The Great Grill Debate

There’s nothing wrong with having both.
I have house gas on a grill and a charcoal/wood smoker/grill.
Between those two, I make every thing from my own bacon, smoked fish for dip to nicely done veggies.

To digress a bit, I've been drooling over this smoker for a while. I believe thety're available at Cabela's.

A friend out in Kansas city has one and produced the first brisket I ever liked. The ribs and pork shoulder he made with it were some of the best I ever had.

Pro - Charcol/wood burning grills make the flavor of what you're cooking MUCH better than gas.

Pro - personal preference, I like the smell of the whole charcol/wood experience. - (even the lighter fluid)

Pro - you can get a decent charcoal grill for WAY cheaper than a gas one...

Con - about 45min from lighting the match to putting the meat on the grill.

Con - you need more brains to work with coal or wood. the fire isnt adjustable with a knob. You need to either adjust the height of the grate, or douse the fire with your beer..

Con - when you're done cooking, you can turn off your gas grill and in 10 min or so, it'll be cool and safe. A charcoal/wood burner needs to be paid attention to until it burns itself out.

Con - hauling ash.

I like both.

I think billy sums it up perfectly.

We've never used anything but charcoal grills, and I don't forsee my hubby changing his stance on that one anytime in the near future either. Yes, it is more time consuming, but MMMMMMMMMMM, it's time well spent!

I managed to pick up an end of season deal on one a few years back and although it's seen it's better days, it's still one amazing grill!

I also agree with the fact that billy summed it all up perfectly!

I have the perfect solution for you dilema. I received as a gift last year the Char Griller Duo. One half is gas, the other half is charcoal. I like it because if you are having people over and want a nice cookout, you can use the charcoal. On the other hand, if you want to make a quick meal, just turn on the gas. I also added the side smoker, which allows you to do all day smokings, and purchased the custom cover. The cover cost less than $20, which is cheaper than an aftermarket cover, and it fits like a glove. I got it from Lowe's on special order and they assembled it, which I highly recomend. I also see that Meijer is carrying them.

Here is a pic and the website
http://www.chargriller.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=29&osCsid=dd9c20ab451e24b7848407b4eacd0fbe

Holy Cow! How much did you pay for something like that?

Well, I got it as a gift. I think it was around $400, which may seem high but is fair compared to the cost of other grills. The side smoker that I added was $45, and I used a $10 Lowe's coupon. The cover, like I mentioned was around $20 via mail order only.

One pet peeve that I have with the grill is that the side smoker (not pictured) has a wood handle (to match the other line of grills). I called and asked if they made the black handle for it, and they laughed at me and said I was over analytical and that they didn't make the handle in black. Apparently, I am crazy because I want my $400 grill to have matching handles, haha. I later noticed that the measurements for the grill handle and the smoker handle are the same, so essentially, you could order a replacement handle for the grill and use it for the smoker if you wanted everything to match. I may do that now that I think about it....

In high end grills, $400 isnt high at all.

Good find lloyd. Looks like I'll be going grill shopping this weekend!

JJFad, I did see the duo at Andersons last year. Again, I would recommend assembly. I assembled a little gas grill several years ago, and it took a couple of hours. I can't imagine assembling this beast....

Also, if you order the cover, I recommend going out and getting a black bungee cord to keep it on. The wind has blown my cover off a couple of times.