Remember that while some models will perform well and may be the absolute best on the market, they may not be right for you. Take into account your budget and this will help you narrow down the BBQ grills that you should be looking at.

Gas or Charcoal?

Gas BBQ grills have several benefits over charcoal models. One of their advantages is their ease of use. All you do is turn on the gas, press the igniter and you’re on your way. You can also start cooking as soon as you turn it on instead of waiting around for it to heat up like you would with a charcoal grill, and you can regulate the heat more precisely while cooking.

Probably the biggest advantage of a charcoal grill is the taste of the food. The smoke that is produced by charcoal gives the food a distinct flavor that many people enjoy. Charcoal grills are often smaller and more portable than gas BBQ grills, which makes them better for taking along on camping trips and other outdoor activities.

Expense

When expense is a concern, turn to charcoal BBQ grills. These are usually a lot cheaper than gas. They may be a little more difficult to use but you will find that the price difference is worth the extra effort of firing up your grill.

Stainless steel BBQ grills are also less expensive than painted grills. If you do decide to go with a painted grill then be prepared for wear and tear to ensue fairly quickly. Especially if left outside, painted grills need more care to last longer. It may be worth it to invest in a stainless steel BBQ grill.

Space

The amount of food that you will be grilling is very important when choosing BBQ grills. If you will be grilling for only one or two people, then something with a 75 square inch grill will be fine. If you intend to cook for more of a crowd then your grill size has to increase. Otherwise you’ll end up stuck at the grill all night and people will be eating in shifts.

On some BBQ’s, the specifications include the warming rack as part of the grilling space, so take a good look at the grill that you’re considering. This will give you a better idea of how much grilling space you have rather than just reading the numbers.

Make Life Easy

When choosing a grill you want to make life easier, so get one that has wheels. Think about the trouble you’ll have when it starts to rain and you want to move the grill to a covered area.

There are many things to take into consideration before you purchase a new BBQ. Do your research beforehand and you’re sure to have many nights of happy grilling.

The debate about which one is best has gone on for many years, and will continue to go on long after you read this article. Each has its benefits and its disadvantages. We’ll try to look at a few of these below to help you decide which one is better for you.

Benefits of Gas BBQ Grills

Gas BBQ grills have several benefits that make them an attractive choice. The first would have to be safety. There seems to be fewer accidents involving gas BBQ grills than with charcoal. They are also much cleaner and easier to clean than charcoal grills. There is no dealing with the dust and grime that comes with handling charcoal.

One of the most popular advantages of using gas BBQ grills is that they are easier to use. All you need to do in most cases is turn on the gas and press the igniter and you’re on your way.

There is also less smoke to deal with when cooking with a gas BBQ grill. They’re more precise than charcoal grills because you can regulate the heat better for more accurate cooking. Charcoal grilling is more like cooking over a campfire where it’s easier to over- or under-cook your food. You can also start cooking as soon as you turn it on instead of waiting around for it to heat up like you would with a charcoal grill.

Benefits of Charcoal Grills

Probably the biggest advantage that charcoal has over gas BBQ grills is the taste of the food. The smoke that is produced by charcoal gives the food a distinct flavor that many people enjoy. However, some people complain that food cooked on a charcoal grill often tastes like lighter fluid.

Charcoal grills are often smaller and more portable than gas BBQ grills, which makes them better for taking along on camping trips and other outdoor activities.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what anyone says about either of these grills, the choice is yours. Basically, it will be a matter of personal preference and what type of cooking you will be doing. Either one will add to the overall experience of your outdoor activities.

Brick BBQ’s are a beautiful addition to anyone’s back yard and it’s a home project that is attainable and gives you a sense of accomplishment when it’s completed.

Location and Preparation

The first thing to do when building your own brick BBQ is to decide where to put it. It’s smart to have your barbecue close to the house since you will be carrying food and utensils back and forth. Normally, we all forget a few things when barbecuing so you know you will have to make extra trips back to the kitchen.

