Update: Them's Fightin' Words

DAD saw this article from Wired.

Grilling Over Gas Is Objectively, Scientifically Better Than Grilling Over Charcoal

By Mark McClusky 07.04.13

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/07/gas-grilling-is-objectively-scientifically-better-than-charcoal/

Actually, the author makes a coherent argument for the convenience of gas and readily admits to charcoal's advantages, so Dad won't pick a fight. "Objectively" and "scientifically" are purely a matter of opinion.

McClusky writes:

I can walk in my door with a bag of groceries at 6:30, and have grilled chicken on the table at 7, a happy family praising a delicious dinner. The most precious commodity in the world, the one resource that none of us has enough of, that’s constantly dwindling until we die, is time.

And it will not heat up the kitchen and force the air conditioning to run to remove all of the waste heat generated.

But Dad prefers charcoal, not just for the enjoyment of the process, but for the smoky taste hardwood lump charcoal impart to food. Adding hardwood chunks or chips to a gas grill is difficult.

McClusky again:

Charcoal purists will try and tell you that their preferred fuel leads to better flavor. This is, well, nonsense.

Your food doesn’t know what’s creating the heat below it, and once charcoal is hot, there aren’t any aromatic compounds left in the coals. According to the food science bible Modernist Cuisine, “Carbon is carbon; as it burns, it imparts no flavor of its own to the food being grilled.”

The characteristic flavor of grilled food comes from the drippings, not the fuel. When those drippings hit the heat source below, the oils, sugars, and proteins burst into smoke and flame. That heat creates new complex molecules that rise in the smoke and warm air to coat the food you’re grilling.

Dad is not convinced. Gas powered grills do not impart the smells and flavor a wood and petroleum powered one does. 

Update: The same publication published this.

Grilling Over Charcoal Is Objectively, Scientifically Better Than Grilling Over Gas

• By Joe Brown 07.05.13 8:25 AM

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/07/charcoal-grilling-is-objectively-scientifically-better-than-gas/

Yes! Yes! Yes! Bias confirmed!

What? You aren't anti-science are you?

Brown writes:

To understand why [gas creates less flavorful food], you first need to understand that flavor and taste are not the same thing. “Within flavor, we have taste compounds and we have aroma compounds,” says Gavin Sacks, associate professor of food science at Cornell University. “Our brains just aren’t designed to decouple them.”

That seems about right. He continues:

What charcoal brings to the party is a healthy heaping of aroma compounds, the other half of the power couple that is flavor. In fact, aroma might be the super starlet in that relationship, because our tongues are actually pretty limited. “There are only five taste receptors that are well-agreed-upon to exist within your taste buds,” says Sacks. He’s referring to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and the new kid: umami.

So to account for the many complex flavors we enjoy, we need to include our sense of smell.

Ever had a cold and noticed nothing tasted right? Your nose isn't supplying all of the flavor data you need to your brain. Hence it did not taste right.

So, to feed the family on a tight schedule during the weekday, fire up the propane. But to enjoy the weekend (a process) and make great food start the coals.