BBQ – Gas and Charcoal BBQ Comparison – Charcoal BBQ vs Gas BBQ
Also, Natural Gas vs LPG BBQ (LPG Gas BBQ)
Comparing a LPG gas and charcoal BBQ is a discussion between charcoal BBQ vs gas BBQ philosophies for outdoor BBQ.
Some think a charcoal BBQ (barbecue) is better because of the taste it imparts upon the food whilst others think it is more in line with the BBQ purist.
The LPG gas BBQ fans value the convenience of bottled BBQ gas, with the time saved starting the fire and cleaning up.
Let’s have a look at this classic LPG gas and charcoal BBQ debate regarding outdoor BBQ.
We’ll also examine natural gas vs LPG BBQ (LPG gas BBQ)…
Charcoal BBQ Grills vs LPG Gas BBQ Plate (BBQ Griddle) and BBQ Grills
A charcoal BBQ is synonymous with a BBQ grills and the charcoal directly exposed to the food, at an outdoor BBQ.
An LPG gas BBQ, powered by bottled BBQ gas, can have either or both a BBQ grills and a BBQ plate (BBQ griddle), offering more flexibility in cooking.
A BBQ hot plate (BBQ griddle) is especially useful for foods that might fall through the BBQ grills.
The reason you don’t often see a BBQ hot plate (BBQ griddle) over a charcoal BBQ is the problem with tending to the coals and the BBQ plate starving the charcoal of air (oxygen).
Portable BBQ – A Small BBQ or Camping BBQ: Portable Gas and Charcoal BBQ Compared
You can find a portable BBQ in both a small BBQ for charcoal and a portable gas BBQ (small gas BBQ), both suitable aa a camping BBQ.
The preference for a portable BBQ type is also primarily an issue of convenience when selecting a small BBQ.
With an LPG gas BBQ, you can have a small BBQ, as a camping BBQ, with just a small BBQ gas bottle (bottled BBQ gas), typically a 4kg gas bottle, and a small gas BBQ.
A small BBQ for charcoal requires the small BBQ itself, charcoal fuel, starter fluid and a lighter, as well as the inevitable ash cleanup in your boot.
Choice of a camping BBQ really comes down to ease of transport and use as a portable BBQ.
Smoker BBQ: Smoke Flavour in Charcoal BBQ vs Gas BBQ with Wood Chips
There are specialty smoker BBQ models available for purchase, but most people prefer to use their standard gas and charcoal BBQ types, in lieu of owning two BBQs.
Either a charcoal BBQ or gas BBQ can serve as a smoker BBQ, with the addition of wood chips.
Wood chips are available in various varieties to impart numerous wood chip flavours.
With a charcoal BBQ, you can use a smoker box or the wood chips can be sprinkled in with the hot coals when ready to cook.
With an LPG gas BBQ, the wood chips are put inside a smoker box, which is placed above an active LPG BBQ gas burner.
For both the gas and charcoal BBQ types, the use of the BBQ lid is required to contain the smoke with the food.
Components Required for LPG Gas and Charcoal BBQ Units
As you would expect, there are different components required for a charcoal BBQ vs gas BBQ.
A charcoal BBQ consists of the main body of the BBQ, which holds the charcoal, the charcoal BBQ legs, the BBQ grills, and charcoal BBQ fuel (briquets).
An LPG gas BBQ includes the main body of the BBQ, including the LPG BBQ gas burner and attached BBQ gas hose and BBQ gas regulator, the BBQ plate and/or BBQ grills, and the LPG BBQ gas bottle, containing the bottled BBQ gas fuel.
Natural Gas vs LPG BBQ (LPG Gas BBQ)
There are two types of gas BBQ, a natural gas BBQ and an LPG BBQ (LPG gas BBQ).
The vast majority of gas BBQ units sold are LPG gas BBQ models, because they are portable, typically less expensive, and do not required installation.
In addition, many people just don’t have natural gas at their home.
Natural gas BBQ models are typically inbuilt, requiring installation and the services of a gas fitter to run a gas line or BBQ gas hose from the home natural gas supply to the natural gas BBQ.
Also, inbuilt models tend to be larger, more elaborate and more expensive.
So, whilst bottled BBQ gas bottles need to be refill, the effort required for BBQ gas bottle refill pales in comparison to the much larger cost of a natural gas BBQ installation.
How to Clean a BBQ: 15 Ingenious BBQ Cleaning Tips & Hacks for a Glistening Clean Barbecue
Tricks and BBQ cleaning tips on how to clean a BBQ…
- How to clean a BBQ with steam: Place some water in an old pie tin over an active BBQ gas burner, place gas BBQ on low heat and close the lid. Take care when opening to avoid scalding (See full instructions below).
- Use your dishwasher as an automatic BBQ cleaner: Unless huge, the dishwasher is how to clean a BBQ plate and BBQ grills. Just place the BBQ plate and BBQ grills inside and use heavy or pot scrubber setting. Remember to scrape off loose food from BBQ plate and BBQ grills first.
