Today I’ve got another question for you from a reader. Kim asks:
“We are looking for a new gas BBQ grill. In fact we bought one last night and were planning on picking it up tonight. We chose one with a cast iron grill to avoid having the porcelain painted grill and all those toxins in our food. My husband just called me and said he was thinking and he is pretty sure the entire inside of the BBQ is painted! This cant be safe, right? We can upgrade to the all stainless steel BBQ for a few hundred more…we don’t want to spend the extra money if it is a non-issue, but I have a feeling that the stainless steel one is the only safe way to go. Any thoughts? And I guess I am wondering too if it is safe to even cook food on a gas BBQ! Thanks in advance!”
My reply:
“Hmmmm, this is a good question….I don’t know the answer so I’ll do what I always do, I’ll post it and ask my super smart readers!”
We’ve got a gas grill that we use fairly often in the summer and believe it or not, I hadn’t thought much yet about whether or not the interior is safe to cook with. I can’t wait to hear from those of you who might know more about this!
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$40 worth of Safe Sexy Stainless Steel!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
We are saving our pennies to purchase “The Green Egg” kettle type barbeque. It is ceramic, uses charcoal and wood shavings and makes the best grilled and smoked food. It looks like a green egg, hence the name. I vote for this one.
I did a little research and came up with this article:
http://www.menshealth.com/bbq/articles/The_Healthiest_Grill.php
This article favors gas over charcoal.
I still like the Green Egg type grill.
I have no idea what the answer is to this question, but we just got a new gas grill so I am hoping that is the one as the article states. Would love to hear from other readers that know a little bit more about this.
I always have read gas is better than charcoal, but wondering as well about the casing of the gas grills. Many have an aluminum casing, even though the actual cooking surface is stainless or cast iron. Wouldn’t the heating of the aluminum contaminate the food above it?? thanks
People cooked food over an open wood flame for how many years before cancer was an issue? Is the really the cooking method that’s at fault? I don’t know the answer to this either, butI have a personal dislike of propane, so I use charcoal.
The only thing I know that’s really bad about charcoal is the icky lighting fluid that goes on the coals to get them going – all those chemicals flaming up on the food can’t be good……?
I got my hubs one of those chimney starters for father’s day… bonus is that the charcoal heats up more quickly! I still way prefer my gas grill, but he hasn’t hooked it up for me yet this year. I think he’s trying to tell me something. :>)
Thanks for Posting this Kelly. I am surprised to see there is no real answer here though. I cant find anything online about the safety of these BBQs, only that the general consensus is that gas is safer than charcoal. I am still wondering about the actual inside of the unit. Once heated, it is poisoning our food? Hoping someone knows something!
What about appliances like the George Foreman Grill? They’re coated with Teflon, right? See, I just bought one because my (vegan) roommates don’t want meat cooked in the house, so I figured I could get a little grill and use it outside. Now I’m wondering what kind of residues will end up in my nice organic, grass-fed meat! If anyone has any info regarding this I’d really appreciate it!
Vanessa, watch for a post on this very soon!
Kelly
I found this article. Read the comments, too. More people are recommending, “The Green Egg” on there as well. http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/green-grilling-bbq-460519
I’m online researching gas vs charcoal grills, and what is an appropriate material, because we’re buying our first grill this summer. I ran into your blog, and am loving it! I too have a great source of organic and grass fed meat and am not interested in ruining in by lurking grill poisons….
I would love to hear from a couple of experts on this one, it seems that there is very little information out there. It seems that a fire pit, with a cast iron pan over it would be the only safe option as far as i can tell so far.