If you have never owned a grill before, you may feel overwhelmed when you begin to shop for one. With all the different types of grills out there today, and all the different variations within grill type, making a decision can be quite difficult. Choosing the grill that's right for you will depend on your answer to a number of questions you want to consider. And who says you have to have just one grill. Lots of folks have both a gas grill as well as a charcoal grill and use both in different situations.

How do you decide what grill is best for your family?

Which taste do you think you will prefer? Are you always pressed for time or is grilling a favorite pastime of yours? How much money can you afford to spend? These are things you need to consider before embarking on your search.

Let's start with the gas grills or the propane grill. Gas grills as their name implies, use a gas source as fuel to cook your food. This gas can either be propane or natural gas. Propane can be supplied from the big 20 lb. refillable tanks (although most times these are simply exchanged at your local hardware store or gas station) to the 16.4 ounce disposable canisters used on the portable gas grills.

Gas grills are more convenient than their charcoal grill counterpart because the gas grill can be ready to cook immediately saving you time on your cooking chores. However, even though some gas grills use a flavorizing system to vaporize drippings resulting in a grilled taste, some folks feel that the smoky flavor of charcoal is the only way to go.

Charcoal grills as their name implies use charcoal briquettes to supply the heat source that cooks your food. These charcoal briquettes can be lit in a couple of ways. The first is to establish a pile of briquettes in the center of your grill and soak with lighter fluid then light.

The other method that is gaining in popularity is the use of a charcoal chimney. This device looks like a large coffee can with a handle. It is open on both ends and has a grate about 3/4 of the way down. Charcoal is loaded into the top and newspaper is stuffed underneath and lit. The charcoal chimney is the more natural way to light your charcoal and gets you away from using the petroleum based lighter fluid which can be dangerous and may affect the taste of your food if not completely burned off before you begin your cooking. With both methods, your charcoal is ready in about 20 minutes.

Some folks swear by the taste of the food cooked over charcoal briquettes. However, if you are pressed for time, remember that charcoal grilling will take more time. In addition, if you take your grill with you to the beach, the park, or tailgate parties, you'll need to find some way to dispose of the used charcoal after letting it fully extinguish itself. In this case, propane may be the way to go.

The type of grill you decide to go with depends upon your lifestyle. If grilling is a favorite pastime for you and your family and time is not an issue, a charcoal grill may be what you want to consider. The charcoal grill will allow you to experiment with different types of cooking methods from direct to indirect and will even allow you to do a bit of smoking by experimenting with the vent openings and charcoal burn rate. Charcoal grilling will also allow you to try out different types of briquettes such as mesquite flavored, for instance.

The propane grill on the other hand will get your food on the table much quicker, but will also give you more precise control over cooking temperature by allowing you to control gas flow to the burners. Also, the portable gas grill is more convenient if you tend to take it along with you on family outings such as the weber go anywhere gas grill.

Now hop online and read through the gas grill reviews and the charcoal grill reviews to get yourself a better feel for the type of grill that might suit you the best. Happy grilling!