Try and figure out which way the wind normally blows so you don’t pick a spot where the chef is going to get smoke directly into his face or into the house. You will also want to keep your brick BBQ away from fences, buildings and overhanging trees. Always build your barbecue on relatively level ground. A good base for your brick BBQ would be large pavers that are laid on a bed of sand. Or you can dig a pit and install a wooden form along the inside of the hole and then pour concrete.

Design

Your next step is to design your brick BBQ. Be sure your BBQ is at a comfortable height and the firebox is only a few inches below. You will also want to include one or two shelves so you can keep your grilling paraphernalia close at hand when cooking. You can make your BBQ as fancy as you want, but the most beautiful and most useful brick BBQ grills are the most simple ones. You don’t want anything to stand in the way of good flavor, not even good looks.

It might be a good idea to check with your hardware store to see if they have any designs for brick BBQ’s that you can purchase. If you follow the directions in one these plans you will undoubtedly have a beautiful and very useful brick BBQ.

It doesn’t take long to construct a BBQ but the time goes much faster if you decide to make it a party affair. Of course, start and finish the project before the case of beer is opened, and you’ll be cooking dinner on it before the stars come out.

Brick BBQ’s are fun home projects and if you are handy at home and enjoy grilling, it could be a project that you will really enjoy undertaking.

However, the nature of the grill itself, and specifics of the other pieces of BBQ equipment, is left up to the griller. A dedicated griller will probably have a complete arsenal of tools and tricks, while the typical backyard griller will have a smaller, more self-contained grilling unit. But in the end, it is the destination, not the journey, that matters, and if the end result is good-tasting food, then all BBQ equipment is useful.

Creating Perfection

The most essential piece of BBQ equipment is the grill itself. Grills can come in any number of sizes, from small one-layered porch grills to huge, multi-tiered grills with warming trays and specific areas for smoking and marinating. The size of the grill depends on the needs of the griller—a griller who is hoping simply to grill up hamburgers and hot dogs probably does not need to spend the thousands of dollars required for some of the more complicated grills.

But if grilling is a person’s life, then the investment in high-end BBQ equipment may be worthwhile to further a hobby and a dream. Grills also differ by the fuel used. Some burn wood or charcoal, while others are connected to natural gas or propane tanks.

While some grills allow the griller to switch between fuels, most do not offer this option. The ability to grill over wood is essential for achieving certain flavors or scents, such as hickory, mesquite or cherry, or over charcoal for that famous smoky taste.

There are numerous other pieces of BBQ equipment that allow the griller to try other grilling techniques, or make the job easier. Chimney starters help to create a good charcoal fire cheaply and efficiently, and without the use of starter chemicals. Smokers can be used with grills to obtain a true smoked flavor. The meat is cooked in a box of BBQ wood chips that sits over the grill fire, cooking the meat slowly and infusing it with flavor from all sides.

Other popular BBQ equipment includes forks, knives, tongs, brushes and other utensils used to protect the griller from the flames while you manipulate the meat.

Wood smoking chips take your grilling to a whole new level. They can be used not only in a smoker, but on a gas or charcoal grill, as well. There are special smoker boxes that can be placed in your gas and charcoal grills to add real wood smoke flavor to your meats. There is nothing better then barbeque meat that has been cooked or smoked with barbeque wood chips.

Wood smoking chips or barbeque wood chips are available in a wide variety of flavors. They go from mesquite and hickory all the way to cabernet. Tomorrow there will likely be at least twenty more flavors of barbeque wood chips.

But remember that barbequing is all about the meat. If you don’t have a good piece of meat, there is no wood chip made that will make your meat taste any better. Make sure your meat or chicken is fresh and from a reputable butcher.

When using a small smoker in your grill you don’t necessarily have to soak your barbeque wood chips first. Although soaked wood chips allow your chips to burn longer, if you are cooking a steak you don’t need your barbeque wood chips to burn for a long time.

