Weber Kettle Club Forums

 ::)
Am I the only one who responds borderline physically to people whining about this?
I grew up in a family who only used gas because "charcoal is too dirty"

I have seen them practically recoil from the force of my rebuttles, so apparently its something I am passionate about.  :P

My first legitimate charcoal grill was a jumbo joe. I figured I am no stranger to getting my hands dirty...

Only to find that the only times I got my hand dirty was handling the cooking grate... And that was more of a dirty cooking grate thing then a charcoal thing.
I loaded the coal with tongs. It burns to ash and falls into a pan or the bottom of the grill... then I removed the pan and dumped it in the trash (once cold), and likewise could pick the whole grill up and dump the ash into the trash with out touching anything. Nothing really dirty about it. No need to get coal or ash on your hands.

Again, stepping up to a performer... Load with tongs, all the ash fall into a pan with a handle... Never touch anything but metal.

What the hell are these people doing that is so messy? Shit if anything, my gasser that didn't really facilitate using a drip pan is what was dirty. The grease trap on that thing....  :o

Just me? (I am guessing no...)

Ya I agree it probably the same whiners who whine about charcoal being so slow.  I figure they just have learnt to do it properly. 

I tend to have to calm myself  down when faced with these sub citizens. 

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Quote from: MeatAndPotatos on January 22, 2016, 06:42:36 PM
Just me? (I am guessing no...)

You are not alone. Fu€k gas!!!  The only way gas & grill go together, is "I enjoyed a charcoal grilled..., & it gave me gas".


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Quote from: Lumpy Coal on January 22, 2016, 07:11:45 PM
sub citizens. 
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Hilarious


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Quote from: Lumpy Coal on January 22, 2016, 07:11:45 PM
Ya I agree it probably the same whiners who whine about charcoal being so slow.  I figure they just have learnt to do it properly. 

I tend to have to calm myself  down when faced with these sub citizens. 

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Oh man... I meant to include that.
Light a chimney of lump up real good and its ready in like 10 minutes.
Light your gasser up and let everything preheat and its ready in like... 10 minutes.

So little time difference. I guess most people are not letting their gas grill get warmed up real good though.

I own three braai's (south African bbq using fire) two kettles, a firepit and a gas cooker. I never use the cooker. Prefer the taste and the cleaning is easy.

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i'm gonna play devil's advocate here. charcoal cooking is dirtier than gas cooking. regardless of how it's done, with charcoal cooking, there is always the spent ash that must be disposed of as well as the cooked off grease. gas cookers only need deal with the grease. however, charcoal/real wood cooks taste much better than gas cooks to the extent that the extra clean up is worth the difference in flavor.

Quote from: mrbill on January 22, 2016, 10:53:16 PM
i'm gonna play devil's advocate here. charcoal cooking is dirtier than gas cooking. regardless of how it's done, with charcoal cooking, there is always the spent ash that must be disposed of as well as the cooked off grease. gas cookers only need deal with the grease. however, charcoal/real wood cooks taste much better than gas cooks to the extent that the extra clean up is worth the difference in flavor.

But getting to and dealing with that grease and grime, at least on all grills I have owned, Is much messier a proposal then on a standard kettle.

I my kettle, lift the grate, place tin foil pan/tin foil folded up to make a lip.

Can't do that on any gasser I have cooked on or own. Its grates with very little clearance above flame shields then burners, all of which get dripped on, then a catch pan that funnels into the nastiest little drip cup.

I guess it does come down to maintenance and users, but the gassers require so much more disassembly to get at that drip pan that its rarely done, where I can have a pan that I only need to lift a small grate to get at.

Sure there is spent ash.... But it falls into a pan with a handle, where you don't need to touch it. I have yet to see a gasser where you don't touch anything but a clean stainless steel handle to get at the nasty bits.

Quote from: MeatAndPotatos on January 22, 2016, 11:25:29 PM

Quote from: mrbill on January 22, 2016, 10:53:16 PM
i'm gonna play devil's advocate here. charcoal cooking is dirtier than gas cooking. regardless of how it's done, with charcoal cooking, there is always the spent ash that must be disposed of as well as the cooked off grease. gas cookers only need deal with the grease. however, charcoal/real wood cooks taste much better than gas cooks to the extent that the extra clean up is worth the difference in flavor.

But getting to and dealing with that grease and grime, at least on all grills I have owned, Is much messier a proposal then on a standard kettle.

I my kettle, lift the grate, place tin foil pan/tin foil folded up to make a lip.

Can't do that on any gasser I have cooked on or own. Its grates with very little clearance above flame shields then burners, all of which get dripped on, then a catch pan that funnels into the nastiest little drip cup.

I guess it does come down to maintenance and users, but the gassers require so much more disassembly to get at that drip pan that its rarely done, where I can have a pan that I only need to lift a small grate to get at.

