Charcoal vs. Gas Grills - Best of Both Worlds

New backyard grill offers options for today's busy lifestyle

American families today live dual lifestyles: During the week, nearly 80 percent experience "frantic family syndrome," rushing home from long commutes to pick up kids, supervise homework and throw something together for dinner. But when the weekend comes along, most opt out of the frenetic pace for two glorious days, spending precious down time relaxing with family and friends.

Catering to these dueling lifestyles is a whole range of new combo products designed to help consumers balance their daily activities, including new dual-purpose products for the kitchen and backyard. Among those is the Charcoal/Gas grill from Char-Broil, which gives busy families two options in one grill that's easy to assemble and use.

During the time-constrained work week, the grill's gas burner is ready for cooking in less than 10 minutes and cleans up just as fast. Switch to charcoal for the leisurely pace of the weekend -- simply remove the grid, and insert the charcoal pan and multi-level cooking grate that locks into two positions for varied cooking intensities. The burners light the coals with the push of a button, so no lighter fluid is required!

One in five American families today owns both a gas grill and a charcoal grill, but a Charcoal/Gas combo grill eliminates the need for both, saving consumers money, time and patio space while delivering the quick-cook convenience of gas and the traditional, slow-grill taste of charcoal.

Here's a recipe that the burger lovers in your family will enjoy, whether you choose gas or charcoal:

Bleu Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck, round or sirloin
• 4 Tbs. bleu cheese
• 4 Tbs. minced sweet onion
• 4 tsp. A-1 steak sauce
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper

Method:

Mix onion, steak sauce, vinegar and salt & pepper well into ground beef. Take 1/4 of the mixture and shape into a flat patty, make a depression in center of patty and place 1 Tbs. bleu cheese in center of meat. Form meat around cheese to enclose it.

Cook on hot grill until done to your taste and serve on hamburger buns which have been buttered with garlic butter and grilled until light brown.

Serves 4

Courtesy of ARA Content