It’s almost grilling season! You just bought a new house, and you can’t wait to show it off by hosting a BBQ.
Before you can invite your family and friends over, you’re going to need to buy one of the many types of grills. When most people think of grills, their minds go to charcoal and gas, but they’re not the only choices that you’ve got.
If you want something a little more portable, a kettle grill would fit that need, for example. There are also pellet grills and electric grills.
Are you feeling a bit lost? We can clear things up for you. Check out this cooking guide to learn about these lesser-known grill types.
Charcoal Grill
Charcoal grills are a summer favorite. They’re not too difficult to use, and they’ll fill your food with a unique flavor that you can’t get anywhere else.
It’s for this reason that there are so many different types of grills that use charcoal. That benefits you because it means you’ll be able to easily find one in your budget such as the Big green egg.
That being said, we do reccomend spending a little extra money on a nice charcoal grill. If you try to cut corners, you may end up with one with a lid that doesn’t shut all the way. The heat will seep out, and your food won’t heat evenly.
Keeping the charcoal at the proper cooking temperature can take some time and work. You’ll have to wait about half an hour after heating your charcoal before you can even put anything on the grill.
When you’re done cooking, you’ll spend a ton of time cleaning the ashes out of the bottom of your appliance. If it’s cold or windy out, you’ll have a tough time keeping things hot, and buying charcoal is more expensive than gas.
Kettle Grill
If you’re going on a summer camping trip, you’ll want to bring along a kettle grill. They are a type of charcoal grill that’s much smaller than traditional models.
The reason for their name is their unique kettle shape. They’re lightweight enough for you to take in and out of an RV without much effort.
You won’t have to put a lot of charcoal into the bottom of your grill to get things going.
Gas Grill
Charcoal grills are popular, but gas ones have them cornered. They’re so easy to use that a total beginner can get the hang of cooking on one without much effort.
There are two major types of grills that use gas. Propane and natural. Propane grills are powered by fuel in portable tanks that you can buy from most stores.
Natural gas grills attach to your house’s gas line. You won’t be able to move the grill at all, but you won’t have to buy fuel for it either.
Once you fire up your gas grill, it won’t take long to heat up. You won’t have to wait forever for it to cool down either.
Gas grills can get pretty expensive, depending on what kind of features you’re looking for. Buying gas fuel is cheaper than getting bags of charcoal and pellets.
Gas grills don’t provide the same smokey flavor the gas ones do. If you don’t have a lot of money to throw around, don’t opt for a gas model.
When it comes to these grills, you get what you pay for. The cheaper ones can be inconsistent when it comes to heating.
Pellet Grill
Pellet grills are a bit like charcoal ones. The difference is that they use wood chips instead of charcoal fuel. The benefit of using wood is that the flavor will seep into the food.
You can buy cherry, pecan, hickory, and maple chips. You’ll be able to do more with the appliance than grilling.
Due to the advanced heat settings, you can bake, smoke, and sear. Clean up is a snap because most pellet grills have an ash trap built in. All you have to do is remove the tray and dump the ashes in the garbage.
The main downside of these grills is that they’re probably the most expensive on the list.
They can be high maintenance. If you don’t clean them on a normal basis, they’ll fall apart. You’ll also need to have some form of electronic connection.
If you’re still interested in having one, you can go here to compare Green Mountain vs Traeger brands.
Electric Grill
Out of all the different grills, electric ones are the tiniest. For the most part, they’re made to fit on your countertop. You power them up by plugging them into an electric outlet.
You can use them indoors unless they let off smoke. If that’s the case, cook outside for the sake of your home’s air quality.
They’re easy to clean, and the price tag on most of them is reasonable. If you’re going to be cooking for a huge gathering, an electric grill isn’t going to cut it. They’re too small to make large quantities of food.
If you cook a burger on an electric grill, it won’t have that smokey taste that you can get out of a charcoal or pellet grill.
Choose the Right Types of Grills for Your Family BBQs
Before the summer begins in full swing, you’re going to want to pick up one of the many types of grills. Without one, your family BBQs will be non-existent.
The appliance you choose all depends on what kind of cooking you want to do. If you want flavor, pellet and charcoal grills will be your jam. Those who need to make a large quantity of food will benefit from having a gas one.
For more tips that will help you take your summer BBQs to the next level, visit the Lifestyle section of our blog.