Grilling-Out Propane vs. Charcoal.

[Eclecticos]

I was Wondering what ya'll use to grill.

http://www.furnishingthefun.com/images/steak-grilling-sm_1wdr_ulg1_z303_7is5.jpg

Out Back on a Nice Windy Day. 76° F

I have a Propane Grill. Only thing I dont like about it is. .It blackins areas of the meat.

[99e46]

Charcoal FTMFW!

[Eclecticos]

Hey Bucko you grilln' those Kangaroo Bits? LOL.

[Airbozo]

Mostly I use Mesquite. The best flavor around for _most_ grilling. If I just want to scorch up some quick steaks, I will fire up the propane grill.

Propane:
Pro's; Quick, steady heat, no flavor.
Con's; Hard to do indirect heating method (on my grill), hard to regulate heat, no flavor.

Charcoal;
Pro's; Good flavor, indirect heating method easy, Smoke your ribs...
Con's; Takes longer to get started, need matches (hehe), smoke, cleanup.

Like I said I usually use my good old weber for most grilling, but if I am in a hurry I use the propane grill.

Oh and Eclecticos those black marks are due to heat... Charcoal makes em too... ;)

[Aero]

I've got a built in gas grill. Plus a smoker that I use as a charcoal grill. I love charcoal, but the gas is more convienant for those quick hamburgers at lunch.

[nil8]

I prefer charcoal, and not the pressed briquette crap either, real charcoal.
It works better for slow cooking, but doesn't provide as even of heat.

[Spawn-Inc]

I prefer charcoal, and not the pressed briquette crap either, real charcoal.
It works better for slow cooking, but doesn't provide as even of heat.

yes i agree with that but gas grills are faster if you are in a rush. when i get my own place i will get a propane/natural gas which ever and then i would mod it to also accept charcoal.

[Slug Toy]

i prefer propane for two reasons.

1) faster. im hungry all the time, so i dont like waiting for my food longer than i have to.

2) cancer. theres a growing debate (and growing evidence) that charcoal can and will increase the chance of carcinogens being found in your meat. charred black meat is already carcinogenic, and when you cook it with organic materials, that just compounds the problem. plus, arent there warning labels on the bags about the fumes? something about carbon monoxide if i remember correctly.

overall, id much rather do stuff in the oven. grilling is just too... cancerous for me. im that kind of person who likes to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to food.

[Eclecticos]

something about carbon monoxide if i remember correctly.

Yea. Says real big on the side "Dont grill Inside" You would have to be pret ty dumb. :D

I like the lines it makes in the steak. . The oven makes it all tough, like shoe leather.

I guess it all depends on the cuts you buy.

You can always go with the George Foreman Grill.. . haha

[Ironcat]

The lines are made by the grill, not by the fuel...
Those lines are scorch marks where the meat rested on the hot metal.

...and yes it depends on the cut you buy...

Best skirt steak you'll ever have is 15 minutes in an oven on broil.
evoo, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper.
Start on the bottom rack, fatty side up for 5 minutes,
flip it and raise your pan to the center... 5 minutes...
flip once more, fatty side up again, and 5 minutes on the top rack right under the broiler.

Where do you live that your grass is that green... a golf course? The rest of the state is having a drought!

[NuKS]

I prefer charcoal. I like the flavor of the smoke, and the smell of the smoke while it's cooking. Grilling out always makes me feel like I'm camping.

As far as the carcinogens in my meat because of grilling, it doesn't bother me. Anything can kill you if you have too much of it. Drink too much water? Dead. Too much vitamins? OD. Dead. We won't even talk about produce now adays. I have even heard that plastic containers in the microwave an put cancerous materials into your food.
Even if grilling your food is really bad for you....
There is no doubt that it tastes really darn good.

[Bucko]

Where do you live that your grass is that green... a golf course? The rest of the state is having a drought!


On the front page of http://www.furnishingthefun.com you'll see that BBQ pic.

