Grill recommendations for a beginner essentially?

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and i know i won't utilize it if i have to wait on charcoal

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This is first beer time. Mine is usually ready to go in 10-15 minutes, depending on what I'm doing. You just have so much more versatility with charcoal.

I started on my parents old gas grill as a teenager. Had an 18 inch Weber in college. Bought a cheap gas grill after I got married. Ended up with this massive gas/coal/smoker grill with a side burner. And for the past 4 years I've gone back to a 26 inch Weber kettle. Gas is convenient, but not as great as it seems.

Weber Performer


This is one of the best investments i've made. Not gas, but in the grand scheme of things is the extra 5-10 minutes a deal breaker for better tasting food? Light the grill, go inside and season your burgers or chicken, by the time you're done with that your coals will be ready. The gas grill still takes time to come up to temp and burn off anything that's built up on it since the last time you used it. I think the "gas is so much quicker than charcoal" is overplayed. Just my .02 though. Everybody is different here.

My uncle has one similar to this but a little more high dollar. I'm not much on gas grilling but I've grabbed ahold of this one in store once or twice. Sturdy rig. I imagine if you keep it out the weather, it'll be a nice grill.
Half charcoal grill, half gas grill and a burner on the side for beans and whatnot.

Lowes grill

Anybody ever use one of the Oklahoma Joe combo grill/smokers?

Saw one yesterday when looking at mine.



Fire box/grill on far left, charcoal grill in middle, and gas grill on right. Also has a side burner. Seemed pretty interesting for the $400 range

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i don't really know much about grilling, and thought the charcoal process would take a lot longer than 10-15 minutes

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I pile a good bit up as much as I can and light them up. Try and stick the lighter inside the pile at the bottom and on the far side and light up as many as you can before the fire gets crazy. If you're using lighter fluid, which helps a shite ton, let em burn til the fluid smell burns off. The charcoals will start turning white after a few minutes of burning. Scrub your grill about now. If you want to do burgers a shite across the grill, spread the coals out and get the whole grill hot. When I do steaks, I like to leave em piled up and keep them off the fire and slow roll.

Sit back and drink some brewskies and enjoy the smell.

Hard to beat a Webber kettle for your first if you gobthe charcoal route.

Get a charcoal grill. Yes it takes a little time to get coals ready but the flavor is not even close coming off a gas grill. I light my primos and have a drink while I prep food.

I have a gas grill. I'm going back to charcoal. It really is much better.

Weber makes really good stuff. I got the basic kettle grill and I never see myself going back to gas. Most of the gas grills rust out in 3 to 5 years. Saying that if all you do is cook hamburgers and hot dogs and don't mind replacing it every few years then a gas grill is probably what you want. I've always wondered if the Weber gas grills hold up longer than the $200 to $400 ones.