There are two alternatives to charcoal fired barbecue char-grills are those that use either electricity, propane or natural gas. There are electric, natural or propane gas units which will fit on your kitchen benchtop or others which are large enough to cook for a group of people and are appropriate for outdoors. You will find on both of these kinds of grills a griddle plate that may be used for direct cooking and is ideal for cooking foods which can be high in fat for example sausages and hamburgers or food that may be either very small, thin, or awkward to control over the open grill. Both the gas and electric bbq grills save you the effort of building the fire and also cleaning up the ashes. Because most of these barbecue grills require only a brief preheating time, there is little waiting for the grill once the food is prepared to cook.

For some families, the choice of the electric BBQ grill is simply a matter of convenience. The only thing you need to concern yourself about with a electric grill is a power outlet to connect to. Then its simply waiting a few minutes to allow for preheating then you can start cooking. There is no fighting to get the charcoal to start burning or lugging bottles of propane to be filled. You can get large electric grills that sit on a stand with wheels, there are also ones with hoods and volcanic rocks for that char grill smokey flavor. When you install these grills indoors for permanent use, its a good idea to locate them close to an existing range hood if they do not have there own.

With these barbecue gas grills you can also have special briquette-shaped material, such as volcanic rocks, above the burner to radiate heat evenly. When meat juices drip on the hot lava rock briquettes, the meat is flavored be the smoke that rises and penetrates the food being cooked. It's the smoke - not the use of charcoal - that gives food an authentic "barbecue" flavor. Larger outdoor gas grills that use propane gas bottles or normally on a trolley type stand with wheels; natural gas units are mounted on a fixed pedestal and need to be connected to a permanent gas line.

From the two types of gas grills the natural gas grills are more practical as they save you the time and cost of having to drive to your nearest LP gas depot to refill your gas bottle and you will never run out of gas half way through a BBQ. Also natural gas is much cheaper and burns a lot cleaner then propane gas.

All good hardware stores stock the basic essential tools for barbecue grilling cooking. The most important is a long handle tong and fork so you don't singe the hairs on your arm when turning the food, next is a basting brush, butcher's knife, a apron so you don't get oil splashing on your clothes, slat and pepper shakers and sauce bottles.

Some other accessories you may want to include a hinged grill basket with long handles for holding and turning hot dogs or fish, some aluminum pans in various dimensions to use as drip pans under large roasts and when rotisserie food, a meat thermometer and a stainless steel roast tray is a must for roasting beef, chickens or turkeys.

When you've got a fire flare and your gas grill is powered direct from mains (natural gas) supply, shut off the supply at the mains, extinguish any open flame. if the smell continues, without delay call your gas provider or fire department.