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BBQ preferences: charcoal or propane?


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Just sitting around thinking about how much I love barbecue...all kinds...slow-cooked or grilled. We have a four-foot deep concrete pit barbecue at our place that will handle over two-hundred pounds of meat, but it only gets used about once a year because it takes a whole pickup load of hardwood to fire it up, and then the meat has to cook for a good eight-to-ten hours. Great stuff, but a long process.

 

On the other hand, for just good ol' backyard barbecuing, what do you prefer? Charcoal or propane?

 

Also...what's your favorite meat to barbecue? Beef? Pork? Ribs? Brisket? Hamburgers?

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White oak or if I have to charcoal.

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I have always used charcoal. Not the briquets though.

Ribs or brisket are fantastic in a charcoal grill!

I'm doing burgers tonight with some Olathe corn

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At our place, it really depends on what we're cooking. If it's burgers and hot dogs for a family gathering, propane is fine. If I'm smoking a tri-tip and corn on the cob, I prefer natural lump charcoal with apple wood chunks for smoke.

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Strange that you should ask. I was just thinking along those lines yesterday,

but more focused on what to use for a flavor, rub or sauce.

 

 

In answer to your questions:

 

Charcoal, with hickory for pork or Mesquite for beef, and Alder for fish.

Guess that is no surprise to anyone.

 

I prefer live coals to propane but I use propane most often because of

convenience.

 

A campfire with a good bed of cooking coals for the cast iron stuff

and a grill over it for cooking meats.

 

Smoke is good for most meats, but takes longer because of the lower heat.

 

As far as flavor, I use a sauce, but have been considering a rub. One of my

Sons in law uses a rub mostly, the other goes both ways.

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We have tons of oak wood around and we like that in the fire ring out back, with venison on a stick.

 

Natural charcoal when the burn-ban is on, and any good red-meat will do in a pinch.

 

Bodine

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Just sitting around thinking about how much I love barbecue...all kinds...slow-cooked or grilled. We have a four-foot deep concrete pit barbecue at our place that will handle over two-hundred pounds of meat, but it only gets used about once a year because it takes a whole pickup load of hardwood to fire it up, and then the meat has to cook for a good eight-to-ten hours. Great stuff, but a long process.

 

On the other hand, for just good ol' backyard barbecuing, what do you prefer? Charcoal or propane?

 

Also...what's your favorite meat to barbecue? Beef? Pork? Ribs? Brisket? Hamburgers?

 

 

 

Well. Just my opinion. But there is Grilling. And then BBQing.

 

For grilling. I still like Charcoal the best. But. We do use propane a lot just because it is faster

and easier.

 

BBQing. Low and slow :wub: I use wood and charcoal both. Use a mix of woods. Some hard wood, some fruit woods

when I can get it. But never propane for this. Just took down an apple tree this year. And saved all that wood

for BBQing. Plus have a couple of peach trees that I sometimes take some wood from.

Have a lot of Oak around here. So use that a lot. Buy some Hickory and Mesquite also.

 

For meat???

 

BBQ??? Ribs and Brisket are my favorite. But do a Pork Butt now and then. I put some of that pulled pork into my beans. They are pretty good. That's really the only meats I put on the pit.

 

Grilling???? Steaks, Pork Chops, Burgers, Dogs, Chicken. Kind of what ever we feel like throwing on.

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Well. Just my opinion. But there is Grilling. And then BBQing.

 

For grilling. I still like Charcoal the best. But. We do use propane a lot just because it is faster

and easier.

 

BBQing. Low and slow :wub: I use wood and charcoal both. Use a mix of woods. Some hard wood, some fruit woods

when I can get it. But never propane for this. Just took down an apple tree this year. And saved all that wood

for BBQing. Plus have a couple of peach trees that I sometimes take some wood from.

Have a lot of Oak around here. So use that a lot. Buy some Hickory and Mesquite also.

 

For meat???

 

BBQ??? Ribs and Brisket are my favorite. But do a Pork Butt now and then. I put some of that pulled pork into my beans. They are pretty good. That's really the only meats I put on the pit.

 

Grilling???? Steaks, Pork Chops, Burgers, Dogs, Chicken. Kind of what ever we feel like throwing on.

 

I do everything you just said, with the exception of city ham.............smoke it with apple wood.

 

Mama-in-out-law saids it's good too !!

