At present, the outdoor mainstream barbecue is charcoal-based, but more and more people have begun using the gas oven.
Below we sum up the advantages and disadvantages of the two, to help you make a choice.
Advantages of charcoal barbeque:
Charcoal barbeque fans will never go for the gas grill.
They do have a point: charcoal grills can heat up to a blistering 482 degrees Celsius on the surface of the meat, much hotter than standard gas grills without infrared burners.
With such a high temperature, the skins of the steaks and lamb chops can be turned into our favorite meringue while maintaining the red and pink color inside the meat.
Another significant advantage of charcoal roasting is smoke, which is an exciting by-product of combustion.
The smoke from charcoal contains a wide range of flavor molecules, especially when first ignited. The gas fuel is simply a molecule (CH4 is natural gas and C3H8 is liquid propane). They burn entirely, and it’s just water and carbon dioxide, no flavor.
Wood must be added to the gas oven to produce smoke. When the fat and juice of the food drips onto the burning charcoal, large amounts of smoke are created.
Smoke does not significantly alter the flavor of fast-cooking foods such as hot dogs, beef burgers, or even lean steaks if the encounter is only brief. In the thick steak and chicken chops, the flavor of the smoke can be felt.
If you use your barbeque oven for a long, low-temperature smoky roast, there is a noticeable difference in flavor. The smoke produced by the gas oven is very uniform in taste.
The disadvantage of charcoal roasting
Having said the two main advantages, let’s take a look at the disadvantages. Charcoal is a relatively high risk, and many residential buildings and fire stations restrict charcoal grills on balconies.
Carbon and Sparks can escape from the exit or flue of a grill. The gas oven, on the other hand, can be turned off by simply turning the knob.
Also, charcoal is dirty, difficult to light, usually takes 15 minutes or more to reach the desired temperature; can catch fire and Scorch food.
The heat of charcoal grilling is challenging to measure and control; it may slowly lose heat during long grilling. And the temperature won’t come down quickly; there will be dust, and it must be cleaned up. Charcoal grills rarely turn grills, and so on.
It does seem like there are a lot of problems. However, most of these problems can be solved. For example, gloves, shovels, and tongs are carefully handled to reduce confusion and risk.
If you use a vent and keep the charcoal dry, it’s not hard to keep the charcoal hot. And if you put charcoal on the side of the grill to create a two-zone barbecue setup, the fat from the meat won’t drip on the charcoal and start a fire.
Even with the fire, a squirt gun can take them out. Also, if you have an ashtray that can be removed, you can make the cleaning process much more manageable.
Yeah, charcoal barbeque takes more practice than gas barbeque. But if you master these skills, there are a few things you can’t do with charcoal barbeque.
Advantages of the gas oven:
After the charcoal grill, let’s look at the advantages of the gas grill. Gas ovens are easier to control and start and can be heated up in 10 to 15 minutes.
It’s easy to maintain a stable temperature, and it’s easy to heat or cool down. If you have two or more burners, it’s easy to set up a dual-zone barbecue.
Temperature control is critical for a good barbecue, and it’s easy to implement on an air grill. Gas grills are also easier to clean and are generally allowed to be used on balconies.
How about the gas oven? To the surprise of many, about 90% of the best BBQ restaurants worldwide use gas to heat up in their stoves and then use wood to enhance the flavor.
At a similar rate, the world’s most expensive steakhouses use gas to grill their prime steaks.
BBQ restaurants choose gas grills and home grills for the same reasons: convenience and control.
Steakhouses use the grill because they need a dark surface, which can be heated from above and below by a unique heater to get extra heat. Temperatures can reach between 426.7 and 648.8 degrees Celsius.
Unfortunately, a typical patio gas grill doesn’t generate that much heat. With a unique burner, it may reach 482 degrees Celsius on a small portion of food.
But most gas ovens have a temperature somewhere between 232.2 and 260. I highly recommend getting a unique burner if you’re buying a new one, especially if you’re always grilling steaks.
Although gas ovens are slightly better at maintaining a steady temperature, they are not perfect. The median on the controller might be 148.8 C on a hot day, 135 C on a 21 C day, or even 107 C on a cold, windy, or rainy day.
But if you’re familiar with your grill, it’s easy to control the temperature. On a grill with three burners, you might use a hot zone for roasting meat, a medium-hot zone for roasting vegetables, and a low zone for placing cooked food. The heat diffuser works well above the burner to prevent flames.
