We had to buy an outdoor grill for our vacation home. Unlike our home grill that runs on natural gas so there are no tanks to fill the one for our vacation home runs on propane with a refillable tank. The plus side to propane grills is they can be moved anywhere you want as long as the surface is level for grilling. This is rather handy when grilling in windy conditions. The downside to propane grills is the tanks need refilling. They have an uncanny knack of running out right in the middle of cooking dinner as well. While a propane outdoor grill is certainly possible at home it is not as practical given the distance we have to travel to get the tank refilled. Cost is also a factor. An outdoor grill that uses natural gas costs slightly more but the cost of natural gas is less expensive than propane so a natural gas grill ends up being the better choice for at home. The situation is different at the vacation home where natural gas is not available.
As with all cooking fuel choices it is always wisest to go with the least expensive fuel possible. In this case there is a real trade-off at home. One cubic foot of natural gas contains 1,030 BTU whereas one cubic foot of propane contains 2,516 BTU. In other words you get more than twice the heat out of propane and that is certainly reflected in how well the grill performs. Still propane is more expensive per BTU than natural gas.
My husband firmly believes the true test for any grill is how well it performs when grilling steak. This grill is a Brinkman 4 burner outdoor grill with side burner and electronic ignition. It is a rather heavy duty unit that should last several years with proper maintenance. Having grilled using natural gas for so long my husband ada
the grill master immediately noticed the difference in how this grill performs. There is no doubt that this grill runs hotter but in fairness it is new and a 4 burner. Just look at those beautiful grill marks! To duplicate the grill marks when grilling steak grill to where there is a well defined grill mark then turn the steak one quarter of a turn to create the hash mark. The steaks were every bit as good as they look.
We have a full spare tank it he garage in case we ever run out while cooking. Has come in handy on several occassions.
ReplyDeleteWe've learned to have spare tanks, since it's very rare where we live to have natural gas, even though they just put a line in a couple years ago. They won't run a house line for just one house...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comparisons though. That's good to know. :)
Hi Kim and Linda :) A spare tank is quite workable as well and when we lived in town using a propane grill that's what we did as well. However in our rural home area it really does make good economical sense to go with natural gas. At our vacation home though there is no natural gas and the propane filling stations are readily available.
ReplyDeleteThe family loves beef, any kind. Did you know we have 7 courses of beef as a menu item ? I like the idea of natural gas, but haven't attempt it yet.
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