 

Funny cuz she don't think "real" people eat than kind of food !! :blink:

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Charcoal produces the best flavor and texture on the food. Lots of folks prefer the convenience of propane, but I'm not much on grilling food in what is essentially a petroleum fire. So, I found a compromise. Weber makes a grill called a "Performer"...it's a Weber kettle, incorporated into a rolling cart, with a counter worksurface to the right, a tip-out bin for charcoal storage, and...a propane ignition system. Pile in your Cowboy Charcoal, turn on the valve, and hit the piezo igniter, and a propane flame will start your charcoal in 1/4 the time it takes with paper or fluid...and no stinky odor or taste. Once started, you can shut off the flame, let the charcoal reach "grey stage" and start cooking. We love this grill...keep one at home and one at the cottage.

 

Ribs - country style, with the bone in - are my favorite; but if I pick off a striper or some fluke, it finds its way to my grill.

 

LL

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Well. Just my opinion. But there is Grilling. And then BBQing.

 

For grilling. I still like Charcoal the best. But. We do use propane a lot just because it is faster

and easier.

 

BBQing. Low and slow :wub: I use wood and charcoal both. Use a mix of woods. Some hard wood, some fruit woods

when I can get it. But never propane for this. Just took down an apple tree this year. And saved all that wood

for BBQing. Plus have a couple of peach trees that I sometimes take some wood from.

Have a lot of Oak around here. So use that a lot. Buy some Hickory and Mesquite also.

 

For meat???

 

BBQ??? Ribs and Brisket are my favorite. But do a Pork Butt now and then. I put some of that pulled pork into my beans. They are pretty good. That's really the only meats I put on the pit.

 

Grilling???? Steaks, Pork Chops, Burgers, Dogs, Chicken. Kind of what ever we feel like throwing on.

 

I figured a fellow Texan would set things straight. Me I'm usually not in a big hurry so if I can manage it I prefer natural wood. I've got a lot!!!! of mesquite. I use it for everything burgers to steaks and even smoking meats. I built a smoker that can handle about 7 or 8 good sized briskets. If I'm in a hurry though I'll use propane....maybe.

BTW: Great topic. Now I'm going to go get some meat for my smoker. :wub:

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Charcoal and wood chunks is the only way to go for me. I use pecan, apple, cherry or hickory wood chunks if I'm doing pork, which is most of the time. I use mesquite chunks for beef or lamb, hickory for chicken, and alder for fish.

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Kinda reminds me of long ago when Burt Reynolds was hosting the Johnny Carson show and they took question cards from the audience. One asked "Are you a leg man, a thigh man, or a breast man?" And he answered........"Yes." :lol:

 

Depends. I like most any kind of meat "BBQ" ed. I usually use propane for hot dogs, burgers, steaks, etc. where it takes 10 minutes to cook and 45 min to an hour to wait for coals to burn down. Not to mention the $$$$ of charcoal if that's what you use.

 

For brisket, ribs, etc that take a long time, nothing beats old mesquite, unless it's old mesquite mixed with pecan. I have an electric smoker that uses soaked wood chips (mesquite preferably) that will make ribs and chicken to die for. Brisket needs to be slow smoked over indirect mesquite for 12+ hours.

 

Good German sausage on the propane grill for 5-10 minutes ain't too bad neither!

 

JHC

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No doubt the best is natural wood embers, I cook outside year round and mostly use the propane for convenience, I always use a small tray of smoking chips with the gas grill.

 

I don't eat a lot of red meat unless it's game, mostly Elk and Bison. I like to take roasts and dry rub them with black pepper, chopped garlic, a bit of lawery's and fresh rosemary sprigs, marinade in olive oil and some fresh lemon juice. I get my grill real hot and set the meat on and slowly turn to sear it all around then turn the heat down and let it cook slow with the smoke.

 

I also do a lot of trout from the lake below my house, I usually fillet it and place the fillets in orange juice and olive oil, I'll place it meat side down a hot grill for a minute, then skin side down and turn the heat down for about 4 to 5 minutes, sprinkle with some fresh parsley.

 

If I'm up the backcountry, it's all on wood embers,

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Funny you should ask...

I've got a Char-Griller that I use A LOT. I put the fire on one end and the meat at the other end under the chimney and just let it smoke for a while.

 

I've always prefered charcoal and mesquite/hickory with pig fat thrown over the coals to drip and give the smoke a nice flavor without burning the meat.

