Gas barbecues can give you that authentic charcoal BBQ flavour
Advantages
- Clean.
- Convenient.
- Fast to come to cooking temperature.
- Easy to light.
- Controllable even temperature over the whole grill.
- Quick and easy to clean.
- They don’t reach as high a temperature as the charcoal grills so are more suited to food which needs a longer cooking time, such as chicken and large joints of meat on the rotisserie.
- If you run out of fuel it only takes a couple of minutes to change a gas bottle and resume cooking; unlike charcoal which can take up to 15 minutes to come back to temperature after adding more coals.
Disadvantages
- Don’t get that authentic smokey BBQ flavour. This can be overcome with the Weber barbecues which have Flavorizer Bars. These fit over the gas jets and produce a small amount of smoke when hit by the dripping fat.
- Can’t use the flavoured wood chips. If you have a Weber BBQ with Flavorizer Bars you can get a Smoker Box which fits over the bars and imparts a traditional BBQ flavoured smoke; it can be used with any of the Weber flavoured Wood Chips.
- They don’t normally reach the high temperatures required to get the caramelised sear marks on your steak. On the Weber barbecues which can accommodate the Gourmet Barbecue System you can insert a Sear Grate which will give you these lovely marks.
- On some of the cheaper gas models the in-built thermometers are not very reliable.
- Gas bottles are usually heavier than charcoal, if you are planning on taking the BBQ out into the countryside.
- Gas barbecues are more expensive to buy and maintain than charcoal.
- Flare ups can be a problem with fat hitting the gas jets and eventually clogging them. This can be overcome by fitting Flavorizer Bars to the Weber BBQs, which not only protect the jets but also give that characteristic smokey BBQ flavour.
For more information on barbecuing just get in touch with our expert team in The Barbecue Shop here in store or check out our Youtube channel.