[Eclecticos]

Yea. Its not my pic. :) Its St.Augustine Grass. . All i have in my yard is Crab Grass.

[OvRiDe]

Charcoal all the way.. sometimes with a pan of mesquite chips, or when smoking applewood can be really nice too. As for the CO.. propane puts off CO as well, so I am not too worried about it. So if its going to kill me either way, it might as well taste good!! :D

[NuKS]

Oh yeah, I forgot. The carcinogens are caused by the fat dripping into the fire and burning. If you cook with charcoal with indirect heat, you don't have to worry about it.

[Slug Toy]

well you still have to watch out that you dont burn the meat. that IS carcinogenic. fat burning... that adds to it too.

[Spawn-Inc]

i prefer propane for two reasons.

1) faster. im hungry all the time, so i dont like waiting for my food longer than i have to.

2) cancer. theres a growing debate (and growing evidence) that charcoal can and will increase the chance of carcinogens being found in your meat. charred black meat is already carcinogenic, and when you cook it with organic materials, that just compounds the problem. plus, arent there warning labels on the bags about the fumes? something about carbon monoxide if i remember correctly.

overall, id much rather do stuff in the oven. grilling is just too... cancerous for me. im that kind of person who likes to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to food.

i'm on my wii so i'm gonna keep it short and to the point.

1. propane produces CO too.
2. when you say charred meat is carcinogenic, well then don't char the meat to start with.
3. there are thousands of things that can cause cancer now a days so why let a little smoke stop you from flavour.


but as my dad says, "shaka sun goo"(spelling?) translation " to each his own"

[nil8]

Both have health implications. Food is dangerous. It's one of only a handful of systems that expose our bodies internally to lots of things that are toxic and hurt us, but, like those other systems, it's the gamble of living. Safety and survival don't normally tread the same path.

I don't sear meat, I cook it. If I could, I'd smoke meat too. Nothing like hickory smoked turkey fresh out of 12 hours in a smokehouse.

If I bbq, it's an all day affair. I like good, slow cooking, thick cuts. 2-3 hours at 150 degrees, good stuff. Tender and juicy, well done, and flavored with the wood and a good rub or marinade.

This topic actually caused me to go buy a couple of steaks today. Some fresh broccoli & green beans, a baked potato and a nice lean cut of rib eye rubbed in cracked pepper. Dinner tomorrow is going to rock.

[Spawn-Inc]

yes slow and low is a GREAT way to go... the best for me is a pot roast in a slow cooker cooking for 8 -10 hours, so dam good, the meat falls apart. then you take all the juice left over and strain it then make some beef barley soup, or in my case more barley than soup...

[Airbozo]

...evoo...

Someone's been watching Rachel...

[Ironcat]

I DO watch Rachael but I've been calling it evoo since she was busing tables.

[Crimson Sky]

My fave way to prepare say, a nice thick cut aged ribeye (aged as in a bit blue on the edges, done right at a proper meat market, about $18-$22 a pound is about right) is to heat up a heavy cast iron skillet on the stove top until a layer of salt turns brown. a black pepper and crushed garlic rub on the meat, pan sear it 3 mins on each side. Nothing like it.

Must be eaten nice and rare. Just wipe the cow's ass, knock the horns off and pass it through a warm room.

[Ironcat]

Absolutely. A ribeye is my fave cut also and the only difference between yours and mine is that I time mine to 60 seconds on a side. Perfect.

The skirt steak recipe was only because someone mentioned the oven drying out meat and it just ain't so...

[DaveW]

2) cancer. theres a growing debate (and growing evidence)

I laughed when I read this. I hope you don't actually listen to this stuff, or you probably live in a grey plastic room being fed the perfect mixture of oxygen/carbon dioxide from a tube, getting medically prepared mush for food...

...everything causes cancer dude. :D



Must be eaten nice and rare. Just wipe the cow's ass, knock the horns off and pass it through a warm room.

Hmm...yuk. Or, as we say in Scotland (locally anyway, not everyone uses this one) "Boakarama".

