Gas BBQs

village_life

Hi

That time of the year again - ive always used traditional Charcoal based BBQ's but am considering moving to a Gas one for flexibility on those spontaneous summer afternoons....

can anyone give me some feedback on Gas BBQs v's Charcoal - is the taste still the same? - i LOVE BBQ food so wouldnt compromise on that for the sake of getting my hands dirty with charcoal and rushing to the petrol station when the urge takes me ..... but a Gas one would be good if it still tasted as good!

FunkyMunkey

From what I've experienced of gas BBQs, they don't taste anything like charcoal ones

nearlyrich

FunkyMunkey wrote: »

From what I've experienced of gas BBQs, they don't taste anything like charcoal ones

I have to agree, no taste of petrol on the burgers LOL.:rotfl:

I love my gas BBQ I got my first one in 1993, replaced it last year with a bigger one, as the op says great for spontaeneous BBQs, we use ours every possible occasion during hot spells.

My ex next door neighbour thought gas was cheating and used to berate me for it but we went round one evening last summer and they had a lovely gas BBQ on their new patio.;)

oysterman

Had mine for 6 years no complaints about food yet.

there great for having a spontaneous bbq no mess ready in 20 mins.

If you get one that you can use just halve of the bbq ideal for just the two.

Canucklehead

Good morning: I've been using gas BBQs since the 1980s, both here and across the pond...no complaints....less fuss, easy to light, and as mentioned previously allows for a spontaneous grilled meal. Our current BBQ is a Fiesta (Canadian brand) from Homebase.

HTH
Canucklehead

shykins

like u i was very against a gas bbq cos i said it wouldnt taste the same but dh insisted last year (mainly cos he got offered one for £5 from work lol) and i have to say i am converted

we can be bbqing within 5mins of deciding we want one and we have far more bbqed food then we ever did before

yes i guess u can say u dont strictly get the same flavour but it is far better then i thought it would be especially after a few uses cos the coals get dirty basically (from fat dripping etc)

do u know anyone who has one u could try out before u decide??
HTH

Pink.

I used to think the same that a gas barbeque just couldn't taste the same, and then we bought one, and became gas converts. We now use both a gas barbeque and a charcoal one, and honestly can't taste any difference between the two.

I think the barbeque taste comes from the juices of the meat (or whatever else you're barbequing) falling onto the coals. This causes smoke which rises and flavours the food.

During the week (when DH is not there to help) I use the gas one as it's much easier to manage with young children around. We used to keep the charcoal one for lazy weekend barbeques, but find we are using it much less frequently as the gas one is just as good for taste and sooooo much more convenient.

As for gas costs.......we barbeque a lot and usually only need to replace the gas cylinder once a year.

As shykins has said, see if you can borrow one to try it before you decide.

Pink

shykins

yes we only use one bottle a year too sometimes even less

oh and make sure u borrow one thats been used a lot lol... i am sure as pink says its the fat making the smoke raise that gives u the flavour which u dont get when they are brand new

JENJEN30X

We just went and bought one from B&Q after smelling our neighbours every night lately and wishing we could be bothered to go and get coal and wait for ages for it to be ready. We paid £125 for a double burner but they had run out of gas so cant use it yet.
Where is the cheapest place to buy the gas?
Cheers Jen

scbk

JENJEN30X wrote: »

Where is the cheapest place to buy the gas?

It should all cost about the same unless someone is really trying to rip you off - the profit margins on calor are pretty slim. Expect to pay about £35 to start off with and about £20 for a refill for a 15kg butane (common bbq size).

Just make sure what gas it runs on, I think some of the newer ones use propane?

mixu

The more expensive gas BBQs (£100+) have flavourisers which create a more authentic taste...

http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/house_and_home/Reports/family/home/Barbecues/Barbecues_product_report_574_79438_3.jsp