Should I buy a charcoal or a gas barbecue?

This argument is usually conducted in terms of flavour, where the honest answer is that the difference is real but smaller than people claim — most barbecue flavour comes from fat dripping and vaporising, which happens on both. The differences that actually change whether you use the thing are practical.

Safety

Step by step

1. Compare time from decision to cooking.Gas: 5–10 minutes with the lid down. Charcoal: 20–35 minutes to light and ash over, plus clearing ash afterwards. On a Tuesday evening that gap decides whether the barbecue gets used at all, which is the strongest single argument for gas.
2. Compare temperature control.Gas gives you separately controlled burners and a dial, which makes two-zone cooking trivial and repeatable. Charcoal is controlled by how much fuel you use, how you bank it and the vents — more skill, more responsive once learnt, less predictable.
3. Compare peak heat and crust.Charcoal reaches higher radiant temperatures than most domestic gas barbecues, which gives a better crust on steaks and burgers. If searing is the main thing you want, charcoal or a gas barbecue with a dedicated sear burner is the answer.
4. Compare flavour honestly.Most of what tastes like barbecue is fat dripping onto a hot surface and vaporising back onto the food, and that happens on gas too. Charcoal adds a genuine wood-smoke note on top, more so with lumpwood than briquettes. On gas you can get part of the way with a smoker box of wood chips.
5. Compare cost across the life of the thing.Charcoal barbecues cost far less to buy — a good kettle is a fraction of a decent gas unit — but the fuel is consumed every cook. Gas costs much more up front and then very little per cook, and a cylinder lasts a season for most households. Over five years they are closer than the price tags suggest.
6. Compare cleaning and storage.Gas: brush the grates, empty the fat tray occasionally, cover it. Charcoal: clear the ash after every cook, which is a dirty five-minute job. Gas barbecues are also bulkier and heavier and need a cylinder stored outdoors.
7. Check what your space allows.A balcony or a shared communal area often bans charcoal specifically because of embers and ash, and some leases and social landlords ban barbecues entirely. Flats with no outdoor space rule both out — an indoor grill or a griddle pan is the honest alternative, because no barbecue of any kind may be used indoors.

Alternatives

• Pellet barbecue: Burns compressed wood pellets fed by an auger, with a thermostat. Gives genuine wood smoke with gas-like temperature control, at a high purchase price, and does not reach searing temperatures easily.
• Electric barbecue: The only option in many flats and on many balconies, because there are no embers and no gas. No smoke flavour and limited peak heat, but it does the job for burgers and vegetables.
• Griddle pan or hot oven grill indoors: For anyone with no outdoor space. A ridged cast iron griddle gets hot enough for real char marks; the smoke has to come from an ingredient rather than the fire.

Questions people ask