Possibly dumb barbeque question

[popehilarious]

Need to buy a decent bbq - have only had small basic charcoal ones before.
What do gas bbqs do - are they simply like a grill that you use outdoors or can you get any charcoaly type flavour with them? Are there any benefits (I am happy to grill indoors if it's just the same result!)?

How many people on average are you catering for?

I have a gas grill. Its fab, much easier than cooking inside. Lots of flame flavour and you can get smoker chips if you want woody ness, but i havent ever bothered

What's flame flavour? Is it simply a grill outside?

fireman usually about 10-15 or so, but only a couple of times a year.

Just found this, which is interesting!
www.wired.com/2013/07/gas-grilling-is-objectively-scientifically-better-than-charcoal/

I have one of these

Best grill ever. Everything comes off fabulous, It can cook at steak in 90 seconds too

Flame flavour is when you get little almost but not quite burnt bits on your food, so like crispy edges. Think corn on the cob, chicken breasts, red peppers that you then chop and put in a salad. Woodi ness is when the whole piece of food is infused with essence of tree. I've never noticed from cooking on a charcoal grill, only when something has been smoked for hours - which is a whole different method of cooking and almost impossible on a standard BBQ of either type

Can someone explain how you clean a BBQ ? Ours always end up looking revolting, despite trying to burn the gunk off when its finished (bearing in mind its usually after a party so not the most sastidious clean!). The next time it comes out it looks like we hadn't bothered cleaning it so have to start again. Makes it more trouble than its worth, so we figure we must be doing something wrongh. Any tips?

seatoski oh sorry, that makes total sense! I think I had 'flavourizer bars' on the brain so thought you mean different flavours for the flame!

Gas bbqs are starting to look like a good option but they're so expensive! I'd like enough space/separate areas for meat/veggie ppl but that might be asking for the moon on a stick.

I always do veggie people stuff on a bit of tin foil with some holes poked in it after the meat is done (since the meat needs to rest anyway)

The best way to clean a bbq is to get a special wire cleaning brush like this one

www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-12-Inch-3-Sided-Grill-Brush/dp/B01K3MKWCK/ref=sr_1_3?s=gateway&keywords=Bbq+grate+brush&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1557660835&sr=8-3

This design is much better than the flat brushes as their spikes just crush after a bit.

So you cook and then brush all the crud and bits off with the brush and then let the grate cook in the left over heat and it will be nice and clean for next time (not back to silver though - that will never happen). The next time I cook, I might give it a quick once over with the brush and then let it sterilise in the heat of the warming up flame. If you have a gas one, you just run it for an extra 2 mins instead