Gas Grilling Questions...

[sasilverbullet]

Wifey bought me a gas grill for Christmas. Never used one. It has a normal cooking area with three rows of burners, and a separate "sear box" on the side. I'm going to go get a 20lb LP bottle today from Home Depot. Been charcoal grilling and smoking for over 40 years.

Any pointers? Dos/don'ts?

The instructions say I have to "condition" it on first use, will be doing that...

 

[charbaby]

No, it's a pretty simple process. No waiting for coals to get HOT!

Lighting the grill may take some instructions***(turn on gas, wait 3 sec, open up the burners to High, press Igniter).

And, the food never tastes as good as when on real charcoal. But, it's faster and when your done, you just turn off the gas and burners, no waiting for coals to burn out!

 

[BigCahuna]

Get a small metal box to put some wood chips in while you cook on it. Otherwise you might as well be cooking on your kitchen stove.,,

 

[dernp]

Be extremely careful when lighting as propane is a very dangerous gas.

 

[Kuato]

I always let mine warm up the grilling surface for a few minutes...the meat sticks less that way.

 

[JHZR2]

Not much to it. What kind of grates? Season them properly after you take the grill up to full heat to burn off any residual manufacturing oils.

I feel that gas is a step backward in the wrong direction, because I enjoy food cooked over charcoal or on a wood plank better. Ditto for smoked food. But gas grills are just so convenient...

 

[dave123]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Not much to it. What kind of grates? Season them properly after you take the grill up to full heat to burn off any residual manufacturing oils.

I feel that gas is a step backward in the wrong direction, because I enjoy food cooked over charcoal or on a wood plank better. Ditto for smoked food. But gas grills are just so convenient...


+1 I'll add that you will hope you never got it been their done that.

 

[spasm3]

I like to marinate a bit usually overnight. Heat up the grill really hot first, then turn it down as you put the meat on. I like charcoal too, but i will say a gas grill is good for cooking delicate shrimp on skewers. better temp control.

 

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
But gas grills are just so convenient...


Plus you can cook [censored] near anything on one (especially the 3 burner ones), as there's a great sense of control that charcoal can't replicate.

 

[sciphi]

Light it, turn it up to full blast for a few minutes, then reduce the temperature when cooking the food. Once you're done, turn it up to full tilt with the lid closed for 3-4 minutes to carbonize all the food residue left. That makes cleaning it off much easier before using it then next time!

 

[greenjp]

I had a great old Charbroil charcoal grill for several years, we replaced it with a Weber Genesis gas grill about 10 years ago and haven't looked back. It's so much easier and cleaner to use that we use it 2-4x per week, all year long. The charcoal grill was only used once every week or two, so whether it was "better" or not is irrelevant because we didn't use it very often.

Good advice given above. Get a second tank to have on hand in case you run out (it also helps to have a reliable scale or gauge to track the gas). You've got three adjustable burners, learn to use them.

jeff

 

[Mr_Incredible]

I grill in all weather. Grilled in typhoon, monsoon, blizzard, and -13*. Gas is good. Charcoal has its place, but gas is quick and clean.

I'll go down and start the grill to let it get hot, then go back in to the kitchen to start working with whatever I'll be grilling, e.g. making burgers, fooling with the chicken, slicing pork chops out of loins, seasoning, tools, etc. Budget about 7-10 minutes, depending on outside temp.

I grab the meat and the tongs and go out to the grill. The grill should be hot (400*) and be burning off the stuff from the last grill session. I don't pregrease the grates, I just put the meat down and char it. When it's ready to turn it will have already released or will be easy to release.

Crosshatch pattern on both sides. Cook hot, cook fast...outside cooked quickly, inside tender.

As mentioned before, have at least one extra bottle standing by to replace when the one in the cooker gets empty. It sucks when the grill stops in the middle of awesome pork chops or steaks. I have always tried to go to places that refill bottles, but now I simply exchange bottles at the local Home Depot. They're open about any time I might need a bottle.

Enjoy your new grill, OP. You're going to love it.