Guest Writer: Sam the Cooking Guy

Cooking on a charcoal is a must. There, I’ve said it. I once refused to cook on anything but gas, but that’s all changed and for one good reason, one simple little 6 letter word:  flavor. 

Yes cooking on gas is super convenient and super quick.  You can go from nothing to ready in about 10 minutes.  And yes you get extra flavor when the fat drips down off the meat and into the flames.  But when you compare that to what happens when charcoal smoke billows up into what you’re cooking – it’s no contest. 

The part that throws is people is the perceived ‘how long it takes the charcoal to get hot & ready to cook on’ time. And that is fixed with a $20 item – a charcoal chimney.  You just load it with charcoal, light it and in about 20 minutes you’re golden. 

So why the hesitation?  Why the concern?  Is it A) because you don’t know how to use charcoal? Or B) because you don’t want to spend a lot on a charcoal grill? Here are my answers:

1. If you can cook on gas you can cook on charcoal – there’s no real cooking difference
2. You don’t have to spend a lot. A small, old school Weber grill is somewhere around $90 and one of the greatest things to cook on - ever.

So as the Nike folks say – Just Do It.  You’ll be glad you did.