Buying Guide: Gas or Charcoal

GUIDES FUEL

Buying Guide: Gas or Charcoal

Gas and charcoal both roast, grill and finish with the lid down. The useful difference is how you want a Tuesday night to feel. Gas lights quickly and holds a set temperature. Charcoal asks for more time and gives you a fire to manage. The Ziggy Elite barbecues currently in this store are LPG gas.

Read Time
7m
Skill
Beginner
Applies To
First barbecue
Fuel
Gas or charcoal

What to compare

  • How often you cook: weeknights favour gas
  • How many people you feed: count burners, not just width
  • Where it lives: a balcony needs a model rated for that space
  • Storage for a gas bottle, upright and out of living areas
  • A cover if the barbecue stays outdoors

Steps

  1. Step 01

    If most cooks are steaks, sausages or vegetables after work, start with gas. Lighting and preheating should take about 10 minutes.

  2. Step 02

    If you want low-and-slow cooks every weekend and you enjoy managing a fire, charcoal is the better hobby. It is a poor fit when you need dinner in half an hour.

  3. Step 03

    Match the size to the household. A single burner suits a couple on a balcony. Two or three burners suit a family and leave you a cooler zone.

  4. Step 04

    Budget for the cover, a hotplate if you want smash burgers, and a rack if you roast. Those pieces matter as much as the burner count.

Gas barbecues in the range