There is something about charcoal that is head and shoulders above gas, IMO. I use the stack cannister with newspaper underneath to heat the brickets, thus avoiding the lighter fluid taste.
We’re actually beginning a “discussion” right now about a back-yard redesign. I’m pushing for staying with a portable charcoal weber…wife wants a built-in gas BBQ. She claims she would bbq if we had one. I never saw her use the previous portable gas unit we had. It will be interesting to see how this discussion ends up. 🙂
I just have the cheap $100 Weber Gold, can’t stomach the thought of paying several hundred more dollars for something that does the same thing. Only drawback to my unit is that it can only cook about 8-10 burgers at a time. But on the rare times I need to cook more, we just wheel a neighbors’ over and have two grills going. Shoot, I could even buy a second grill and still only have $200 invested![/quote]
I have the Weber Genesis. It is parked right outside the kitchen door and my wife does use it!She cooks on it as much or more than I do now. She will sometimes just grill peppers or asparagus or other things for a side dish or cook the main item. Get her a basket for shrimp, a cast iron skillet for fajitas( we have a square one made for grills)… and lots of other cookery items :).
At my old house, I had a rustic brick and mortar wood or charcoal bbq and I still can cook with wood over the fire ring, but my wife would not/will do any of those things.
I don’t see any big enough advantages of built in grills that overcome the benefits of portability. If I ever have one built in it would be a big wood burning thing with a hand cranking lift type grill, like they use at the fair. A good outdoor structure to work and serve from, maybe a sink and fridge, would be nice.