-Dave

[Crimson Sky]

Absolutely.
The skirt steak recipe was only because someone mentioned the oven drying out meat and it just ain't so...

yup...the broiler part of an oven is basically an indoor flame BBQ--people would be surprised how great stuff comes out when using it right...

[xRyokenx]

Cooking seems to be somewhat like modding, you have to compromise sometimes to get stuff to work, either that or just learn how to use your equipment and materials the right way to get it to come out the way you want it to.

Oh, and by "compromise," I don't mean quality-wise, lol.

[Airbozo]

I DO watch Rachael but I've been calling it evoo since she was busing tables.

Hehe... Rachael, bus tables? that would be a site...

When I was taking culinary classes, I had never seen Rachael Ray and everyone kept using the evoo term and it took me a couple of weeks to figure out what they were talking about. We were right in the middle of a busy lunch and I was the line cook. One of the other cooks kept yelling for the ee-vee-oh-oh (which was sitting right next to me) and I had NO clue what he was talking about. The girl behind me knocked me on the back of the head and pointed out the Olive Oil. We ended up late on a couple of meals because we were laughing so hard... (rather everyone was laughing at me, but I can take it...) What was funnier to me was that it was _my_ Brussels sprout recipe he was cooking and I should have known what he was talking about.

As to steaks, I would have to go with Crimson's start with some _real_ aged beef. I like mine a little more than rare (just barely) so I also go for the 3-5 minutes on a side. I have gotten in the habit of constantly turning it though. Never more than a minute on each side. Makes for a more evenly cooked cut of meat. Or maybe I just think so, since I get to stand by the grill and sip cider... I also second the broiler use. Same as a grill, just on the other side. I try to respect the Wife and do all my meat cooking out of doors 99% of the time. She has no problem with the meat itself, it's just the smell of it cooking that gets to her. hehe vegetarians...

So maybe pass that cow through a tanning bed before serving it... My uncle used to say that if it doesn't twitch when he cuts it, it was over cooked.

[Spawn-Inc]

Absolutely. A ribeye is my fave cut also and the only difference between yours and mine is that I time mine to 60 seconds on a side. Perfect.

The skirt steak recipe was only because someone mentioned the oven drying out meat and it just ain't so...

so whats the point of even cooking it...?!!?!?!?

medium is the best. nice and hot and a little bit of blood.

[NuKS]

Me, I'm not into ribeyes too much. My favorite cut is either a porterhouse. I like having the larger tenderloin but I still like the strip steak. When I cook them on the grill, it's 8 minutes per side for me. Gets them done to a nice medium-medium well. Oh, and steaks aren't steaks unless they are over 1" thick, IMHO:D

[DaveW]

You guys are freakin' chupachabras.

-Dave

[nil8]

lol, goat is delicious.

I don't go for ungodly large cuts or super rare meat. I like done, but juicy, not pink.
And a reasonable size.
And dinner tonight was bitchin'. I haven't had beef in months. Very fatty.

[Eclecticos]

lol, goat is delicious.


O God' Goats on this thread to. . :eek:

Anyone ever had any odd foods off the grill. .
Like Squid, Hampster :D, Gopher, or Gator?

Frog Legs are good. All you need is a Stick and a Fire.

Good Eatin' LOL

[GT40_GearHead]

I usually use charcoal, the only way to go, nothing can compare with the flavor it gives !

It does take a bit longer with charcoal but that is no issue for me, I want my meat rare, blood rare, i like it the best when i can get my hands on a few 4 to 5cm pork chops, put some black pepper, some olive oil mixed with lemon juice and red vine and some salt, live them over night

Fire up the grill and put them in for 3 minutes on each side...then eat ! :D


PS: red meat RULES !!!

[xRyokenx]

all you people who like red meat.. bloody red meat at that. All of the sudden it is all so clear now...