 

I have a Weber Q that is a small propane grill that I keep with the camper but for the past few years I've kept it under an overhang of the house in Germany. It was mighty handy in bad weather to just step out the door and hit the switch and light the grill...wait a few minutes for the grate to get hot and then throw on the steaks. Once the grill gets seasoned, the meats taste pretty durn good.

 

Last week for my birthday, I treated myself to a brand new BBQ grill. It has a charcoal fed box on the left and a propane fed grill on the right with a propane burner for pots on the far right. I'm real pleased with it so far.

 

I do all sorts of meats but really like baby back ribs with my rub and then sauce.

 

DURN!! Now I'm hungry!

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This is a tough one. I'm cooking for one, I've got a lot to do besides cook and I found a little side job where I get paid for getting my propane and reimbursed for the propane too. So propane is faster and cheaper.

 

In June I took a class in Grill and BBQ from the Culinary Institute of America.

 

This summer I have been using charcoal most of the time. One time I cooked four chickens and gave three of them away. But, so far, it's briquets.

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I've got one of those cheap Brinkman Smokers. I like to put a small brisket on, and then start cooking with mesquite chunks, as it dies down, put a load of briquets on, then more mesquite etc. Mesquite also adds a really good flavor to steaks.

 

 

And something else. Put a pound or two of pinto beans in the drip pan. You'll have to add water pretty regular, but they will be done when the meat is done. Some of the brisket fat drips into the beans and they gather some of the smoke flavor. Talk about good beans! I've always like pinto beans, but done this way, I love pinto beans.

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Lump Charcoal never briquets I grew up in the same town with southern new England's' last large charcoal kilns company and I recall being in school and knowing right away when the wind changed to blow from that direction.... we used to sell them hardwood from our farm too and locals could stop by and fill their own containers with as much as they wanted for free... yep the good old days

 

 

Meat well big thick porterhouse steaks (Prime if I can get em t a decent price) and I like to toss well soaked chunks of apple wood on the coals just before I start to cook

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I use wood or charcoal, I have used propane I don't care for it. My BBQ is a drum type that you can buy almost any where, mine has a smoker attachment on it too. I smoke/BBQ tri, tip ribs and pork loin but I will grill anything mainly chicken and burgers.

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Propane is fine for some things. I have natural gas plumbed out to the desk so used to use the natl gas grill alot, til the burner burnt up for the second time. Some times used hardwood chunks with that.

 

Now we rarely grill, but use charcoal when we do, which makes for tastier vittles in my book.

 

But as Kris says, gas is fine for dogs and burgers and brats.

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I only use propane for my forge (good anthracite coal is getting hard to find and expensive!) or to heat coffee in camp when it rains and makes it hard to do over a fire. Cooking with propane just don't seem right. I don't use lighter fluid either, I can ALWAYS taste it in the meat no matter how long the charcoal burns befor cooking. I like using my own firesteel and flint to start the fires with kindling. Some things are just worth taking time to do right, and cooking meat is one of those things. ;)

 

Bodne

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I got this grill for Fathers day:

 

Duo Grill

 

 

It makes it so easy to do both. Usually if it's a busy evening and want to grill fast hot dogs or hamburgers then it's propane. Otherwise charcoal.

 

 

 

 

CPK

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Well...just about all the best steak houses either broil or grill via gas...been to quite a few and USDA Prime, waygu beef, or Angus Prime comes to the table tastin wonderful. ...no petroleum taste or odd flavor. The gas grill and broiler have come along way from the stereotype of yesteryear.

 

GG

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Just sitting around thinking about how much I love barbecue...all kinds...slow-cooked or grilled. We have a four-foot deep concrete pit barbecue at our place that will handle over two-hundred pounds of meat, but it only gets used about once a year because it takes a whole pickup load of hardwood to fire it up, and then the meat has to cook for a good eight-to-ten hours. Great stuff, but a long process.

 

On the other hand, for just good ol' backyard barbecuing, what do you prefer? Charcoal or propane?

 

Also...what's your favorite meat to barbecue? Beef? Pork? Ribs? Brisket? Hamburgers?

That's an easy one - Gas for grilling party food at a picnic -

 

Wood for Barbequing real meat for serious eaters. Oh - and Beef of course - I don't eat pig.

Lamb in a pinch - once ya get the wool offa them they're okay - but no pig thanks!

 

SC

 

p.s. - Brisket is fine - but cow ribs is what makes the world go 'round . . . . ..

