Gas Grill Frequently Asked Questions

When buying a gas grill, you have a choice as to what gas will fuel your barbecue. You can use a portable propane tank, or attach it to a natural gas line. Some barbecues can even be converted from propane to natural gas. Just contact Barbecues Galore to discuss gas options (we even promise to laugh at all of your gas-related jokes).

There are a few advantages that natural gas has over propane. First, it has lower ongoing costs. Natural gas can be as low as a third the cost of propane. It also is more energy efficient, although both propane and natural gas burn quite cleanly. The convenience of natural gas is another advantage. Because you can hook your barbecue right into the main natural gas line, you never have to go to the gas station and fill up a tank.

Propane also has its advantages over natural gas. Propane burns hotter than natural gas, so you may not get quite the same sear on a natural gas-fueled grill. For this reason, some barbecue purists say propane is the true grilling experience. If you have a propane barbecue you also have the opportunity to bring it to a remote location, like a cottage, because of the portable tank. With a propane barbecue, you also don’t have the up-front cost and hassle of connecting it to the natural gas main line.

At the end of the day, whether gas or charcoal is better is a matter of preference, but there are a number of key differences.

On the positive side for gas grills, the temperature is much easier to control than on a charcoal grill. If you are not familiar with controlling the temperature in a charcoal grill, practice will be required.

Gas grills are also much more energy efficient and better for the environment than charcoal. One study found that gas produced 5.6 pounds of carbon dioxide per hour, compared to 11 pounds for charcoal.

Most gas grills do not use the flames to directly heat the food; therefore, it is more difficult to create a proper sear than on charcoal, especially on thinner cuts of meat. Typically, more expensive grills have infrared burners that can create the intense temperatures that are necessary to char and seal the surface without drying out the piece of meat. But, this temperature cannot typically be sustained over the entire surface. So, for 1 or 2 steaks infrared burners are ideal, but a full grill of steaks would need to be moved around to get even sears across each piece of meat.

Charcoal also produces complex, smoky flavours more than gas grills. When cooking with charcoal, some drips from the meat will get on the charcoal. These drips will be burned up, causing smoky flavours. With a gas grill, the juices that run off typically will hit the heat shield and vaporize, which results in less smoke.

Being a proudly owned Canadian company, we want to carry as many North American & Canadian barbecues and products as possible. Canadian-manufactured grills are Napoleon, Broil King and Crown Verity.

Short answer: Usually, but not before a few modifications. It is recommended that, unless you’re an expert yourself, you do not attempt this conversion without a licensed gas technician to ensure your safety. Barbecues Galore can help you with the conversion. Contact us today to set up an appointment to get your gas grill natural gas ready.

Flare-ups with a gas grill are typically thought to come from excess fatty foods, marinades and oils dripping down on to the flames. To avoid flare-ups, before putting the meat on the grill, trim excess fats, drip excess marinades and sauces off your food, and apply non-stick oil sparingly and evenly. If you need to leave the fat on, leave the gas grills lid open and away from windy areas and try to move the food around when possible.

If a flare up does occur and you can’t get the flames under control keep a box of baking soda nearby and a fire extinguisher.

If your grill won’t get hot enough it could be because the grill “thinks” it has a gas leak due to a safety feature located in the gas regulator that detects gas leaks. The regulator safety feature drops the gas pressure to 10% resulting in a lower flame size.

Sometimes the safety feature can show a false positive resulting in a low flame but no leak. To reset the value:

• Open the lid to your grill and make sure all the knobs on the grill are in the off position.
• Turn the gas on from the tank or gas line first and give it a moment to build gas pressure up in the line. The pressure will build and push the safety feature in the valve back in place.
• After waiting, turn your grill on as normal and use the built-in igniter to light the flame.
• Once the flame ignites, turn the rest of your burners on to high and close the lid. Give your grill about 10 minutes to approach 500° to 550°.

If your grill reaches these temperatures, then the issue has been fixed and you’re in the clear to get back to grilling.

