Are you Gassy?

No, I don't mean are you flatulent. I'm talking about grills. Are the gas grilling type or the charcoal grilling type because it's that time again. Grillin' time and we're here to help you figure out how to do the grilln' yourself this time instead of handing it over to the men in your life.

The first thing you need to do? Pick out a grill. They come in many shapes and sizes, and the main rule of thumb is, the easier it is to use, the less flavor you'll get out of it, which can be bad and good. The two main types of grills for spring are Gas and Charcoal. So, which one do you choose? We're gonna help you figure that out.

Gass grill

Charcoal grill

First things first, do you have any safety rules in your area about grill on decks in apartments, condos, etc. counties, cities, states have laws about grills in these areas, so check that out first.

Now that you've done that, let's get down to business. The first thing to consider is - Cost. What can you afford?

Charcoal grills are generally cheaper than gas grills. They can often be found secondhand at garage sales and such and there's really not much to them. However, that's just the cost of the grill, what about fuel? Well, for every use, charcoal can cost you up to $5 or more whereas gas grills will only cost you about $.20/use and a tank of gas can last a long time. With charcoal, you'll have to schlep to the store to pick up more every time you want to grill. So, in the long run a charcoal grill can cost you more depending on how much you use it.

Next up, Space. What type of area is this grill going in? If it's small and enclosed a gas grill may not be feasible because of it's shear size and because they are prone to flare ups. So, to avoid burning down your house, you may want to avoid those. Charcoal grills can run smaller and more portable (although they do have small, portable gas grills for camping) and are not prone to flare ups unless you go crazy with lighter fluid, which we do not suggest you do, but that's for tomorrow. So, you may very well be constricted by the amount of space you have.

Gass grill flare up. But don't be scared :) We'll go over how to avoid such things.

Taste. If that smokey flavor of traditional bbq is important to you, charcoal grills will give that to you more so than a gas grill, however, this leads to our next thing to consider...

Example of traditional Texas bbq over wood chips (a whole nother grillin story, wood chips)

Convenience. If you want to be able to come home and slap some meat on the grill after a long day of work, a charcoal grill is not very conducive to this because of the amount of work that goes into lighting it. If you just want something for parties or get together's every once in awhile on the weekends, than charcoal won't be so bad.

And there you have it. Your guide to choosing a grill that fits your needs. Tomorrow, we'll go over lighting them!