Charcoal or gas?

I'm a charcoal fan - don't really like the taste of stuff cooked on a gas grill.

charcoal -- its all about the flavor...

I say do both, get the good gas grill for the ease and convenience and get the $30 smokey joe for when you have the time or taste for good BBQ.

I was definitely going to add to the charcoal vote here, but I really like sublime's idea. I have both, why couldn't i have thought of that great idea?

when my dog has gas I usually give her charcoal, personally I take Gas-X

thanks dys, always on point.

As Timber sez. Gas gives off a sulfur smell that the meat picks up. i actually cook with wood logs using charcoal to start. I have a gas bottle and a flame gun to start the charcoal which starts the wood. I can cook fast on the one grill, or slower on the next chamber. It looks like a small submarine with a colostomy bag but it works fine. AND, its got a really big thermometer that reads in single degrees, cause at the end, for ribs you wanna slow cook the sauce on them babies.
Its getting to be rib season soon.

The only problem with the cooker is that its lid is very heavy gage teel and weighs pretty much, so if I have it open and a gust of wind knocks it down, it sounds like Big Ben.

NO MESQUITE!! I USE APPLE/oak/cherry.
NEVER USE PITCHY WOOD ( I dont think I have to explain why not)
WILLOW IS RIGHT OUT(unless you have a hornet nest inside the grill that you need to smoke out)

Mine has a 4 ft chimley that keeps the smoke just higher than your eye level.

time for swine mmmmmmmmmm

ALSO, I used to have a gas grill that flared up on me once because a spider built a home in a nozzle and the one burner didnt lite right away . When it lit it gave such a burp it was a mini explosion. That scared the crap outta this ole boy,who vowed never to be fragged by a kitchen appliance. I dont want my death to be a joke in the newspaper.
"MAN KILLED WHILE GRILLING PORK RIBS-- GAS GRILL EXPLODES "

"M.E. CANNOT IDENTIFY REMAINS UNTIL ALL BARBEQUE SAUCE REMOVED"

no thanks, My neighborhood respect level is still fairly low since I once set my one field on fire with a stray rocket that the kids and I were setting off.

You were ripped off on the Mesquite, and it's time I told you so. What they did, see, was grind up old telephone poles and railroad ties (lots of creosote), press it into briquetts and ship it north. Wait'll you taste the real thing!

I've considered gettin' one of those multi-chamber cookers. A buddy has one, and I know they work great. Sure don't need one, though - I already have a couple full-size kettle grills, a tabletop kettle grill, and a big torpedo-type wet smoker, plus a 10x8x8 concrete block cold smoker. external firebox type, in one of the outbuildin's - its got a ceilin'-track slidin' gambrel, a buncha wire-grid shelf racks on 3 walls, and it'll smoke whole deer, beef, pork ... whatever, a few at a time. Uses lotsa wood, though; 'bout the only time it gets used its an "all the neighbors" project - takes days to really work and the firebox needs frequent attention. Works great, though, and along about the 2cnd day, the smell is really tantalyzin'.

I use charcoal, but I start it with a charcoal chimney and torn brown paper bags. I like the taste of charcoal, but not the taste of the lighter fluid. The chimney is faster too, ready to cook in about 20 mins.

I wanted to build a cold smoker up at our place in Maine. We can get salmon from the farms and I like smoked robins they have a firm flesh and no heavy fishfood taste like mackerel.
Where did you get the idea Timber? Is it baically a tall chamber and exhaust with a separate fire box?
Ive seen some of the cod smokersand they were all wood. (seems like Im asking for trouble building a smoker out of wood, ya know?)

I gave away the gas bbq that people chipped in on for my 40th bday. The thing scared me, and I don't like the weird side taste gas bbq's give food.

I'd rather use charcoal any day, or the lil electric bbq steamer sorta thing I have.

when I was still on the farm I smoked all my own piggies (hams/bacons etc) I made my smokers out of old refrigerators, removed the components from underneath, hung the meat inside the fridge and made a pan to hold smouldering applewood chips where the components had been. 10 days later yum yum

It seems that charcoal is the winner!

I have both now but they are on their last legs. Rather than continue to make donations to the landfill I thought I would replace them with one that would last a good long while.

If I had the money I'd get one of those Big Green Eggs - have you heard of those? They're cool: http://biggreenegg.com/features.htm.

Since I was thinking of maybe spending only around $300 - does anyone have any suggestions?

Boomerang your link didn't work for me. here is a cool charcoal grill with a propane igniter and right in your price range.

http://www.abtelectronics.com/product/17479.html

Anyone remember SkwerlX? He swears by those Big Green Eggs.

Hmmm. I don't know why the link doesn't work.
Try: www.biggreenegg.com

I remember SkwerlX - he was a BBQ nut. It seems a lot of people swear by the BGE but, at $800 it's only the price that makes me swear.

That grill does look promising, sublime. Thanks!

Wasn't my idea, fm ... it was here when we got the place. Not an uncommon deal with old farms hereabouts. Its essentially a concrete block room in what useta be the milkhouse. Outside the milkhouse buildin' is a sealed firebox, about 1½x3x3, which draws in outside air through a sorta adjustable shutter and circulates its exhaust through the smoker enclosure via a floor-level port to exit through a chimney, also fitted with an adjustable shutter, which vents through the roof of the chamber from the corner opposite the smoke inlet.

I've never heard of Big Green Eggs. They look sweet though. If you only want to spend $300 look at Weber - they have all kinds of price ranges and their grills rock.

Both, always. Gas for convenience, charcoal for long summer days and smoky barbecue. I'll even make recommendations.

Char Broil Commercial stainless gas grill, about $400 at Lowes.

Weber 22 1/2" One-Touch Gold Charcoal Kettle Grill
, about $149 everywhere.