Man - if you want to experiment with charcoal, I'd go the "Weber go-anywhere". It's portable, compact & cheap.
All you gotta do is light the charcoal 20 mins before you want to grill.
I have a Komado Joe (like a big green egg) but if I'm just doing a few steaks, I'll use the go anywhere.
https://www.weber.com/US/en/charcoal/portable-charcoal/go-anywhere-charcoal-grill/1500763.html
This will be for my house and don’t plan on taking it anywhere. Does the green egg take longer to get going ? Or is it more of a hassle?
It takes about the same time (maybe an extra 5 mins) to get going but it uses more charcoal.
It's also about 300lbs and is over $1200 (you can sometimes find them second hand though).
The big advantage with the BGE is heat stability from all the ceramic thermal mass. This is awesome for smoking & slow cooking but is of little benefit when grilling steaks.
I love them both but for different reasons.
The advantage of the go anywhere is it's so cheap & portable. If you end up loving cooking with charcoal, you can then splurge on a BGE. If you hate it then you're only down $80.
Funny enough we have a ceramic kiln. This is some good advice!
