Grilling on a Gas Grill

So why doesn’t everyone grill over charcoal? One simple word: convenience. Most gas grills start with the push of a button. You control the heat with the twist of a knob, which makes cooking on a gas grill as predictable as cooking on the stove. (In theory at least. Like charcoal grills, most gas grills have hot and cool spots, so you have to master their idiosyncrasies. Nonetheless, there’s virtually no special setup involved, which is why the photographs of the techniques described in this book seldom show gas grills.) You get to grill without charcoal dust on your hands and smoke in your eyes. And if you start with a full tank of gas, you should be able to grill for 12 to 18 hours straight without refueling. In the old days, gas grills had a hard time reaching the proper charring temperature, but the new gas grills burn as hot as blazing charcoal. Many gas grills now have dedicated smoker boxes, so you can easily add the flavor of wood smoke.