daft question about barbecues

If you buy a gas barbecue, do you still use charcoal?
Are you actually burning anything like coals or wood, or just cooking the meat with the flames?

No charcoal with a gas grill.  You're not burning anything but propane but you do have lava rock in the bottom of the grill to help insulate the burner.

That's what i was afraid of.
I think i'll stick with the hibachi... i like the charcoal taste.

Thanks Kristi!

I don't know if they are available in the UK, but you can buy charcoal grills with a gas starter.  Sort of the best of both worlds, I guess.  For example: http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2005/charcoal/cg_p.aspx

Cheers, fungirl. 

I barbeque all year long. I use a gas grill most of the time. If I am looking to add flavor I use different wood chips like these below. Soak them in water and place them on the Lava rock and they work great.

http://www.thebbq.co.uk/default.aspx?404;http://www.thebbq.co.uk:80/Gas_barbecues.asp

jc

I'm thinking of getting this:



or this:

I'm with cicero (smoking's the only way to go)......just wish I could get mesquite chips here.

But oak still makes a good smoke :d

Greeneyes

Have a look at the wood pellets on my link they come in mesquite.

jc

can i put a few charcoals on the lava rocks?

You can put charcole on the lava rocks, but you can also use a liquid smoke additive or hickory chips (as someone mentioned).  I love my gas grill, and I use different types of wood chips based on what I'm grillin'...

It's getting near BBQ time here in Cle Elum, WA, so I'll be dustin' off the grill this weekend...

Thanks for the link....you are right, I hadn't delved far enough. Any wood is good if its soaked in southern comfort/water :d mmmm

There is no 'barbecue season' for me... i do it all year long in Scotland.
Last time i barbecued... about a month ago... it was snowing!  

Well, when you live in the mountains and the grill is litterally hidden by feet and feet of snow, you have to wait until the spring melt...it's sad.  However, we do make fire pits when out snowmobiling and make cocoa with melted snow and eat S'mores....

errrrmm, yeh.
I suppose  you do get a wee bit more snow there than we do!