Finding the Right Type of Grill

One of the most popular ways to cook food is by grilling. There is just something wonderful about the flavor and the experience that has over 80% of Americans outside cooking their food. Grilling dates back to the time fire was invented as that was the only way to cook food. Now it is considered a hobby, a past-time, for special occasion, or for enthusiast. There are also the crazy ones cooking in three feet of snow in the dead of winter.

At one time grilling would have been done over an open campfire, now there are hundreds of grills to choose from. As the middle class moved to the suburbs after WWII backyard grilling caught on. Grilling as we know it started with the charcoal grill. Then the gas grill was invented in the 1960s. Since then there is also the electric and infrared grills. There are pros and cons about each type of grill which we compare in the chart below and detail in corresponding articles.

 

		Gas	Charcoal	Electric
Price
	Purchase	Medium: $100- $5,000	Low: $20 and up	High
	Parts	High: Mainly the burner	Low	Low
	Fuel	Low: Propane or Natural Gas	High: Charcoal	Medium: Electricity
Lighting Up		Easy: usually has auto-ignitor	Difficult: ligher fluid and newspaper	Easy: plug and grill
Prep Time
	Heat Up	Fast	Slow	Medium
	Temp Control	Easy and Versitile	Difficult	Most Precise
Cook Time		Individual burners allow versitility	Steady Heat, Requires more attention	Quick
Clean Up		Easy: high heat to burn off mess, wipe down the rest	Difficult: messy clean up of charcoal, ashes and grill	Easiest: just wipe down
Flavor		Preferred	Most Authentic, Smokiness	Poor
Weather		Great in hot, freezing, rain, snow	Difficult in bad weather	Better inside during bad weather
Versitility
	Portable	Yes	Yes	Needs electical outlet
	Safety	Great for Apartment Living, quick cool-down	Fire Hazard, long difficult to shut off and cool down	Best for Apartment Living, quick cool down
	Dangers	Gas explosion due to leads	Fire	Electric Shock

 

References

http://www.foodnetwork.com/home/a-brief-history-of-grilling/index.html

Written for PetesOutdoorGrills.com by Sharon Rosinski

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Finding the Right Type of Grill