Sure there is spent ash.... But it falls into a pan with a handle, where you don't need to touch it. I have yet to see a gasser where you don't touch anything but a clean stainless steel handle to get at the nasty bits.

never said it wasn't worth it ;) I don't own a gasser for a reason :D

I do have a question though, how often do you all clean the inside bowl and lid.  I do see little clouds of ash lift up and swirl around when I take the lid off because of the fine layer of ash clinging to the inside.  It all settles down by the time the chimney is ready to go, but I was just curious how long other folks go between cleanings.

I wear disposable gloves when handling charcoal. But keeping sleeves or jackets clean can be a challenge in cooler weather. I haven't yet found a way to avoid ash swirling in the air when moving it, Performer or not.

It's worth it to me because I gain a direct relationship to understanding the heat source and working with it. Gas cooking is all abstract to me, the knob's position and little else. And there are so many more opportunities to better taste with live fire of course.

Grizz I don't frequently clean mine. I pay attention to the grates and the ash/charcoal and don't have a lot of time to go back the next day and wipe out wipe down scrape off or whatever.

Quote from: mrbill on January 23, 2016, 12:46:23 AM

Quote from: MeatAndPotatos on January 22, 2016, 11:25:29 PM

Quote from: mrbill on January 22, 2016, 10:53:16 PM
i'm gonna play devil's advocate here. charcoal cooking is dirtier than gas cooking. regardless of how it's done, with charcoal cooking, there is always the spent ash that must be disposed of as well as the cooked off grease. gas cookers only need deal with the grease. however, charcoal/real wood cooks taste much better than gas cooks to the extent that the extra clean up is worth the difference in flavor.

But getting to and dealing with that grease and grime, at least on all grills I have owned, Is much messier a proposal then on a standard kettle.

I my kettle, lift the grate, place tin foil pan/tin foil folded up to make a lip.

Can't do that on any gasser I have cooked on or own. Its grates with very little clearance above flame shields then burners, all of which get dripped on, then a catch pan that funnels into the nastiest little drip cup.

I guess it does come down to maintenance and users, but the gassers require so much more disassembly to get at that drip pan that its rarely done, where I can have a pan that I only need to lift a small grate to get at.

Sure there is spent ash.... But it falls into a pan with a handle, where you don't need to touch it. I have yet to see a gasser where you don't touch anything but a clean stainless steel handle to get at the nasty bits.

never said it wasn't worth it ;) I don't own a gasser for a reason :D

Im not even convinced its a worth it thing though. As I said I could never use a temporary drip pan on my gasser. The grill, and my hands were often dirtier working with the gasser then my performer since its an open bowl I can put a pan into to catch grease, and all ash falls through the bottom into an enclosed container.

I just can't agree that gassers are cleaner. Never been my experience.

Quote from: Grizz on January 23, 2016, 06:36:55 AM
I do have a question though, how often do you all clean the inside bowl and lid.  I do see little clouds of ash lift up and swirl around when I take the lid off because of the fine layer of ash clinging to the inside.  It all settles down by the time the chimney is ready to go, but I was just curious how long other folks go between cleanings.

I do get that a little. Per webers instructions don't lift the lid straight up, rather kind of slide it off to the side. Lifting straight up will kick up more ash.
I basically do nothing after cooking. Before cooking I will move the sweepers back and forth a whole lot trying to clear all the ash, or as much as I can. Ill light a fire and let it get hot then take a brush to the grate. That's about it.

Lots of black around the door knobs ... and light switches in my house ... That's what Spring-Cleaning is for.  ??? :o ;D ;)

...but charcoal cooked food is so tasty!

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Quote from: MacEggs on January 23, 2016, 12:01:37 PM
Lots of black around the door knobs ... and light switches in my house ... That's what Spring-Cleaning is for.  ??? :o ;D ;)

Do you handle coal by hand?

Perhaps that is the distinction here? I don't touch any coal or ash with my hands, I load coal with tongs and dump ash from the pan...

A clean grill is a sign of a sick mind

I guess I'm the minority here.  I like my genesis as much as my performer or 26 or even the 18.  They are all great and each has a role. I don't know why everyone hates gas so much....

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Quote from: jaynik on January 23, 2016, 01:39:33 PM
I guess I'm the minority here.  I like my genesis as much as my performer or 26 or even the 18.  They are all great and each has a role. I don't know why everyone hates gas so much....

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My intent with the thread wasn't that gas is bad (though it is :P)

Its just that using my charcoal grill is not any messier, despite the constant complaint that I am met with that charcoal takes so long and is so messy... I load coal without touching it, light it with a torch and in ~10 minutes its ready... then dump ash without touching it. It took about as long to get my gasser hot, and was more difficult to use a catch pan to catch drippings and keep things from getting greased up.

