We used to live in the sunny south – before having kids we had a big south facing garden, and would routinely cook outdoors on the deck, using a gas bbq to grill stuff. Since moving to Scotland 12 years ago, having more kids, fighting with midges, cooking on the bbq became an infrequent thing, having to clean all the cast iron plates, and to pull the spiders out of the stove a couple of times a year.

Recently went back and bought a new weber, currently cooking on charcoal a coupe of times a week – firestarter chimney brings things up to speed quick enough, tastes fantastic (we’ve learnt to use the cover on a charcoal bbq, so this could be technique). Overall, man make fire isa lot more pleasure – if you have the time (and at a price point of £60) I would be getting charcoal.

Chicken Teriyaki last night on bbq – nom

Assuming the post lets me see the picture – which it might not..

Quick Q….those on gas BBQ’s (specifically Weber), do you use the flavoured wood chips?
Looking to improve my cooking/flavours and thought these might add a little bit of flavour.

Looking to improve my cooking/flavours and thought these might add a little bit of flavour.

that was mostly done with the contents of the kitchen cupboards before hand.

Weber charcoal here for £64 (reduced from £80): http://www.bbqworld.co.uk/weber-barbecues/charcoal/weber-compact-47cm-charcoal-bbq-black.asp

Yup, a good marinade or rub will help a lot with flavour. Try putting your meat in the fridge overnight with your desired spices, some olive oil and a bay leaf or two.

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.

On that it was probably the other way around for me,knowing I had a controllable cooking temp and variety with heat etc. I’d probably put way more effort into the food for gas, could do a huge variety of stuff on it for one meal.

Look at it this way.

Man fires up gas BBQ and gets to work straight away.

Man lights charcoal then drinks beer whilst BBQ heats up.

No contest.

Man/Woman preps food with a beer/glass of wine, turns on BBQ, cooks food and chills out? Contest?

If you’re going to buy a Weber kettle, please take my advice and get the bigger one with the gourmet system thing. Its a pleasure to use and people can buy you the inserts (sear griddle, wok, rotisserie etc etc) for presents.

on that it was probably the other way around for me,knowing I had a controllable cooking temp and variety with heat etc. I’d probably put way more effort into the food for gas, could do a huge variety of stuff on it for one meal.

That’s equally as valid! I dunno, I just took more pride cooking over coal. It’s undeniably harder to get good results and takes a lot of practice but satisfying when you make something really good!

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.

That’s where you’re wrong. I cook with gas all the time. In my kitchen.

last time i put a steak on the gas hob without a pan it didnt end well.

That’s where you’re wrong. I cook with gas all the time. In my kitchen.

What you lay food out on top of your gas hob? How very strange

last time i put a steak on the gas hob without a pan it didnt end well.

Sounds like you need some cooking lessons.

What you lay food out on top of your gas hob? How very strange

No, I lay my food out on my charcoal BBQ. I don’t own an outdoor grilling device because I have a grill and a hob in my house.

well i dont use a pan on my gas bbq so i figured if i wanted to replicate the experiance in doors i shouldnt use a pan there either ?

well i dont use a pan on my gas bbq so i figured if i wanted to replicate the experiance in doors i shouldnt use a pan there either ?

Your gas BBQ doesn’t have a grill?

well it does – but when i turned the grill upside down in the kitchen the clock didnt read right and the controls were at the bottom. and when the fat dripping onto the element to smoke up and give it flavour and flames it shorted out the electrics.

well it does – but when i turned the grill upside down in the kitchen the clock didnt read right and the controls were at the bottom. and when the fat dripping onto the element to smoke up and give it flavour and flames it shorted out the electrics.

It all sounds like a bit of a compromise. Given that you’re looking to create smoke for flavour, I wonder if there are any other options that might do the job better?

Aye your right I bought a gas BBQ and a smoker box then put it in the garden.

Now the clock reads the right time and my food tastes indistinguishable to the charcoal food I used to do.

Spending a year in nz and Oz where gas is king for the daily BBQ was my education. Realised I really couldn’t tell the difference when a good cook was on the tongs

But haters gonna hate

Aye your right I bought a gas BBQ and a smoker box then put it in the garden.

Undoubtedly there are more expensive and involved ways of recreating the effect of a cheap and simple charcoal bbq.

aye 12 quid. broke my heart uses much less hickory to create the smoke than the ongoing cost and hassle of sourcing decent charcoal over the garage grade chemical infused crap.

Blimey! Calm down.

Trailr_rat votes gas and Ransons Charcoal.

aye 12 quid.

You got a gas bbq for £12? I expect the gas bottles are free as well.

Look at it this way.

Man fires up gas BBQ and gets to work straight away.

Man lights charcoal then drinks beer whilst BBQ heats up.

No contest.

Man (or woman) get’s home from work at 7:30 and want’s to enjoy the last of the sunshine without waiting till 9:30 for £5 of coal to burn to cook his £1 burger.

Gas BBQ’s are great, I can have a BBQ whilst doing the garden/bike maintenance at the weekend without getting shitfaced waiting for it to warm up!

Alternatively, I can get sozzled and socialise, then have a BBQ, rather than try and multitask.

Man (or woman) get’s home from work at 7:30 and want’s to enjoy the last of the sunshine without waiting till 9:30 for £5 of coal to burn to cook his £1 burger.

