Electric Versus Charcoal and Gas Barbecues

I can well imagine that most people would say ‘No Contest!’ Most people are most definitely wrong. My view? Okay – My favourite type of BBQ is most certainly charcoal. I’m an old hand when it comes to barbecuing and like to think I’m darned good at it too. My second favourite type of BBQ is gas fired. Quick, clean and instant. So, why on earth would I want an electric barbecue? Well, you did ask…

I always prefer to barbecue with charcoal. When you know what you are doing you can make it look quite spectacular. However, there are times when it simply is not feasible.

What if you have no yard or garden? What if you live on the tenth floor or in an area where naked flames are forbidden? It most certainly narrows you choices. This is where the electric barbecue, grill or Teppanyaki comes in very handy indeed. I realise of course that voltages around the world vary, but even so, used indoors an electric grill or griddle can save the day.

Incidentally, for those of you who don’t know about Teppanyaki. It’s simply a hot plate, which is what the word means in Japanese. There is a bit more to it though. Some of these griddles are (in relative terms) huge! They can be used to griddle or grill meat. They can be used as an impressive table centre piece. They can be used to cook a slower version of barbecue inside the house!

Smaller electric grills share the same heat output of these large area indoor cookers, but because they are smaller, they cook more quickly. Andrew James in the UK and Presto in the USA, between them, have a massive range of very usable grills. These smaller grills are perfectly acceptably usable out of doors providing that they are sheltered from the weather. A cool breeze can quickly cool them and rain makes their use a definite no. Beyond that, they are very convenient.

Used inside the house, or in my case, inside the boat, these grills have major advantages. We have a charcoal Cobb grill that we use on board, and it is very good too. We use ours in the galley with an excellent extractor fan above it. If we choose to use the electric grill we don’t need a fan to remove carbon monoxide, because the electric grill doesn’t produce any. We still use the extractor of course, but in this case only to remove heat from inside the boat.

The ‘electric barbecue’ will always be seen by many as the ‘poor relation’. I know from my own experience that this is simply not the case. Anyone reading this article should learn to differentiate between the full blown charcoal (and of course gas) BBQ’s, and the little electric grills that are doing so well.

The electric gills, and especially the Teppanyaki griddles, are outselling all other types combined! When I first saw this data I really was amazed. I shouldn’t have been. Charcoal is great, still my personal favourite. Gas is good too. Easy and clean. Electric? You Betcha! Easy, clean, indoors, no nasty gases. Who could argue? Certainly not me.

https://youtu.be/SIjCvcMYz4M