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Charcoal Grills


DanCole42

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Maybe gas then? No lugging of anything with these guys actually. Been using them for several years with no trouble. Their tag line should resonate with you: "Stop lugging that tank!" Or, in your case, don't start? :-)

https://www.propanetaxi.com

I concur - Propane Taxi is great.  Also, I find myself using the grill far more often than when I had to do charcoal. But I love both fuels.

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I have both charcoal and gas grills. The gas grill gets more use because of its convenience. I prefer the flavors produced by cooking with charcoal/wood, but when I get home from work on a week night and have about 30 minutes to put food on the table, the gas grill just makes sense. Like Marks up thread, I'm fortunate enough to have my Weber Genesis, which is at least 8 years old, hooked up to a natural gas line. Maybe I would forsake charcoal if I could generate smoke reliably with gas. I know you should be able to do this with wood chips encased in foil, but the one time I tried the chips didn't burn. Not sure what I did wrong -- should try again.

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I have both charcoal and gas grills. The gas grill gets more use because of its convenience. I prefer the flavors produced by cooking with charcoal/wood, but when I get home from work on a week night and have about 30 minutes to put food on the table, the gas grill just makes sense. Like Marks up thread, I'm fortunate enough to have my Weber Genesis, which is at least 8 years old, hooked up to a natural gas line. Maybe I would forsake charcoal if I could generate smoke reliably with gas. I know you should be able to do this with wood chips encased in foil, but the one time I tried the chips didn't burn. Not sure what I did wrong -- should try again.

Pretty much exactly how we think about it though rely on propane tanks versus the gas line.  I'm not sure I'd even waste time trying to get the gas grill to produce food like a charcoal grill.  Maybe the wrong way for me to think about it but it's like veggie burgers or meatloaf....vegetables are awesome and so versatile so why try to fake meat products with them?

Because the gas grill is so convenient, might be best for us to go lower cost on the charcoal grill (kettle) versus the BGE but have been noodling that decision for way too long.

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I have both charcoal and gas grills. The gas grill gets more use because of its convenience. I prefer the flavors produced by cooking with charcoal/wood, but when I get home from work on a week night and have about 30 minutes to put food on the table, the gas grill just makes sense. Like Marks up thread, I'm fortunate enough to have my Weber Genesis, which is at least 8 years old, hooked up to a natural gas line. Maybe I would forsake charcoal if I could generate smoke reliably with gas. I know you should be able to do this with wood chips encased in foil, but the one time I tried the chips didn't burn. Not sure what I did wrong -- should try again.

I have had some minor success with smoking in the gas grill. Smoking food is something I am more or less a neophyte though.  But we still use the Weber kettle when we have time to play on the weekends from time to time. Gas is just so darn convenient though.

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*sigh* the downside of HOA-governed ownership is electric-only. Has anyone tried electric grills?

Yes, and it was very slow to heat up and never got hot enough to cook much of anything. Admittedly, this was about 20 years ago and the electric grill was subbed for a simple Weber kettle--which we inherited and still use.

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*sigh* the downside of HOA-governed ownership is electric-only. Has anyone tried electric grills?

Is your stove electric also? Not a very elegant solution but I once had an apartment with similar restrictions so I just didn't have an outdoor grill. Wasn't worth getting fined sneaking a small charcoal kettle onto a terrace and didn't like the electric options, though, like Barbara, this was years ago.

Anyway, that experience led me to a discovery we still use today when the weather outside is really a bear. A two-burner, heavy, cast-iron grill for indoor grilling. We get great results with it.

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Anyway, that experience led me to a discovery we still use today when the weather outside is really a bear. A two-burner, heavy, cast-iron grill for indoor grilling. We get great results with it.

I'd like more information about your indoor grill.

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I'd like more information about your indoor grill.

Gosh, I'm not even sure what brand it is. Lodge maybe? Have had it about ten years. It covers two burners on a standard 4-burner stove. We have a gas stove hence my question for goodeats; not sure if it would perform any differently on an electric stove but wouldn't think so.

Wanting to be more helpful, just took a look and measured it. It's about 20" by 10.5", and an inch thick. Heavy. It is a Lodge and I can make out a patent number if you let me know you'd like that. One side is a flat griddle (great for pancakes!) and the other side a raised, ribbed grill surface perfect to get crosshatch lines on steaks and all the rest.

We love it for indoor grilling because it easily chars meats and veggies like outside. You have to take care of it as with any cast iron (mostly easy cleaning and seasoning) to prevent rust or excessive smoke but it pays you back for that very minimal effort by retaining and distributing higher heat beautifully.

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Because the gas grill is so convenient, might be best for us to go lower cost on the charcoal grill (kettle) versus the BGE but have been noodling that decision for way too long.

I went the inexpensive Weber kettle route for charcoal (only on the 2nd one in nearly 30 years). I can't justify the cost of a BGE nor do I want to suffer the hernia that would result from moving one of those beasts :wacko: . The kettle is difficult to use as a smoker (I've only tried ribs); supposedly the BGE is better suited to smoking. But then I could buy a dedicated smoker and still have enough money left over, relative to the BGE price, to buy a truck load of pork butts and ribs.