I just don't find my performer to be dirtier then my old gasser, and in some cases the simplicity of it allows for it to gather less crap and grease inside of it.

Oh no. I agree with your post. Many of the responses to this and other conversations on here though are "throw out your gas grill".  I find my charcoal to have more mess but it doesn't bother me.

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In a way you are comparing apples to oranges.

It's fun to hate gas. 

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I have a classic Genesis, a Q, and many kettles and WSMs. I can get filthy using any of them, and ruin at least three t-shirts a month.
I wouldn't have it any other way!

Gas/charcoal...imo both dirty n messy.  I havent lit my ss gas grill in a long time.
Gas grills messy if you prep the grill right..removing grates and cleaning the heat shields..dirty heat shields block heat.  My ss grates are heavy and this is a messy process.  Kettle..dirty too..remove grate/prep chimney ..light..pour lit coals..ash flies
around...its messy..

Most gas grillers dont clean their heat shields so..its just light and drop food..but dirty heat shields will block heat/max heat in the firebox.

Both are dirty and messy...dumping my charcoal pan and bucket in garbage bags leaves a nice cloud of ash smoke when dumping...again..mess.

Overall comparison...charcoal is a bit dirtier...but the taste and controlling the fire/cool process is well worth all my dirty gloves

Whiners gonna whine. Grillfellas gonna bbq. It's me and my Webers against the world Ma.

Argument can be made either way. With a 3 wheeler, there's no choice but to get in there after a couple cooks. Perfect vessel for burning a butt though. The key word a few people mentioned... Disposable gloves. I prefer black. BBQ just looks cooler in black rubber gloves.

Quote from: Uncle Al on January 23, 2016, 03:01:59 PM
In a way you are comparing apples to oranges.

Yeah but apples taste better then oranges.

Quote from: TheDude on January 23, 2016, 07:03:12 PM
Argument can be made either way....

Kinda the point. People make a big deal out of the hassle and mess of a coal grill... but I think they make up their own problems as its not so much worse then using a gas grill, particularly if you actually cleaning and maintaining it. As you point out arguments can be made for both sides, and gas grills can be just as bad.

Meanwhile almost all of the people I am talking about say they like charcoal better... but it just takes so much more work and is so much messier. But if the arguments go either way, they kind of cancel each other out, and your left with the fact that they like charcoal better so they should use it.
:P

After the cook I close all vents and wait for the next cook.  At the next cook; I sweep as much loose ash as possible out of the bowl, I check the inside of the lid for ANY loose carbon build up and remove it if it's there, start the coals and, when ready, distribute them on the coal grate, and then I let the cooking grate heat well before I brush it clean.  Now I recover the bowl w/ the lid and bring the kettle up to cooking temp.  Hummmmmm, I just thought that's how everyone prep'd ???                            SJ

My family used to be gas only, but me and my kettles have converted them. My dad just ditched his gasser when I bought him his otg for Christmas


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Quote from: MeatAndPotatos on January 23, 2016, 12:12:08 PM

Quote from: MacEggs on January 23, 2016, 12:01:37 PMLots of black around the door knobs ... and light switches in my house ... That's what Spring-Cleaning is for.  ??? :o ;D ;)

Do you handle coal by hand?

Perhaps that is the distinction here? I don't touch any coal or ash with my hands, I load coal with tongs and dump ash from the pan...

Ya, I don't want my gloves to get dirty ....

My hands get filthy almost every time I cook. I throw some new coals in a chimney and then go all neanderthal with my bare hands and load up the rest of the chimney with the coals from the prior cook.....It's awesome

Clean hands are for g-i-r-l-z-z ...                           SJ

i hate gas people

I guess it all depends on one's definition of "dirty". I tend to get grease, charcoal, and ash on my hands just about every time I use one of my kettles.  Personally I don't consider this as being dirty. I simply wash off my hands and go on about my business. Yes I do get some on the cloths from time to time but it's only the grease that really bothers me. Somehow I still usually manage to get grease on the hands even when using a gas grill. In my opinion, a gas grill is less "dirty" for cooking but more "dirty" when it comes to cleaning.

I have four gas grills (3)LP's Genesis and (1)NG Summit and 5x's that in kettles SJ's, 18", and 22" grill. When we have a big party at the house I tend to use the Gas grills as a warming stations to keep all the food I cooked on the Kettles at a good temp! works great! My wife tells me that I have very expensive warmers :). In fairness I do use my gas every now and then but prefer my kettles ;D. Better taste!

For thr record, I shoveled out 1 of each for the latest blizzard. (http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160203/d32fc2a9346b24db4ed08d76c689ae90.jpg)

...and I cooked spicy pork on the Genesis last night....
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160203/115717719c3a674c42355a3ae1231c00.jpg)

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