The stores that sell barbeque wood chips will have flavor guides to help you wade your way through the new age of wood chips. The lighter the meat type, the lighter the flavor woodchip you need to use. But it also doesn’t hurt to experiment and try mesquite with chicken, just begin with fewer wood chips then you would normally use.

The alder wood chips should be used with seafood and pork. Alder is a mild flavored barbeque woodchip. The fruit wood chips are also mild and are best used with poultry, veal and pork. The fruit woods consist of apple, cherry and other fruit barbeque wood chips. Maple barbeque wood chips are a strong flavor and are best used with beef, pork and poultry.

Hickory is another strong woodchip and is best if used with beef, pork and poultry. Beef, duck and lamb go well with the strong mesquite wood chips, and oak, another strong flavor, is good with beef and ham.

So the next time you decide to grill a great piece of meat consider using some of these BBQ wood chips and taste the great flavor and aroma coming off your grill.

Start by selecting the right kind of BBQ grill for you. There are charcoal models (yes, still!), natural or propane gas, or electric. They come in many sizes, for permanent installation or portable. Many have dozens of add-on helpful features, such as in-built thermometers, removable drip pans, side burners and much more.

Enhance your enjoyment by learning more about BBQ rubs, sauces and woods. Each of these, used judiciously, will highlight a good cut whether brisket, rib-eye or tenderloin. Using a smoker for long term, slow cooking rather than a barbeque is a great option in many circumstances.

Pick up the extra BBQ tools you need to make preparation, cooking and clean up easy. The right kind of spatula can make the difference between a safe, easy flip and a daredevil stunt. A good thermometer can help aid cooking, by making a measurement of the internal temperature of the grill or meat quick and painless.

Once you have the right BBQ grill, good tools and the right spices, take some time to prepare your feast the right way. Get educated on readying your barbeque into the perfect cooking instrument. Learn how to prepare your meat to produce a delectable dish, rather than a dried out disaster. Study some competition BBQ tips for pointers on the perfect BBQ.

You’ll need to make some decisions about whether to BBQ slow or fast. Purists will insist that only slow cooking is ‘really barbequing’. Maybe so, but words are less important here than results. Slow cooking a brisket in a smoker is the only way to go. Slow cooking a hamburger isn’t an option. The style should suit the materials and the desired result.

Practice safe barbequing, too, if you want to avoid spoiling the enjoyment of this festive occasion. It’s obvious that BBQs are hot. They also present an opportunity to lose focus and poke an eye or slice a finger. Staying alert and keeping a firm grip on tools will prevent a celebration from becoming a trip to the emergency room.

But even small annoyances can ruin the happy day. Keep bugs away in a safe way by preparing the BBQ area in advance and using some simple methods during preparation. A ready hose with the right nozzle, a hair dryer to blow bugs away, or even a simple fly swatter can keep bugs from ruining your party.

Once the day is done, you’ll need to clean up. Sad, but true. Make it easy by finding a BBQ that’s easier to disassemble, or contains disposable drip pans. Use oven sprays and the right kind of tools to make the job easier. Keep the grill regularly cleaned and your food will taste better.

But with all the BBQ skills to acquire you can rest assured that you already have the one most needed for a great adventure: your desire to enjoy life. Plunge ahead!

Barbecue, to a traditionalist, signifies slow cooking. This usually includes employing a smoker, or possibly a grill with a tight fitting lid and large surfaces so it’s possible to distance the food from the heat. You might push around briquettes to achieve this or light a fire on just one side. This produces a section of low heat (the one without any fire or briquettes) that lets you implement the first step: infusing.

With infusing, your objective is to get all of the flavorful ingredients into the meat before the surface layer is cooked sufficiently to seal the inside. Sauces, rubs, fat and the meat’s juices intermingle with the heat and smoke to create a symphony of effects within the meat. Surface fat melts away and the particles become part of the external layer. The marbled fat in the interior also liquefies and does much the same thing.

