Weber Q)

I should have swapped years ago!

It’s so much easier to regulate the heat, no messing starting the coal, simpler to clean after and no messy dead coals!

As for the taste my family have noticed the difference and they are happier.

Sorry gas for me

Listen to Hank
y’all

Do you want an outdoor griddle or a BBQ? I think how you view a BBQ is fundamental to how you fuel it.

If you want to be cooking outdoors a lot, easy and quick to heat up and less faff the answer is gas.

If you want that traditional smokey flavour and are prepared to concentrate on making the right fire and adapting your cooking accordingly then I think a charcoal BBQ (ime) gives the best smokey, man+fire outcome. BUT it’s so much easier to burn everything and leave the middle raw if you are not patient and don’t adapt how you cook.

We’ve got a B&Q kettle charcoal BBQ. I never find it inconvenient. Light it, prep everything else then cook on it.

If you go for charcoal having a good lighting routine/technique is a must.

You want to be able to get it going reliably. A lighting chimney with fire starter blocks is one way but good basic fire lighting and a stock of kindling will work well too.

Between April and September we BBQ probably one out of every two dry weeks at some point over the weekend. We do veg as well as meat on there.

If we had gas as well we would possibly cook more outdoors in the week but my experience of going to other houses for gas BBQ food is it doesn’t smoke in the same way (still make tasty food just it’s more like indoor food) so for me only one BBQ means charcoal because otherwise I can do dinner in the kitchen and walk down the garden with it.

I reckon charcoal are overall more pricey than gas from a fuel perspective.

I am probably totally biased as I was fortunate enough to be a scout and was therefore trusted to cook on wood fires and BBQ s from my early teens. If you can cook two meals a day for a week on an open fire then charcoal is a doddle.

Not cheap gas! We got given one and it was horrid. Really non-uniform heat distribution. Rancid greasy residue on the lava rock…..gross. I’m sure decent gas ones are fine, but for cheap and cheerful it has to be charcoal.

Weber, charcoal.

Love all the comments about gas BBQ just like cooking outside. That’s right, well done. Those of that opinion maybe don’t cook with gas. As someone who probably has at least one BBQ per week, either on charcoal Weber or a gas BBQ with lava rock I do see myself favouring gas these days for the reasons most have highlighted. Very little difference in flavour if done right with lava rock, chips etc.

I just got a gas BBQ. I like it cos I am much more likely to use it, and once I have convinced the Mrs that BBQ food isn’t burnt cheap burgers I will get something a bit more adventurous. Might well go charcoal for that.

Gas, all BBQ is just cooking outside. 90% of people simply want to cook the food – most have no concept of smoking things etc.

Gas is faster, you will use it more. It’s more controllable so you can cook on time, it’s cleaner, it’s great for things that get smokey so you can just do them outside any time of the year.

I’d happily cook something for the charcoal snobs and see if they could tell the difference but you will have pay your own flights 😉

I use wood

We’ve had 33 BBQs (yes gf records them) this year. Use it as much as we can.

It’s gas. A Weber spirit thingy.

We just wouldn’t have done that with coals.

The quality of the meat and how well you cook it is the overriding flavour giver.

That said I can see the appeal of charcoal for one BBQ a year.

Once again for people that are too set in their ways to read a link

went to gas(weber Q2200) after being a staunch charcoaler for years.

gas has a couple of advantages for me.

1 . takes no planning. Ie i can be doing something – decided to BBQ what ever it is we are eating and be BBQing it in about 10 minutes. + finding good quality coals was always an issue in november….

2. Its portable – in that it heats up and cools down quickly that i can put it in the van and take with.

3. Much easier to clean , gets a pressure wash once every couple of months.

With the addition of the smoker box and a DIY heat deflection plate & some hickory chips ive smoked up some real nice stuff.

At work we have a charcoal braai and it works fine but it takes 2 hrs to get it up to temperature (tis a huge lump of steel)

Over the years we’ve had gas and charcoal, but this last year we’ve got one of these
https://www.andrewjamesworldwide.com/kitchen-c1/kitchen-electricals-c7/raclettes-grills-c48/andrew-james-teppanyaki-electric-table-grill-p170
So far, I would’nt go back to gas or charcoal.

Charcoal for me, had a relatively cheap Outback which was crap. I but would happily switch to gas if I could afford the quality of BBQ you need to sear meat properly and not have constant flaming. when the fat starts to run off the meat.

Heart says charcoal, head says gas.

After years of using a Weber charcoal BBQ< I swapped to a gas one and, whilst it is not as much fun to cook on, it is far more convenient. You don’t have to wait for the col to heat up. You don’t have to burn a fiver’s worth of briquettes very time you fancy a steak…

The obvious answer is both! The important thing about bbq’ing is the social experience and enjoyment if basic cooking as much as it is the food.
I only use charcoal to grill, bbq and smoke food although I certainly don’t look down on anyone who chooses gas. Reading the link on the last page, I “cook” pretty much everything indirectly with the lid down before searing with the lid up. All of my bbq/grill/whatever is cooked through and not burned!
Having charcoal bbq’s encourages me to put more effort into preparing my food so i make burgers, sauces, rubs etc. Not sure id put that level of effort into cooking on a gas hob.
I’m looking for a good sausage maker if anyone has any recommendations!

Gas for me too. Had several charcoal BBQ’s of various costs, a cheap gas and now a Weber.
Having 2 small kids who love a ‘bbq’, it’s so much quicker and easier to fire up the barby and slap some food on it.