I suppose that it might take a couple of hours to burn through a whole bag of charcoal, and in fairness, you can be sure that your cheap burger will be thoroughly cooked.

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

I started reading the link, and decided my original “gas bbq is just cooking outdoors” opinion is correct.

Also, smoky charcoal bbqs will repel midges a bit, which is useful in Scotland.

Disclaimer – I’m vegetarian so I’ll be building a wood fired pizza oven when I have the time and find a good gluten free pizza dough recipe to keep my (coeliac) wife happy.

I suppose that it might take a couple of hours to burn through a whole bag of charcoal, and in fairness, you can be sure that your cheap burger will be thoroughly cooked.

Rest assured my burgers are still hand patted on the thighs of virgins from 120% organic beef from cattle kept warm by a mixture of wood burning stoves (using responsibly sourced wood) an their future eaters sense of smugness in winter.

I just can’t afford to shop at Fortnum and Masson at the moment so have to substitute with supermarket mince .

£5 of coal to burn to cook his £1 burger.

I see the argument for both, but come on now. Anyone who burns £5 of coal to cook a burger is an idiot and should probably not be allowed control of either a gas or charcoal cooking device, or sharp thing such as pens and screwdrivers.

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/proddetail.asp?PROD=HB16KG&partner=fr&gclid=COG2w4Cp29QCFUy77QodVLkEyg

£1.75/kilo. Great stuff, but there are cheaper and good options.

I just can’t afford to shop at Fortnum and Masson at the moment so have to substitute with supermarket mince .

I mince my own from the butcher’s chuck steak. You get a better texture and nicer flavour than from using supermarket mince, which is usually too lean and minced too finely to make anything close to a decent burger.

The best burgers I have cooked were 70% butchers mince (Morrisons since you ask, but very much like Ransos’ recipe, dark red and very fatty) and 30% bacon (beaten up in the processor). Nothing else, and they took to being flipped very well.

Oh, and if wallop is still reading; Home sense have the Pitt Cue book at £8 reduced from £25. One of the better BBQ books I have. Which I paid full price for a year ago……

Man (or woman) get’s home from work at 7:30 and want’s to enjoy the last of the sunshine without waiting till 9:30 for £5 of coal to burn to cook his £1 burger.

Who is this silly man (or woman) who’s wasting the precious summer away?! Personally I ride home in the glorious sunshine & get in about 5.30 then fire up the coals with a chimney starter (google it as you’ve obviously never heard of one) which takes 15 minutes tops. 🙂

Depends what you are planning to cook and when I think.

I have a reasonable 4 burner gas BBQ (from Homebase – in a sale for about £200 and made of stainless steel) and a 46cm Webber kettle charcoal BBQ.

If I’m just cooking a quick bit of food in the week for the wife and I, or I’m cooking for quite a few people then it’s gas all the way (sometimes supplemented with charcoal as well).

If I’m cooking something special or for 4 or so people and I have time I’ll use charcoal. It’s especially good for slow cooking joints of meat with an initial seat over direct heat, then the majority of the cooking over indirect heat.

No matter what anyone says I find food cooked on charcoal tastes more special / bbq’d. I have flavour bars on the gas BBQ and have experimented with smoker boxes but it’s not quite the same. Although food on the gas BBQ does taste more bbq’d than something on the hob / in the oven etc.

If you go charcoal make sure it has a lid, and also buy yourself a BBQ chimney starter for lighting the coals. They really work and make starting charcoal bbqs pretty much foolproof.

Don’t listen to anyone who tries to tell you gas is just like cooking on a hob outdoors – clearly it isn’t as you are cooking with flames, not a hot pan.

£60 isn’t a great budget for either type of BBQ – think the Webber I have is about £100 unless you find a sale and the gas BBQ was a lot more than the budget you’ve set.

Decide which fuel type you want to use and hunt the sales online and see what you can get. End of the summer is better for this – I got my Webber for £49 in a sale a couple of years ago.

Charcoal, and wood..

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

As a farmer mate of mine would say when asked how he’d like his steak done..’take off the horns and wipe it’s arse’.

Charcoal everytime op.

This may be pedantry of the highest degree but BBQ needs to be an indirect heat (charcoal to one side (or both sides)of the BBQ and the food not in direct contact, or the gas burners only set for one side of the BBQ) and the lid closed.
Cooking over direct heat with no lid is grilling.

I have a weber charcoal – the one touch GBS big kettle – and I use it mainly to indirect cook big pieces of meat with lots of smoke – just eaten a salad with the remains of the brisket I smoked for 5 hours yesterday. It obviously grills very well too.
I also have a Cadac which I use as a gas grill and also have the griddle and other attachments.

The gas is really quick and easy to cook a steak etc so the kitchen does’t get all smelly etc, still a decent charred and smokey taste. But the true, intense, BBQ flavour only comes from it’s partner in crime.

Even if you don’t want to do indirect cooking/smoking etc a lid really helps to speed things up and you can also buy a pizza stone and get some really good results – almost as good as dedicated pizza ovens

Don’t waste money on charcoal things, dig a hole in the ground, get those disposable one offs, charcoal for the beach, out camping whatever, at home it’s Gas, handy for when your brand new all singing all dancing electric induction hub keeps blowing the house electrics over Christmas when the entire family is down.

For many years I used to gas barbecue the Christmas Turkey (big bird for 8 of us) tasted way better than the conventional oven, we had one of those Outdoor Chefs, marvellous device.