Gas or coal grill?

Germanfag here

Since I'm allowed to grill on the balcony in my new apartment (2. floor), I'm planning to buy a grill.

Aside from normal BBQ stuff, I'm also planning to do bigger projects like Pulled Pork.

A gas grill seems way more convenient given my situation, but I'm kinda concerned about the cost for longer projects. I did a bit of research and e.g. a Pulled Pork session could easily empty a big part of a 5L gas bottle, which would put me at around 8-10 € cost per bigger projekt. But then again, getting rid of the coal ash seems like a major hassle.

What kind of grill should I go for? Any suggestions?

Gas is more convenient, charcoal/wood produces a much better flavor because of the smoke. When you are grilling (as opposed to smoking or slow BBQ) charcoal is also superior because it burns hotter than a propane flame.

I can't comment on the cost since I don't live in Germany.

As for the coal ash, I just dump it outside in my yard. You can also throw it away in the trash (once it's cool, of course!)

>I can't comment on the cost since I don't live in Germany.

A 5L bottle refill should be around 10€ - 12.5€.

> Gas is more convenient, charcoal/wood produces a much better flavor because of the smoke.

I could use a smoke box. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

I have a propane grill because the waifu, "the charcoal ashes are so nasty, let's get gas," and I hate it. I also have a smoker that I do long projects like pulled pork or ribs. I would definitely get charcoal instead of propane if I were you, especially since you want to do longer projects.

*Forgot to mention, if you do charcoal, make sure to put a fire proof material under the grill. It happens all the time that live coals drop on wood balconies and start fires in 'murrica.

Gas grill unless you are on the first floor. You can't exactly tip out your spent charcoal, scrub the ash to prevent corrosion, etc. Also, a gas grill is far less a fire hazard. Gas can go off, bam, it's cold enough to close your glass doors and go to be.
You do get moke on the rippings hitting the flames, and it's no work at all to make an aluminum foil homemade "smoke box" with a few wood chips in it each time you light up the grill. You can buy applewood, hickory, cherry, oak any kinds of chips at the home depot. You have great smoke in about 10 minutes when they smolder in there.

My suggestions for finding a good grill is as heavy grate as you can afford, so cast iron that gets a bit of seasoning on it, or at least heavy enough that sticking isn't a problem. At least two zones, so you can turn off one side and low and slow cook food by the temperature gauge on the indirect heat side. If you live somewhere that has frequent power outages/storms, an optional burner is nice to have for making coffee or other meal items in a pinch.

Any suggestions regarding a good gas grill?

I've been reading into the topic for the last two hours and that shit knows no bounds.

I'd prefer to stay around 500€ or less.

I prefer charcoal.

Propane is easier and cleaner ("taste the meat, not the heat") but honestly the end result not much different than my stove.

Charcoal takes longer but you get a lot closer to traditional BBQ.

You should not grill at all if you are not using charcoal.
Paying $25 for a tank of gas that has no effect on your food but letting your neighbors know you're cooking meat is logically flawed.
Use charcoal or use your stove. No smart man uses propane.

You can buy combo grills that do both gas and charcoal. This one is about 200 ameribucks. I've also seen models of gas grills where the elements are easily removed and you can just use it like a regular charcoal grill.

Gas is super convenient if you just want something quick, like a couple hotdogs or maybe you wan to sear something off before you roast it. But as others have stated, charcoal or wood grills always give better flavor.

Why not both?

This man is blasphemous and god will punish him for his transgressions.
Do not listen to him.
God would choose charcoal.

Charcoal tastes better
Gas is more convenient
That's your deciding factor but I say charcoal

Because you don't need both and why spend 200 dollars when you can spend half that?

Because a 100$ grill is probably a piece of shit.

Have you ever bought anything in your life? More money does not equal better value.

You can get a decent charcoal grill for like 60 bucks. You can get a great one for 100.

Propane is more expensive, but propane sucks dick.

If it's safe enough on your balcony to use charcoal then you should definitely go with charcoal. It's not hard to clean up, just close the vents on your grill to start snuffing the flame and once it's out and cooled it's pretty easy to just scrape the ash out into a bag and toss in the trash.

How much does charcoal cost in Deutschland? Do you have any access to good wood you could use in addition to charcoal? We always use an assortment of cherry, pecan, orange, and peach wood whenever we smoke.

Mine doesn't, but I live in Florida by the beach. The top separates from the base and I can just throw it in my trunk and go grill on the Gulf of Mexico, and it can use those little green $2 propane tanks. I'm not saying charcoal isn't better, I'm just saying gas has it's place for quick snacks and shit.

This is like the stupidest thing to be elitist about.

If youre wanting to do low and slow on a gas grill... i wouldnt, but you can buy regulators to keep your PSI down so you dont waste fuel on your low and slow. You can make some modifications to be able to smoke on a gas grill.