Lol, I prefer my meat to be at least medium or medium well, it's just what I'm used to. But yeah, I don't have any real preference on which fuel source to use except for the fact that when I'm hungry, the food is ready (within a reasonable time).

[Ironcat]

lol, goat is delicious

No, no it isn't...

CURRIED goat is delicious but it has so much spice and sauce and whatnot that you can hardly taste the tang of the goat underneath it all.
I don't care if it is wild or domestic, try roasting a goat leg the way you would a lamb and you'll be amazed at how quickly the bile rises to your throat.
The only way anyone with even 1/2 a tastebud can eat "plain" goat is sausaged, and even then it's loaded with so many salts and spices that it could be wild boar, antelope, or venison.


Anyone ever had any odd foods off the grill. .
Like Squid, Hampster , Gopher, or Gator?

God said he gave us all the fishes in the sea, fowls of the air, and everything that creepeth upon the earth... and by God, I've tried a lot of it.
Since you limited it to grilling, I have had gator, ostrich, emu, shark, possum, boar, squirrel, pigeon, and various ugly fishes.

[nil8]

The goat thing was a retort to the chupacabra comment. He sucks out goat's blood.
I never meant it seriously. I've never had goat, and unless my life gets bad fast, I hope I never do.

I do like squirrel, but it's a rather greasy meat unless cooked in stew.
How is grilled ostrich?

[Slug Toy]

It does take a bit longer with charcoal but that is no issue for me, I want my meat rare, blood rare, i like it the best when i can get my hands on a few 4 to 5cm pork chops, put some black pepper, some olive oil mixed with lemon juice and red vine and some salt, live them over night

Fire up the grill and put them in for 3 minutes on each side...then eat !

ICK!!! ever heard of trichinosis? do a search.

pork is a particular bad one because pigs are allowed to wallow around in some nasty stuff. this just harbors diseases. if you dont cook the meat enough (meaning well done all the way through), you run a reasonable risk of getting whatever disease that pig had, and many of them have something. its kind of like the uncooked fish = tapeworms thing.

thats the main reason i dont eat pork at all. the last thing i want is some worm crawling around in my connective tissue. i dont really even like eating beef that much either. i try to stick to chicken, salmon, or halibut. those three are relatively safe meats.

of course, dont let me put you off your dinner. just consider yourself warned.

[Ironcat]

ICK!!! ever heard of trichinosis? do a search.

Actually YOU are the one that needs to do a search.

Since averaging around 500 cases a year around 1950 or so, trich is down to about 50 cases a year worldwide.
Almost all of them are in countries where the pigs are still allowed to eat garbage and other waste.

Trich cysts can be killed by either freezing the meat prior to cooking it or else cooking it to a temp of 140.

Any halfway decent chef is going to tell you to cook your pork to no more than medium. Modern pigs are being bred leaner and leaner, without the fat, overcooking will seriously dry out your pork.

It isn't your grandmother's pork, don't cook it like she did...

[Slug Toy]

meh, im staying safe rather than sorry. any chance of it happening is too big a chance in my book. plus... i just dont like pork.

[nil8]

Salmon can be eaten raw, good stuff too.

[Spawn-Inc]

ICK!!! ever heard of trichinosis? do a search.

pork is a particular bad one because pigs are allowed to wallow around in some nasty stuff. this just harbors diseases. if you dont cook the meat enough (meaning well done all the way through), you run a reasonable risk of getting whatever disease that pig had, and many of them have something. its kind of like the uncooked fish = tapeworms thing.

thats the main reason i dont eat pork at all. the last thing i want is some worm crawling around in my connective tissue. i dont really even like eating beef that much either. i try to stick to chicken, salmon, or halibut. those three are relatively safe meats.

of course, dont let me put you off your dinner. just consider yourself warned.

so your telling me you don't eat bacon!?!?!??!? i feel very sorry for you!!!

but i also don't eat pork alot, not because i'm worried about disease and crap, but it doesn't really taste great. i would much rather have a medium steak, chicken, ceder plank salmon, etc.

