Expert: John Langenfelder - 3/3/2008

Question
What do you think of BBQs that can cook using either gas or charcoal.  I am building an outdoor kitchen and would like to add a BBQ.  I prefer charcoal grills but almost all the built-ins are designed for gas.  I have a
Weber charcoal grill that I am happy with.  It can start charcoal using gas and it has many other features, such as a thermometer in the hood and a easy ash removal system.  But it is not designed to be built in.  Thus I am wondering if I can have the best of both worlds.  A nice looking grill that is built in and still be able to grill with charcoal when I want (which would be most of the time).  Also, if you do recommend a combination grill, are there any specific brands or models that you can recommend.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jonathan

Answer
Jonathan,

While I prefer charcoal, gas and electric bbq's are fine.  Gas is easy and leaves little mess to clean up.  Most gas grills offer the ability to add wood to get a smoked flavor and that tends to even the score.  For me, by the time you get a gas grill nicely burned in, they do a great job.  Generally if I am grilling, I use my gas grill. However, if I have the time, I will get out my Weber smokey joe and use my chimney starter to start it.  But if I am BBQ'ing, I either use my wood cooker (Meadow Creek PR60) or I use my electric cooker.  Generally it depends on what I am doing and what the outdoor temperature is.  I feel that the electric cooker does just as good a job as the charcoal/wood cooker except that you will never get a smoke ring.  For me, the key concept is in grilling vs BBQ'ing. Remember that grilling is generally high heat, quick cooking while BBQ'ing is low heat and slow cooking. Most backyard BBQ'ers are actually grilling (steaks, chicken, hotdogs, hamburgers and the occasional pork loin or beef roast on a rotisserrie) and not BBQ'ing.  I'm not sure of what category you fit in and generally, to do both, you do need two cookers, one for grilling and one for BBQ'ing.  The weber charcoal grills allow you to do both especially the ranch kettle.

Now whether to build an outdoor kitchen, I see no reason to not build it around a weber although I would prefer to use the large weber ranch kettle model than the smaller model as..well.. bigger is better.  One of the biggest mistakes that a person will do is to buy a grill that is to small or maybe just about the right size...for now.  But next year it gets to be too small.  Check out http://grillkitchens.com/outdoorKitchen/layoutIdeas.asp
Also check out webers website for other ideas.  www.weber.com

I hope this answers your questions.  I have no financial interest in any of the companies.  I just did a simple google search using weber grills