Answer: It's all about flavor!   In the last several years a "zillion" gas grills have been purchased. Supposedly gas is more convenient; until you clean the grill or realize the maintenance on burners, orifices, gas lines etc. No salesperson for gas grills is ever going to mention those "convenience" features. With barbecook grills there is nothing to service. They work every time! Barbecook grills are the easiest and safest charcoal grills you will ever use because of QuickStart  and  QuickStop. The more expensive the gas grill the more gimmicks they have added to try to incorporate the flavor of charcoal. WHY?? Ask any honest grill dealer, they will all say  "Charcoal tastes better!" FLAVOR  is the issue! Charcoal briquets contain a lot of fillers and chemicals and we simply do not recommend them.  Natural lump charcoal  comes in many varieties and brands. Once you use it you'll never want a briquet. Natural lump charcoal is just wood, no additives. It gives flavor without chemical tastes. It also lights faster and gets hotter; the real secret in locking in juices and flavor. Besides natural lump charcoal, you can also use just plain wood; like you use in your fireplace or wood stove. Every wood imparts its own characteristic flavor.  EXPERIMENT. Last night I read an article about charcoal grilling fishes on wood planks. The article talked of using alder, cedar and cherry planks. This for me brings up another issue:  HAVE FUN! "Gas versus Charcoal" ... there is a difference and it's FLAVOR! What was once a matter of opinion is not anymore. In an article by Lisa Mayer in Hearth & Home magazine the facts came out. "After analyzing meat cooked over charcoal and gas, Dr. E.E. Litkenhous of Vanderbilt university determined that there is a real scietific difference in the chemical reaction that occurs during the two cooking methods." According to Dr. Litkenhous, when charcoal is burned it produces virtually moisture free, super-heated air accompanied by intense radiant heat, which "case hardens" the meat's surface, sealing in the juices. The wood volatiles (wood gases remaining in charcoal after carbonization takes place) that are released when charcoal is burned coagulate the meat's surface proteins. The result is charcoal-smoke FLAVOR and meat that takes on a "plumped" characteristic. Since gas is nearly 30% moisture, it tends to "steam distill" meat, according to Litkenhous. The meat loses more juices and takes on a "floppy" characteristic. Cook's Illustrated magazine performed its own comparison tests for its August 2004 issue. Testers found that "grilling over charcoal provides exceptional browning and searing that a gas grill simply can't replicate. That's because a charcoal fire, built with plenty of charcoal, gets hotter than a gas fire. Besides searing, charcoal adds another distinct advantage - SMOKE FLAVOR! Paul Fine commented "Look at barbecue cook-offs and contests where flavor really counts. NONE of those competitors use gas."