[xRyokenx]

Spawn, I agree with ya about pork, it doesn't taste that good... I like bacon and ham though...

[Slug Toy]

well plus, not only does it not taste too great, but ive got a little piece of info stuck in my head that says pork is the closest thing to eating a human.... that kind of ruins it even further dont you think?

[xRyokenx]

well plus, not only does it not taste too great, but ive got a little piece of info stuck in my head that says pork is the closest thing to eating a human.... that kind of ruins it even further dont you think?


Quite so. Don't they use pig hearts for heart transplants? Great, now the prospect of eating ham makes me think of eating someone's arse, great, just great... lol. But now I see why other animals don't like eating us. :D

[Bucko]

Put some Pork on your fork! That stuff tastes great!

[Spawn-Inc]

Spawn, I agree with ya about pork, it doesn't taste that good... I like bacon and ham though...


oh ya ham, i love the taste but the texture is nasty (can be and mostly is).

[GT40_GearHead]

ICK!!! ever heard of trichinosis? do a search.

pork is a particular bad one because pigs are allowed to wallow around in some nasty stuff. this just harbors diseases. if you dont cook the meat enough (meaning well done all the way through), you run a reasonable risk of getting whatever disease that pig had, and many of them have something. its kind of like the uncooked fish = tapeworms thing.

thats the main reason i dont eat pork at all. the last thing i want is some worm crawling around in my connective tissue. i dont really even like eating beef that much either. i try to stick to chicken, salmon, or halibut. those three are relatively safe meats.

of course, dont let me put you off your dinner. just consider yourself warned.



Yeah of course I do !

But we keep our pigs clean, i grow my pigs, we eat 6 to 7 pigs a year, and i send a samle to the lab to test the sucker after we killed it lol

I did not knew trichinosis gets killed by freezing the meat, useful piece of info


you know whats the funniest about eating raw meat, the face of the guy that is near you when he sees you taking the meat of the fire after 3 minutes lol

two years ago i had a friend from Canada visit me, he was born here but left with his parents
the guy i had a major brake down lol



PS: have any of you eaten pig balls ? seriously!

[Eclecticos]

PS: have any of you eaten pig balls ? seriously!

LMAO now that will kill an appetite. I remember watching a movie where a guy set the record of 40 of them before he knew what they were. . Funny as hell. Are the Pig Balls Good tastin? LOL.

Whats this crap about grilling being dangerous? I'll take my chances and eat what tastes good. I guess ya pass on the table salt to huh? :D

Anyone ever ate armadillo? Now thats a real concern, the ones with pointy teeth can carry leprosy.

This is what they look like.
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1593/armadilloxh4.png

If you've eaten a armadillo and had a sunburn recently and think it's leprosy you might be a redneck. :D

[GT40_GearHead]

Anyone ever ate armadillo? Now thats a real concern, the ones with pointy teeth can carry leprosy.



are you serious !!! that i did not know, and i thought they where quite litle creatures

PS: +rep for the "I remember watching a movie where a guy set the record of 40 of them before he knew what they were" you are right it is funny as hell

[Eclecticos]

I always wanted one of those grill trailers.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7793/p311lty8.jpg

Just pull over and make some money.
Pulled pork samiches with some sweet baby rays bbq sauce on there ummn.. umn good eatin!

[Spawn-Inc]

I always wanted one of those grill trailers.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7793/p311lty8.jpg

Just pull over and make some money.
Pulled pork samiches with some sweet baby rays bbq sauce on there ummn.. umn good eatin!

no no no you want the larger modle...

http://www.bbqdan.com/images_bbq/cuz-bbq-pit002.jpg

http://www.slashfood.com/media/2006/06/world-largest-transportable-smoker.jpg


Now thats some SERIOUS GRILLIN'!!!!!!!!!
http://www.bbqdan.com/events/operation_bbq_troops/29_palms_092303/cuz_dan_10.jpg

[GT40_GearHead]

thats my kind of grill ! :D