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Just sitting around thinking about how much I love barbecue...all kinds...slow-cooked or grilled. We have a four-foot deep concrete pit barbecue at our place that will handle over two-hundred pounds of meat, but it only gets used about once a year because it takes a whole pickup load of hardwood to fire it up, and then the meat has to cook for a good eight-to-ten hours. Great stuff, but a long process.

 

On the other hand, for just good ol' backyard barbecuing, what do you prefer? Charcoal or propane?

 

Also...what's your favorite meat to barbecue? Beef? Pork? Ribs? Brisket? Hamburgers?

 

The first issue is if you are talking about a grill or a true smoker. Then whether the smoker is direct or indirect heat. I like a propane grill for doing rotisserie chickens, burgers, dogs, and veggies such as grilled peppers or corn on the cob. The indirect heat smoker gets the ribs, porks butts, briskets, and the Thanksgiving turkey, started with charcoal, then kept going by whatever logs I am using for the meat. I like hickory or white oak for beef brisket, apple or other fruit wood for pork, alder for fish, and a blend of hickory and apple for the turkey.

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Just sitting around thinking about how much I love barbecue...all kinds...slow-cooked or grilled. We have a four-foot deep concrete pit barbecue at our place that will handle over two-hundred pounds of meat, but it only gets used about once a year because it takes a whole pickup load of hardwood to fire it up, and then the meat has to cook for a good eight-to-ten hours. Great stuff, but a long process.

 

On the other hand, for just good ol' backyard barbecuing, what do you prefer? Charcoal or propane?

 

Also...what's your favorite meat to barbecue? Beef? Pork? Ribs? Brisket? Hamburgers?

 

 

I use propane because it is fast. But if I had all the time every day.. it would be on the grill everyday.. with wood and charcoal.. and steak with onions, peppers.. tons of garlic.. and a bit of brown rice or a salad.. ......................... Can't help it I love rare cow.. lol

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I use propane because it is fast. But if I had all the time every day.. it would be on the grill everyday.. with wood and charcoal.. and steak with onions, peppers.. tons of garlic.. and a bit of brown rice or a salad.. ......................... Can't help it I love rare cow.. lol

Thanks Deja Vous For Starting This Thread!!:wub: I Have Been Doing The Cook Outside Thing Now For 40+ Years and have to say That After Going Full Circuit With All The Gadgets That I Am Back To a Simple Hibachi And Lump Charcoal For The Beef Steaks And Pork Steaks/Thinner Cuts Of meat.Just Annie And I So No Need For The Big Grills Of The Past.

Now With The Smoker I Ran across a Vertical Smoker a Couple Years Back and Just Love It.It Has 2 Meat racks That will Hold a Good Sized Turkey and Ham Or Other Combos.I Have Found a Great Way To Do Birds Is Season Birds Then Put Them On Lower rack Then Fill The Upper rack with Bacon,Let The Drippings Keep the Bird Or What Ever Meat is On The Lower Rack Moist.Makes Good BLT's After ya Smoke It.

Read With Great Interest The Idea Of Putting Beans in Water Pan to Cook With Smoker.That Sounds Like a Great Idea. May get a Big Ol Sirloin Pork Roast and Give That a Whirl.

Oh Yea! Lump Charcoal For Everything and Pecan Wood For Smoke.Yummy. :P

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I've got one of those cheap Brinkman Smokers. I like to put a small brisket on, and then start cooking with mesquite chunks, as it dies down, put a load of briquets on, then more mesquite etc. Mesquite also adds a really good flavor to steaks.

 

 

And something else. Put a pound or two of pinto beans in the drip pan. You'll have to add water pretty regular, but they will be done when the meat is done. Some of the brisket fat drips into the beans and they gather some of the smoke flavor. Talk about good beans! I've always like pinto beans, but done this way, I love pinto beans.

 

WOWSER< This Beans In The Drip Pan Is The Best Idea I have Heard About In Many a Moon,Will Give It a Whirl at Next Smoke Session. Thanks...mrb

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I got this grill for Fathers day:

 

Duo Grill

 

It makes it so easy to do both. Usually if it's a busy evening and want to grill fast hot dogs or hamburgers then it's propane. Otherwise charcoal.

 

CPK

Hey Pard,

 

What a cool idea. If you are cooking something that takes a few hours, you can cut down on cooking time by starting with propane and finishing with charcoal.

 

Regards,

 

AM

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