Charcoal vs. Propane
Charcoal vs. Propane is one of the biggest arguments of all times. Everyone has their opinion on which one is better based on your experience with either.
My Experiences
My experience has been mostly with propane. Growing up I remember my parents had a charcoal grill. They hated it because they couldn’t get the charcoal lit or stay up to temperature. I remember I was a teenager when they converted to propane. Ever since then they were always a propane family. Naturally, when I grew up and got my first grill, I got a propane grill.
I remember for a gift one year, I was given a charcoal portable grill. I never got around to using it, I always had my portable propane grill.
Charcoal Smoking
Fast forward 5 years. I’ve always wanted a smoker, so my coworker offered to sell me his used charcoal one for $15.00. I was a little hesitant because it was charcoal, however, I wanted a smoker so bad that I didn’t care. Once I bought it and cleaned it out. I tried to use it several times, however, I couldn’t keep the right temperature. It would either not be hot enough, so I would add more charcoal. Then I had added too much charcoal and it was too hot.
I tried everything I could find online to get it to keep the proper temperature for smoking. I took the charcoal pan and drilled holes into it. The idea was the charcoal wasn’t getting enough air to get it hot enough. That didn’t work. I then started looking at hot plates to just turn it into an electric smoker, however, none of the hot plates had a temperature gauge on them. At that point, I just decided to get rid of it and try again with an electric in a couple years.
I’ve always had my gas grill, and I’ve loved the thing. I love firing it up, letting it warm up and then being able to put the meat on. There is no worrying about the temperature, whether I added too much charcoal, or not enough.
I know people say the flavor they get from charcoal, is the reason they use it. I’ve never really experienced charcoal food. I couldn’t tell you anything about the flavor. For me, the propane is just a convenience thing. I can turn it on and in a few minutes, it’s ready to go.
What do you think?
What are your thoughts? Do you prefer Charcoal vs. Propane? Why do you like one over the other. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. You can also Contact Me.
