The Gas Grill Review and Gas Grill Rating Guide - Helping you choose the Best Gas Grill

BBQ Cookers

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Which type of BBQ cookers do you prefer when barbecuing? There are many options available, but choosing the right one for your needs is the key. That involves having a general understanding of how each one works, as well as possible pros and cons.

The thing to keep in mind is that BBQ is not grilling and grilling is not BBQ. It's very hard to do traditional BBQ on a gas grill due to their inability to cook at low temperatures over long periods. So, many people look for a versatile alternative that will do both high temperature grills, and low temperature cooking, roasting or smoking. Here are some of the most common types of BBQ cookers that operate via charcoal, which is really the only way you'll get to the "Q":

1. Kettle Grill BBQ Cookers

Kettle grills are dome-shaped grills look like something that might land in your backyard, rather than being put there. But these modular grills are quite effective in producing perfectly-grilled meats (and veggies). The keys to cooking with kettle grills are using vents to keep the heat circulation inside the grill uniform; and the lid that protects the food from the various elements. The result is that your food will be cooked faster and more evenly. Those are huge pluses whenever you rev up your grill!

2. Smoker Grill BBQ Cookers

This approach to barbecuing is a 180-degree turn from traditional grilling. The main difference is that while grilling requires you to cook food directly over heat, smoking involves heat from an indirect source. Both of these "worlds" collide in the "charcoal smoker grill." Here's how the smoker typically works.

You place a pan that's full of wood chips or wood, at the bottom grate of the grill.
Then you place a pan of water on the middle grate.
The pan prevents the heat from reaching the food on the grill's top grate. However, the smoke from the heated wood chips or wood cooks the food.
As you'd probably guess, the process is significantly slower than traditional grilling.

There's another main type of charcoal smoker grill. To perform smoking on this type of grill, you load the offset firebox with wood. The firebox is located a little lower than the contraption's primary cylinder. As the wood burns, the smoke and heat then enter the primary cylinder. Meanwhile, the raw food is located on a cooking grate that's as long as the side-to-side chamber. The food cooks at a temperature of roughly 225 degrees Fahrenheit (or 107 degrees Celsius).

3. Ceramic Grill

This type of grill makes grilling a cinch. The big benefit of this contraption is that nothing sticks to the grilling surface. That said, the key is to keep the non-stick elements of the grill as clean as a whistle. That's because the juices and sugars from the cooking foods will build up after several cooking sessions. However, by cleaning the ceramic grates after a few months of grilling, you won't have problems with residue sticking to the grates!

Ceramic grills retain heat unlike traditional gas grills which means they can operate at low temperatures for extended periods - using little fuel - or reach extremely high temperatures. This is the best of both worlds and in my opinion, is the world you want to be in. A couple of examples are:

Big Green Egg - These are wildly popular not just because of their unique look. Anyone that has one will tell you they will never go back to gas grills.
Primo Oval XL - The beauty of this baby is that the oval fire box allows you to split the firebox in a single cooking session, allowing you to cook over direct heat as well as indirect heat, at the same time.
Big Steel Keg - I personally own the Bubba Keg variant (the original design) and I love it. This is by far the most energy efficient of the Kamado style cookers. I'd love to have the Primo for it's shape and size, though.

4. Rotisserie BBQ

Some charcoal BBQ grills include a small rotisserie. This allows you to prepare chicken and small game birds while you BBQ food on the grill. When you have guests that favor different types of food preparation, this barbeque cooker is definitely one of the best options.

Rotisserie grills are another way to cook low and slow, away from the direct heat source. While traditional BBQ of whole birds, etc., requires you to consider which parts cook faster and position the meat accordingly - or turn it regularly- a rotisserie eliminates the problem by providing even and consistent heat by slowly turning what ever it is your cooking.

How many ways can you use a BBQ cooker to prepare beef, chicken, pork, and seafood? With these four types of cookers, you'll be able to please all of your household and guests--all of the time!