Gas grills are easier to clean, and most have oil pans that are pretty easy to empty, so the daily maintenance is scraping the grills.
Another advantage of gas ovens is that they usually have a more comprehensive range of accessories. Most have rotating grills and are highly recommended.
Some will have a side burner, also recommended, to keep the sauce hot or a barbecue side dish. You can also have night lights, side tables, and spice racks, storage drawers, bottle openers, some gas grills, and even Bluetooth.
Grills can be added to most gas grills, which significantly improves the grill by amplifying the heat, preventing flames from rising, and allowing you to place wood on the grills below the food.
The downside of gas ovens:
Some state-of-the-art gas ovens come with a sawdust smoking box, but most require you to make or place a wooden plate under the grill and close to the fire.
To prevent fires and safety concerns, most gas ovens have poorly sealed lids, so smoke leaks out and requires more wood than is necessary.
If not handled properly, the gas could explode. On the whole, though, gas ovens are relatively safe. In case of a problem, you can turn off the switch.
Water can condense and organize in freezing weather. The grease will be pushed under the burner and may catch fire if you don’t clean it up. This kind of fire would be tough to put out without a fire extinguisher suitable for grease fires.
Gas ovens are generally more expensive because the mechanisms are more complex and the assembly more complex. Have more accessories, will break down and need to be replaced. Another problem is that it’s hard to tell if the gas is going to burn out.
Many gas ovens don’t have solid burners or are small enough to cook one or two steaks at a time. It’s perfect for a family of two, but if you’re having a graduation party, you’re going to need more infrared burners.
Charcoal costs about the same as gas, and charcoal may be on sale. But those costs are nothing compared to the food.
Charcoal vs. Gas grill, Other Things Need Consider.
Before a BBQ party, you should buy a BBQ grill first, and the first point you need to think about is whether to buy a gas grill or just a traditional charcoal grill.
If you want a grill just for convenience, then a gas grill may be your best choice. The grill will be ready to cook food for you just with a simple flick of a switch.
So, that must be the best choice for these time-poor people. On the switch side, the handier this grill, the less smokey the food flavor can be.
For most people, this may not matter, but for those users who want to get their food with authentic BBQ taste, then it’s better to buy a charcoal grill. Still, there also is a lot of work to do for this smokey flavor.
Taking and piling the briquettes, working on lighting the barbeque grill, and waiting for it to start will be time-consuming.
A gas grill can get changeable heat, and it can cook more smoothly flavored foods such as vegetables or fish, which an extremely smoked flavor may ruin. However, the charcoal that can get the heat of 700 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the best temperate for searing, is generally regarded as the best way to cook a steak.
The convenience of the gas grills also goes on when it is time to clean food away. Just turn off the switch and then brush over the grill quickly with a metal brush, and your work is done, different from a charcoal grill, which needs more time to cool and be cleaned up.
It would help if you also considered where your grill is going to sit in your backyard. With a gas grill, you may run a risk of having flare-ups, and therefore it should be placed in safe areas that are far enough away from any materials which could easily catch fire.
If you are limited in space, using a charcoal grill will produce almost no open fire. And charcoal grills will also be far more portable than gas grills, perfect for these trips down to vacations or the beach.
Different types of grill get different prices depending on the specification. Gas grills may cost you from $100 to $1,500, but these are the most popular, which cost around the $300 bracket. You can easily buy a charcoal grill for just a little as $15, but someone may cost as high as $450.
Although gas grills will cost you a little more, they can generally cook for you for much longer. You may need to give some more maintenance to the gas grill to be used for more years than the charcoal one, which will usually have to be replaced every year or two.
Ultimately, choosing charcoal grills and gas grills comes down to convenience, price, and taste. It would help if you considered all of them before you make your decision.
Finally, Charcoal vs. Gas grill, how do we choose?
If you want to go out, to no accident, no chaos, very simple barbecue, recommended buying with infrared burner gas oven.
If you like the taste of red meat and smoke, no doubt, buy charcoal. If taste is the most crucial consideration, purchase charcoal.
If you have the budget and space, I recommend buying both. So poultry, fish, vegetables, pizza, bread, and fast-cooking food are baked in the gas oven, and all the red meat is cooked in a charcoal oven.
Of course, you can also choose some barbecue side is gas, and the side is a combination of charcoal, let the advantages of both barbecue.