Expert: Whitestag - 7/5/2004

Question
I have been doing bbq on a charcoal, which sometimes its a disaster but other times it's good.  I bought a decent gas grill with side burner (which I have no idea what to do with side burner).  I got this gas grill thinking it will solve my problem of disaster.  Here is the problem;

Keep in mind I am using spices on chicken which doesn't have any sugar, it's just "spicy" food and I brush it with melted butter and lemon.  My first problem is that I got proclein surface which I was told is a non-stick, but the food was sticking to the grill.  By the time I wanted to put the second batch of chicken (leg & thigh) the surface was burnt, the grits was burnt and there was alot of burnt objects that fell into the surface below the grill.  I could never get the "grill marks" on the meat.  And my biggest problem is I don't have the taste of bbq in the chicken, it just tastes like as if I cooked it in the oven.  If I put charcoal below the grit then it will be too close to the meat.  I saw ceramic charcoal in the store and wood chips, I didn't know if it was going to give me the same taste as what I am used too with charcoal.

phewww....sorry for the long question.

Answer
I'll state at the outset that I do almost no gas grilling -- I'm primarily a wood and charcoal guy.  But having said that, I can still give you some pointers.

First, some general comments about the difference between gas and charcoal cooking.  The thing with gas grills is that you can regulate the temperature better, but they don't cook in the same way as charcoal.  Charcoal is almost pure carbon, so when it burns, you get carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.  Gas is a hydrocarbon, so when it burns, you get carbon dioxide/monoxide and water.  It also doesn't burn as hot as charcoal.  The result is that food grilled over gas tastes different from food grilled over charcoal unless you take some specific steps.

1.  Sticking: You can significantly reduce sticking by brushing the grill with oil or melted fat.

2.  It sounds like you have the heat too high.  Crank it down to medium or lower.  If you really want to be precise, calibrate the grill with an oven thermometer.  Especially with chicken, you should grill with the lid closed -- it will cook a whole lot more evenly.  It is possible to cook with an open lid, but you have to pay very close attention to what's going on, constantly turning the chicken and moving the thicker pieces to cooler spots on the grill.  A lot of folks use a water mister to put out the flare-ups that you get from the grease dripping on the fire.  Just be patient and tell your guests to be patient -- slow food is better food.

3.  Gas cooking will impart no "outdoor" flavor to your food unless you take significant steps.  My recommendation is that you toss a handful of wood chips on the fire -- use any "sweet" wood.  Any fruit or nut wood will be good, as well as maple and mesquite.  DO not use treated lumber as the source for your wood chips -- either buy chips that were especially made for smoking food, or cut the wood yourself from downed trees.  If you know someone who owns an orchard, try to get the prunings.  You can also toss fresh or dried herbs on the fire -- try rosemary or thyme with chicken.  Also, some of the "grilled" flavor comes from the smoke from the grease dripping on the fire.  That's what those ceramic charcoal pieces are for: to catch some of the grease.  Most gas grills are designed to work with the things, so if you don't have them, get them.

4.  If you decide to try charcoal again, avoid the use of briquettes -- get hardwood lump charcoal.  Most hardware stores will special order the stuff if they don't stock it, and I 've seen the stuff in some regular grocery stores.  Some of the high-end or "natural" groceries (like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's) always stock the stuff.  Lump charcoal burns faster and hotter than briquettes and imparts a lot more flavor to the food.  Also, don't use lighter fluid -- the stuff never completely burns off and anything cooked over coals that were started using fluid will pick up the flavor of the stuff.  Get a chimney starter or an electric coil starter.

Happy grilling!