- Brass BBQ cleaning brush, BBQ cleaner spray and BBQ wipes are your friends: Just what you need to get burned on food off of BBQ grills and BBQ plates.
- Y-shaped BBQ cleaner brush is your other friend: Perfect for cleaning the grooves in a BBQ plate or between the BBQ grills grates with BBQ cleaner spray.
- Using aluminium foil and kitty litter as a preventative BBQ cleaner: Just line the LPG gas BBQ drip tray with aluminium foil, fill with kitty litter then lift and discard when saturated.
- Teflon grill sheets for never cleaning an LPG BBQ plate again! Place Teflon BBQ hot plate sheets on top of your BBQ plate so you can just wipe off with BBQ cleaner spray and BBQ wipes.
- Onion for BBQ plate and BBQ grills goes great guns for LPG BBQ cleaning: Hold half of a cut onion on a fork and scrub over the hot BBQ plate and hot BBQ grills for localised steam cleaning.
- How to clean a BBQ lava rocks without a volcano: Either soak lava rocks in a bucket of dish detergent water or discard and replace the lava rocks, as needed.
- No scratch BBQ scrubbers or BBQ wipes are how to clean a BBQ smooth shiny stainless-steel & get as glossy gleam BBQ cleaning: Don’t scratch your LPG gas BBQ stainless steel with abrasives. Use no scratch BBQ scrubbers or BBQ wipes to protect the finish.
- Soapy water leak test for safety after BBQ cleaning: Spray the gas valve, BBQ gas hose and BBQ gas regulator and hose with soapy water to check for leaks.
- The final step in BBQ cleaning: Seasoning the BBQ plate and BBQ grills: Coat clean cooking surfaces with cooking oil, turn on the gas BBQ heat, close the grill for about 20 minutes then wipe clean with BBQ wipes.
- No high-pressure BBQ cleaner: Avoid grease flying everywhere and clogging the BBQ gas burner.
- No harsh BBQ cleaning chemicals: Protect your gas BBQ finishes and avoid a bad taste on your next use.
- Steel wool and stainless steel don’t play well together when BBQ cleaning: Don’t scratch your stainless steel with steel wool. Use BBQ wipes to protect the finish.
- BBQ cleaning with aluminium foil incineration is a no-no: Avoid permanent damage to your LPG gas BBQ.
See more details for all of the above BBQ cleaning tips.
Lets’ face it, no one likes BBQ cleaning. There are some simple how to clean a BBQ cleaning tips that are established as the best way to clean a gas BBQ quickly and easily. See how to clean a BBQ plate and how to clean a BBQ stainless steel finish made easy.
We’ll tell you all about the easy way how to clean a BBQ and all of the BBQ cleaning advice, but we also need to chat about the things NOT to do when BBQ cleaning.
Here is a summary BBQ cleaning tips for how to clean a BBQ…
Easy BBQ Recipes for All Occasions and BBQ Ideas for the Great Aussie BBQ
From easy grilled dinners, download our 25-page e-book of BBQ recipes with lamb, prawns, pork, snapper, steak, chicken, ham, calamari, kangaroo, scallops, paneer, and burger recipes, as well as various BBQ ideas to get the most out of your great Aussie BBQ.
The Carbon Footprint Problem with Charcoal BBQ vs Gas BBQ
When considering a charcoal BBQ vs gas BBQ, biofuels do not always result in a smaller carbon footprint than the fossil fuel alternatives.
The problem with charcoal is that it emits almost 3X the amount of CO2 that is produced vs propane – LPG.
This is harmful because CO2 is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
To produce charcoal, you heat wood in a kiln.
However, the usable output of charcoal is only around 20-35% of the original input.
The remainder of the wood turns into gas and is emitted into the atmosphere.
In contrast, LPG energy yields are greater than 90%.
The fact that you cannot simply turn a charcoal grill ON and OFF increases the problem.
Charcoal fires need to be started ahead of time and then take time to burn themselves out.
In a LPG vs charcoal grill, LPG is just a much more efficient fuel for cooking.
Scientific Research
Independent scientific research confirms these facts. Eric Johnson, of Atlantic Consulting, published his propane vs charcoal grill study “Charcoal versus LPG grilling: a carbon-footprint comparison” on this very subject.
As the title suggests, it compared the carbon footprint of a propane vs charcoal grill.
In addition to looking at the carbon produced during production and burning, the study also considered secondary factors like the use of firelighters, grill construction and the need for cylinders.
In the base case of LPG vs charcoal, the charcoal grilling footprint of 998 kg CO2e is almost three times as large as that for LPG grilling, at 349 kg CO2e.
This charcoal vs LPG gas BBQ grill (propane vs charcoal grill) chart shows results:
Source: Eric Johnson, Atlantic Consulting