Once everything is melting and getting hot, the conditions are right for the spread of flavor compounds throughout the meat. If you’re preparing a fine steak, everything except the very center of the meat will be a recipient of what was once on the surface. If you’re cooking chicken, anything on the outside of the meat just beneath the skin makes its way inwards. A thin layer of fat on a pork chop will spread into the middle.

The second step is a time consuming one during which the actual cooking occurs. As the interior temperature of the meat climbs towards 200F (93C), proteins break down and become amino acids. Sugars convert into particles that add a sweet taste. Salt is ionized and enzymes increase their activity. The final effect of this fired up chemical process is to transform raw meat into a delectable entree.

Throughout this stage, smoke from any wood which has been added lends flavor to the finished product. The meat seals itself and internal juices are preserved, heated up and altered. This is the phase where the meat needs to pass most of its cooking time and is accomplished by using a lower temperature than you’d cook with indoors.

After the interior temperature of the meat gets to 200F (93C), which it’s possible to discover with a quality meat thermometer, it’s set to be taken off the smoker or grill. Next comes the third step.

Your meat is not yet entirely finished cooking. While it cools down, there is still sufficient internal heat to keep altering the structure of the meat slightly. Throughout this stage, meat can become even more tender, creating a most satisfying meal.

Once the temperature has decreased to less than 165F (74C), it’s time to dish it up. Cut off a small piece and check the color. Beef should be a dark red, and chicken should have become white and any juices should now be clear. Pork should be a grayish white. The flavor should be delicate and the texture easy to chew.

And there you have it. The ideal barbecue.

BBQ wood chips are frequently placed in among the charcoals or near a gas flame where they ignite and give off smoke. That adds immensely to the aroma and infuses flavor into a layer of the meat that makes the BBQ delicious and distinctive.

A dozen different varieties of wood are used in the BBQ, with some more common than others.

Mesquite is a favorite among BBQ chefs in the southwest, but the practice has spread far and wide. This cactus-like tree produces a smoke that is spicy and pungent. Nothing says Mexican chicken quite like a mesquite-flavored barbeque.

Hickory is another old-time BBQ favorite, especially in the South. This hard wood produces a heavy smoke that can last for hours. Great for smokers, but equally terrific on a grill, this full-bodied wood works great with ham or beef.

Oak is another heavy wood, due to its tightly bound fibers. White oak and red oak are the two most common varieties of BBQ wood chips, with red being the sweeter of the two. It adds a hint of caramel to a great chunk of beef but can even be used with fish.

Pecan is one of the newer tools in the BBQ chef’s smoking toolbox. Used in moderation it adds a nutty aroma that is perfect with a fine rib eye. Somewhat sweet, it makes for a great partner for hickory.

Apple is another of the sweet woods and the flavor is appreciated by BBQ chefs everywhere. Low in smoke but high in fruity overtones, it’s the perfect wood for infusing pork or poultry.

Cherry is another fruit tree wood that makes its way into many fine BBQ recipes. Delicate and sweet, cherry can be used with fish or fowl to add an extra hint that complements a good sauce.

Alder is a thin, birch-like tree that has a delicate odor all its own. It’s important that it be well dried, since green wood will smoke excessively and give a bitter taste to the meat. But when properly prepared and used, this wood is a great BBQ smoker for game birds or pork.

BBQ wood chips can be used in combination, where the variety of effects becomes nearly endless. Apple with cherry might provide an excessively sweet, fruity taste. But apple with mesquite can turn ordinary ribs into a gourmet meal. Mesquite and hickory are partners from way back and pecan with hickory is a backyard wonder.

Any aspiring BBQ chef can have hours of fun and pleasure experimenting with the effects of BBQ wood chips. And then, he’ll have even more pleasure eating the results.

There are dozens of basic BBQ rub recipes around. Many will start with a simple 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of white sugar, and maybe some paprika. Not a bad beginning.