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I went the inexpensive Weber kettle route for charcoal (only on the 2nd one in nearly 30 years). I can't justify the cost of a BGE nor do I want to suffer the hernia that would result from moving one of those beasts :wacko: . The kettle is difficult to use as a smoker (I've only tried ribs); supposedly the BGE is better suited to smoking. But then I could buy a dedicated smoker and still have enough money left over, relative to the BGE price, to buy a truck load of pork butts and ribs.

If you shell out the dough for a BGE, someone is probably delivering it for you. :-)

I've been passively researching a BGE for a couple of years. Some here on the site have them and have posted their experiences. Have read a bunch online and visited a couple of shops. Have had opportunity to dine with experienced and noobie BGE-owning friends. Even attended one BGE event. My conclusions? Still undecided personally but absolutely only makes sense if a buyer plans to smoke or wants to develop that skill. Buying it just as a charcoal/wood grill seems silly.

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I went the inexpensive Weber kettle route for charcoal (only on the 2nd one in nearly 30 years). I can't justify the cost of a BGE nor do I want to suffer the hernia that would result from moving one of those beasts :wacko: . The kettle is difficult to use as a smoker (I've only tried ribs); supposedly the BGE is better suited to smoking. But then I could buy a dedicated smoker and still have enough money left over, relative to the BGE price, to buy a truck load of pork butts and ribs.

Have you seen this? Might be just the thing to smoke on a kettle grill.

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No. It's intriguing. Thanks for sharing.

I love my Smokenator. I've done brisket, pulled pork, and bacon with it. Highly, highly recommended.

If memory serves, the inventor died of lung cancer, so you know he was an expert. (fuck cancer, but still)

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I imagine the cost of the charcoal alone would make it hard to use it regularly, but if your space permits it, it makes really awesome stuff, depending on the charcoal.

The cheapest 5 lb bag is $50, expensive but might be worth a try. Honestly, I was curious about the binchotan since it's grill temperature is high. How much would be needed to say cook a few lbs of fish or chicken using it with something like the Lodge Sportman's Charcoal Grill?

I guess it's been such a long time that I've grilled with charcoal (gas for the last twenty years), hard to gauge how much would be used. Does maximum grill temperature for various kinds of charcoal make a difference?

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Does maximum grill temperature for various kinds of charcoal make a difference?

Some quick Googling tells me that Japanese charcoal burns cooler, but for longer and with basically no smoke or smell. My guess (not knowing much about it) would be that it would really only have a niche application and that the quality of the ingredients and the skill of the cook will have a much greater impact than the charcoal used (unless you're using really shit charcoal - not like cow pies, but like just really bad charcoal).

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Some quick Googling tells me that Japanese charcoal burns cooler, but for longer and with basically no smoke or smell. My guess (not knowing much about it) would be that it would really only have a niche application and that the quality of the ingredients and the skill of the cook will have a much greater impact than the charcoal used (unless you're using really shit charcoal - not like cow pies, but like just really bad charcoal).

Thanks for searching! My basic research revealed the same just was optimistic that perhaps someone, non-professional, may have tried it at home. Like Darkstar965, I've been thinking about getting some kind of charcoal grill over the past few years, just haven't pulled the trigger on a good starting place yet.

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I just bought a 2nd home in Annapolis and need to but a LP gas grill.  I'm inclined to get another Weber 6-670, anyone have any other recommendations on a godo, large, gas grill that I can use 3-4 times/week.

Thanks

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I just bought a 2nd home in Annapolis and need to but a LP gas grill.  I'm inclined to get another Weber 6-670, anyone have any other recommendations on a godo, large, gas grill that I can use 3-4 times/week.

Thanks

I really like my Napoleon grill.  Quality is similar to Weber and the price was quite a bit less.  Make sure you get the one's made in Canada though. Supposedly they hold up much better.

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I bought the Napoleon and will be cooking on it starting June 19th.  It cost about the same as my weber and is larger.  It can hold two 1/2 sheet pans on the grill while also allowing rooming to grill proteins.

I can tell that a Big Green Egg will soon be next to it.

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I bought the Napolean 665 a few weeks ago and it actually kicks ass on my Weber Summit S670.   Bigger and badder.  I am able to cook at least 2 1/2sheet trays of potatos or vegies while still having tons of space to grill.

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Husband got fake-BGE for Father's day (his request).

http://www.amazon.com/Char-Griller-16620-Kamado-Charcoal-Barbecue/dp/B00GJEPTJS

We love it. When I purchased it, it was $50 less than the listed price but I guess Amazon has to pay for PrimeDay somehow.

Anyway, I love home-smoked salmon. Our neighbor has a real BGE and this Akorn makes equally great "fish-meat" as my son calls smoked salmon. Husband has mastered chicken legs too; done them a few different ways but not red-meat.  Neighbor does a great flank steak so I think we should try that next.

It is heavy. Really heavy.  The box sat on our porch for about 3 days before a team moved it into the garage  (okay 2 people; but still).

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