But i'd go for a charcoal one, or if your intended use is to smoke, buy a smoker and use wood chunks not chips.

>Any suggestions regarding a good gas grill?
You really gotta look at them or their ratings. There are some unfamiliar brands that are crossovers from top kitchen brands, I see each season at m Home Depot, and I don't know what you have in your country available. In the US, there are a few major brands with warranties and good parts. I open a grill, look at the quality of the guts. Lift up your grate, and it should be as heavy as cast iron pan. You'll see some covers over your burners, to make an even flame (forget the name of those), there will be a grease drain or some sort (makes it easy to clean a drip pan, and prevent fire), there will be a sparker to prevent you from needing to have a lighter or match. There might be a 2nd rack higher up to keep some things warm off the direct flame, but there should be 2 or 3 zones.
Going up to $500 may not be necessary. Once you spend about $150-250 you could find a winner that lasts more than 1 season. From that price point, you start to compare the quality of the knobs, the base, the wheels, the temperature gauge on the or availability of parts like a rotisserie. You might decide it's easier to turn off your gas on one model. Just have the thickest heaviest grate. Imagine a burger falling through, or trying to lay some pita dough or fish filets on there and go hrm. This is the part that might rust first. Rub it with oil the first few uses, and scrub it with a brush once you get it good and hot, and the flakes of food just fall off.

You have a balcony, not a first floor patio. You rent.

Stop listening to anyone talking about charcoal. It's simply not convenient for you at this point in time. Pulled pork is a way to use a fatty piece of meat, the boston butt, and you have to wrap that to keep the grease off your coal and your patio. You'd put that out in your yard, or you'll be wrapping it away from the smoke hardly different than your oven. I smoke a whole pork loin all the time with the fat cap still on there. I slap a thermometer in there, and it comes out juicy and perfectly cooked. Slice thinly, serve with sauce, no one cares it isn't soft pulled pork. Jerk? Ribs? Anything you want to do aside from like jerky or salmon preserving can be done on a propane grill. I use wood chips in a smoker box and my food is as smoky as when I use the green egg. I even do brisket. I like to make dinner, turn on my grill 5 minutes to warm up, and when I plate it off the grill, the lid goes down, the gas goes off, and I walk back into my air conditioned home to dine. I probably grill 3-4 nights each week when I'm not dining out as much. I probably can make 10-25 dinner before I even lift up my tank to check for emptiness. I keep an extra in the garage, however in case of hurricane. I am always grilling garlic bread, veggies, slabs of onions or zucchini while I am doing my meat. Heavy use. Good grills might last me 3-4 years before some part gives out. This is with nearly no maintenance. I abuse the heck out of my grill. I clean only my grill surface with an olive oil dampened cloth after the brush off at 600F heating.

Boy I tell you hwat, ain't nothing finer in this world than a good piece of meat cooked to a juicy and tender medium rare over a propane grill.

I have a Weber kettle. Does both nicely.

Use a drip pan. When i used a Webber Kettle and converted it to a smoker using a water pan i had no problems smoking pork.

>grill on the balcony in my new apartment (2. floor)

You better check on that, because I'd be surprised if they allowed charcoal grills.

Agreed.
I actually rented (sadly) in places that banned propane and charcoal, but allowed "electric" ROFL grills. Think George Foreman on a large scale. Horribleness.

I am convinced the only reason there are bad BBQ restaurants still in business is that there are people jonesing so bad for BBQ from deprivation of cookouts at home, they will even go to bad restaurants just to have some ribs that weren't cooked in the oven.

Well, the previous tenant used a charcoal grill, so I doubt it's going to be a problem.

Especially since a ban must be mentioned in the contract of tenancy (or house rules). I checked, nothing there.

>charcoal grills

Coal = Barbeque
Wood = Barbeque
Gas = Grill
Electric = Grill

>pedant.txt

Try craigslist and buy a kettle style charcoal grill (if they're available -- Weber makes a great kettle grill.)

I bought my 22" weber for $30 a decade ago and it's still in great shape.

If you can find them, make sure they have an ash catcher made of a less reactive metal. The ones with ash catching plates underneath are more likely to allow live coals to fall onto your balcony.

As others have suggested, a fireproof mat is a good safeguard.

Yeah, but his budget would allow for THIS!

All the convenience of your local convenience store without all the drug addicts, truckers, and drug addict truckers.

If you have a gas grill, you can soak your hardwood chips in water, and put them in a foil pan, or wrap them up in foil, and place them above or near the burner for your smoke. Gas grills will use a lot if you keep it on for hours, yes. But when I have smoked with my gas grill, I never needed more than one burner, set on low-ish to keep the ideal temps of @225.

Are you sure your apartment allows coal (charcoal) grilling? I can get away with using a gas grill on my balcony because no one can see or smell it. If I tried using charcoal, I'd get evicted.

Id you like to use it only occasionally, get coal.

If you like to use it every other week, get gas. It's also cheaper..