Instead of plain white sugar, many will substitute brown sugar. That certainly adds a little more flavor to the BBQ, but it can lead to a crusty, scorched exterior. Cook slowly and monitor the meat to prevent that. Then go one step further.

As a natural product, sugar comes in many variations. A delightful form of raw sugar is turbinado. Made from spinning sugar in a centrifuge, it is packed with flavor and makes for a great variation on the standard recipe.

But there are BBQ rubs that go well beyond these common ingredients.

Adding a bit of cayenne will bring a southwestern zing to a fine piece of BBQ chicken. The key is not to go overboard. Delicate flavoring enhances the taste of meat. Shaking spices on by the pound will drown a good cut and make the spice the centerpiece. If you have to mask the dull flavor of your cut by dousing it, select another.

Simple black pepper often forms part of a basic BBQ rub. But substituting white pepper will add a bit of visual interest and a slightly unusual taste to a fine steak. Experiment to arrive at the proper taste, but start slowly and build up. Those delicate hints will have mouths watering, whereas a ton of pepper will have them on fire.

Many enjoy the taste of a flavorful onion powder. Here again the BBQ chef is fortunate because there are several varieties of onion that can provide choices. Popular commercial onion powders are fairly bland. Try a dried, ground version of Southport Red for a nice pungent variation.

Even the salt can undergo a transformation in your BBQ rub. Instead of ordinary table salt, try some sea salt. Richer in iodine, with a mixture of sodium and potassium and minerals, it’s a healthy addition to the diet while providing a unique flavor.

For a fine rib rub, Memphis style, combine paprika (4 tsp), cayenne (1 tsp), onion powder (2 tsp), salt (2 tsp) and pepper (2 tsp) all together. That’s a BBQ rub that will get you out of any trouble you got into earlier in the week.

Sometimes it’s best to start with the end in mind and the end of every BBQ is the clean-up phase. Some grill models can be a nightmare but with the right tools it can be relatively painless.

One way to ease the burden of clean up is to not get so messy in the first place. Disposable drip pans are a great way to accomplish that. They catch any grease or bits of meat and bun that fall through the grill and after cooling off you just pull them out of the BBQ and toss them into the garbage. After a couple of days, though, the garbage will begin to smell very foul with old grease in it. Make sure it doesn’t stay around very long unwrapped.

The next best thing to disposable drip pans for the BBQ are removable ones. If you can’t throw one away, at least you can make the job easier by pulling out the pan and spraying and scrubbing over a large sink. Oven cleaner is a lot easier to use when you don’t have to wipe around a dozen other parts that are in the way.

It also makes for a better BBQ experience, since any oven cleaner used on a grill really has to be rinsed/removed before the next use. The alternative is foul smelling and foul tasting, if not downright unsafe.

A wire brush will be essential for most BBQ clean up situations. Getting a dual purpose style is helpful. These have wire brushes on one side and a metal scraper on the other. For scraping crusty carbon off the grill, there’s just no substitute.

There are many BBQ tools that make the cooking itself a pleasure rather than a chore.

Skewers are handy for shish-kabob style meals and essential as part of cooking a chunk that requires repeated turning. A good pair of BBQ tongs complements the set. ‘Good’ here means easy to grip, low slip and no chance of overheating in your hands. Modern materials have done wonders in solving this problem.

Oven mitts will still be useful for most applications, though. It’s almost inevitable that you’ll come in contact with grill parts and metal tools that make wearing BBQ gloves the only sensible thing to do. Hot plates, hot food and other aspects of barbequing make them mandatory.

You’ll probably find a wire BBQ basket handy from time to time, if you cook fish or want to be able to turn a slice of ham without using tongs. Add to that a different style that allows, for example, putting vegetables into a wire mesh container with a handle and you’ve got a convenient way to make a healthy meal outdoors.

There are dozens of useful BBQ tools. Check out your list of favorites and always buy quality. That way they end up in your hands, and not in the drawer collecting dust.