If your barbecue igniter goes out, don’t panic and buy a new barbecue right away. While the igniter may be slightly different from barbecue to barbecue, the fix is similar and really quite simple.

• First, before trying to fix your igniter, check to see if your igniter has a battery by unscrewing the igniter knob and replacing it. If your igniter works, then skip next steps and get back to grilling!
• Remove the grill grate and then remove the heat deflector. Loosen the retention ring around the igniter button.
• Next, remove the igniter module by reaching underneath your grill’s front control panel and gently removing the unit.
• Unplug the wires from the back of the igniter unit.
• Remove the front grill knobs and place them aside and then remove the control panel heat shield.
• Unclip the igniter wires that lead to each grill and then proceed to remove each of the old ceramic (white) igniter wires.
• Replace the old ceramic white igniter wires with new ones paying attention to the length of each igniter wire. Clip the wires back into place and connect them back to the igniter unit.
• Put the control panel, knobs, wind deflector and heat shield back into place, replace the igniter and screw the retention ring back on holding everything back into place.

If your barbecue igniter goes out, don’t panic and buy a new barbecue right away. While the igniter may be slightly different from barbecue to barbecue, the fix is similar and really quite simple.

• First, before trying to fix your igniter, check to see if your igniter has a battery by unscrewing the igniter knob and replacing it. If your igniter works, then skip next steps and get back to grilling!
• Remove the grill grate and then remove the heat deflector. Loosen the retention ring around the igniter button.
• Next, remove the igniter module by reaching underneath your grill’s front control panel and gently removing the unit.
• Unplug the wires from the back of the igniter unit.
• Remove the front grill knobs and place them aside and then remove the control panel heat shield.
• Unclip the igniter wires that lead to each grill and then proceed to remove each of the old ceramic (white) igniter wires.
• Replace the old ceramic white igniter wires with new ones paying attention to the length of each igniter wire. Clip the wires back into place and connect them back to the igniter unit.
• Put the control panel, knobs, wind deflector and heat shield back into place, replace the igniter and screw the retention ring back on holding everything back into place.

While gas grills are wonderful, there are a couple considerations to think about when choosing to smoke meats and vegetables with them. First, a gas grill will have many gaps around where the lid meets the grill, allowing excess smoke and heat to dissipate away from the barbecue. When smoking on the grill, the key is to be able to regulate the same temperature over the course of a long period. That being said, you will also want to make sure you have a steady source of gas for the long grill times.

You won’t want to expose your meat to direct flames, so using an indirect cooking method is ideal. This means you will want to turn the gas burners off for one zone on your barbecue, where the meat will cook, and adjust the temperature of the grill using the other zone of the barbecue.

Place a pan with water in your grill between the zone where the open flames are and the cooking zone. The water is not to moisten the meat being smoked but to help absorb and regulate the heat to maintain a consistent temperature.

Do not rely on the built-in thermometer. The built-in thermometer will read the temperatures closest to the lid and tend to be unstable in their reading. For the best readings, invest in a digital thermometer.

To create the smoke on a gas grill, you can purchase a smoker box accessory. If you do not have a smoke box, soak wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes before wrapping them in foil. Take the soaked wood chips, wrap them in foil, then proceed to put holes in the foil to allow the smoke to escape. Then place them in the back corner of the grill over the flame. Within 15 minutes, smoke should slowly start to escape the foil.

Periodically, through the smoking process you will need to add additional wood chips, so make sure to have extra chips soaking and ready. Also, to ensure you don’t over-smoke your food, start with fewer wood chips your first time, and add additional chips as necessary.

An infrared burner uses a heated element to radiate heat that cooks the food. A typical gas grill burner mainly uses convection, or circulating hot air, to cook food.

A normal convection grill, because the hot air pulls moisture out of the food, tends to dry out food. Infrared grills cook food more rapidly and without drying out the centre of the food - perfect for searing and making those delicious char marks.