Gas, charcoal, or nothing.

[tecaulkins]

My wife and I are preparing to go on the road full time. Probably around fall of 2017. My question is which do you prefer for a grill. Gas, charcoal, or just cooking in the RV, and why.

[polarlyse]

We do both. Cook inside and grill outside. While gas is neater, faster I prefer using charcoal so that's what I do. When I get tired of dealing with it I'll go gas but for the time being that's what it is for me.

[AWCHIEF]

In my Valcano a Grill if time is an issue I use propane. Some foods are simply best cooked slow and low. In that case quality charcoal is the only way to go. I can also burn wood for cooking or for a nice contained campfire.

[KJRitchie]

We use a propane grill, weather permitting, for our weekend getaways. The only thing I don't like grilling on the grill are hamburgers due to all the fat making a mess but will if threatened. Mornings, if we decide on something like bacon and eggs I cook that inside. A hot plate on our grill, an O'Grill, doesn't work well.

Kelvin

[Al and Missy]

We use a blend of inside and outside. We have a Cobb charcoal grill, and a Camco Olympian gas grill, as well as a Dutch Oven. I have used the Cobb only a few times. It does a really nice job, but is a little difficult to clean. I have a hanger for the gas grill just outside the door. Typically I will grill meat outside, and often vegetables like peppers, onions, potatoes, broccoli and/or asparagus. Breakfast is normally cooked inside. If it is a short stay, i.e. overnight or two nights I typically won't set up the grill. Three or more days I will use the gas grill. If we will be somewhere longer, or if the weather is nice, or it's a group grilling thing at another site, I'll use the Cobb. We have only used the Dutch Oven once, at the Region 3 Rally when a group was cooking dutch oven desserts. Only reason we haven't used it more is we haven't been somewhere long enough, or the weather was too warm, to have a fire in the fire ring.

Al

[1973Argosy]

We carry a Weber kettle charcoal grill, and a Coleman propane cooktop/outdoor kitchen. While we have used the range and oven indoors, we cook outdoors predominantly. For us it's just easier to cook outside in most situations and it keeps the food smells down inside. IMO there is nothing better than a cup of coffee and the smell of bacon wafting across the campground.....

[StrmyWeather]

We also use both inside and outside, usually inside with the cooktop for breakfast which (when not having yogurt w/ fruit...) is sometimes oatmeal, but always with coffee and hot tea. We like to cook over the fire for dinner using either a grill rack we carry with us, large camp pot if cooking pasta, etc., but almost always using the dutch oven or skillet. We do not have a gas grill for outside and have used the provided fire ring using a combination of wood and charcoal and it seems to work well for us.

More directly to answer your question: I like to grill (at camp or at home) and prefer cooking outdoors, doesn't matter if it's gas (I use at home usually) or charcoal (I use on the road). Maybe if we were to camp in other than Federal/State Parks I might consider gas, but haven't needed it so far. I like not having the mess inside that a dinner like I fix would cause (not that I'm a disaster outside!). It's also not as hot...

[dznf0g]

We don't cook any meat or greasy things inside.....smell builds up and eventually stays pretty permanent. For outside cooking, I propane grill meats and use white gas backpacking stoves for some other bacon, eggs and the like.

Haven't used charcoal in decades.

[RLS]

When staying more than a couple of days, I'll bring out and set up the gas grill. I use a stainless steel smoker box with a chunk of Hickory that really adds flavor, and sometimes onions to really get the surrounding area smelling good We will use the grill about 60% and inside cooking 40% using the NuWave induction cooktop and a crock-pot most of the time.

[m.hony]

All of the above...
Gas grill at home, but on the road:
Charcoal on campground grills-
On the campfire itself-
Electric griddle or crock pot outside-
Crock pot or convection microwave inside-
Depends on weather...

[rvb]

For grilling I use gas for convenience or wood if I have a campfire. If I plan to cook something in a skillet that will be greasy or smoke I use an electric skillet on a table outside, plugged into the side outlet on the trailer. While I have the grill set up I also pre-cook meat and freeze it for future meals which makes it easier to keep and quicker to prepare if we are just stopping for one night.

[The Colonel]

I use a small charcoal grill with a chimney starter and love it. Guess I like to see the smoke and smell the charcoal in the outdoors.

[Jwestman]

We use the small gas Weber Q for most of our cooking except on bad weather days. It is easy, reliable, and does a great job on virtually everything. I find it a lot easier than the microwave/convection oven.

[Outdoors4me]

Originally Posted by Jwestman

We use the small gas Weber Q for most of our cooking except on bad weather days. It is easy, reliable, and does a great job on virtually everything. I find it a lot easier than the microwave/convection oven.

Where do you store your Weber when traveling?

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

We don't cook any meat or greasy things inside.....smell builds up and eventually stays pretty permanent. For outside cooking, I propane grill meats and use white gas backpacking stoves for some other bacon, eggs and the like.

Haven't used charcoal in decades.

I sold my backpacking 'stuff' when I moved to Blenheim.
I miss my little SVEA pack packing stove. It was fun to use.
I now use a Coleman BBQ grill/stove combo.; Using a five pound Propane tank rather than those 'Stoopid' 1lb. Throw-away cans. (ONE $6 filling lasted me for two years. Paid for itself right there. )

Trailer Trash ......."

[Cowbell]

Weber Q Series propane grill. It's expensive but just like the Weber home grills, with the exception of being smaller. So well engineered. It's really hard to burn anything and exciting grill fires are a thing of the past. I keep it stored in a large Rubbermade bin with extra propane bottles. It live in the back of my truck while traveling and then gets placed on the campground table when needed for grilling.

[Sovereign85]

There are alternative cooking sources for the RV enthusiast.

Our RV/campground cooking is usually done outside in a cast iron skillet, wok, or Dutch oven. We cook with either our Volcano 3 Grill (fueled by propane, charcoal, or wood), or on a Secura 8100MC 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop burner (requires 110/120 volts, 15 amps).

[TBRich]

We use both gas and charcoal but prefer charcoal. Unfortunately where we usually camp, open fires, including charcoal, are often restricted or entirely prohibited during certain times of the year ... so both works for us...

We also cook inside, but usually not anything that's going to make a mess...and we always use roasting bags if we cook anything in the oven that splatters.

[phann]

We use the indoor kitchen stove and microwave a lot. We also like to BBQ when weather/time permits. We started with a small Weber charcoal grill, a chimney starter, and the portable Weber table. We added a small Cuisinart propane grill because many campgrounds in fire-hazard areas don't allow charcoal. I prefer the charcoal grill, for flavor and easier cleanup. The propane grill seems to get greasier overall, and takes longer to clean, but it is quicker to start, and easier to control, than charcoal. We store one grill and the table in our truck bed while traveling.

[dbaur]

We travel with our Weber Grill and I measured it and went to a Walmart and found a plastic tote that fit perfectly with enough extra room for some propane canisters and cleaning brush, etc. We have been very happy with the grill!