Infrared Vs Traditional Bbq Grill Burners
Dan Bjork | April 21, 2020 | 3 Min. Read
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Will you be shopping for a new grill this season?
If so, you have most likely seen the term infrared burner. What is an infrared burner, how does it differ from a traditional gas grill burner, and is it right for you?
In this article, you will learn the answer to these questions. You will also learn how a sear station doesn’t necessarily mean the grill sears.
Infrared Grill Vs Traditional Gas Grill: Which Is Better
Simply put, Infrared Grilling = High Temperature Radiant Heat while Open Flame = Traditional Blue Flame Grilling.
Youre on the hunt for a new grill, so youre faced with a decision: charcoal or gas?
You head to the hardware store and start perusing your options. Then, an eager sales rep starts telling you about this amazing new grill that they have in stock. Its cutting edge! It heats your food quickly! It uses less gas than atraditional grill!
Whats this mysterious thirdoption? Its called an infrared grill.
Now, the concept of theinfrared grill is nothing new it has been around since the1980s, originally invented by TEC Grills.But it still involves technology that few grill masters are familiar with. Ofcourse, you want to make an informed decision.
So, how do you decide if you should buy an infrared grill vs and gas grill? Read on as we cover how infrared heating works, and compare the pros and cons of these two types of grills.
Using Infrared technology in outdoor gas grills was invented and patented by TEC Grills in the 1980’s. This innovative concept in cooking brought intensely high heat, caramelizing the exterior of your food while locking in the juices. This technology is what you find in Steakhouse restaurants. This technology uses radiant energy, not air to cook the food. Eliminating dried out food.
What is an Infrared Grill?
Pros/Advantages of Infrared Grills
Heats Up Quickly
Even Heat Distribution
MaintainsMoisture
Steakhouse Quality
Less Prone to Flare Ups
The Food Is Of Premium Quality
Regular grilling usually gives a seared crust, but the meat is a bit dry from the inside. Microwaving meat keeps it moist and even golden on the outside, but the crisp crust isnt always attainable.
Using an infrared grill easily crisps the outside of the steak, without charring its corners, and keeps the inside moist and juicy. The aerosol resulting from the vaporized dripping fat also contributes to the intense flavor.
Cooking potatoes has a similar amazing result on the infrared grill. Who doesnt appreciate crisp coupled with softness?
This is the premium quality of flavoring and texture we crave when we cook at our backyards, the kind we enjoy at restaurants. Now we can have in our own homes too.
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What Is An Infrared Gas Grill And How Does It Work
One of the latest trends in outdoor grilling is the growing popularity of the infrared grill. Once a feature only available on high-end models, infrared technology has gone mainstream, showing up in grills at many price points. But what is an infrared grill and should you be thinking about adding this latest technology to your grilling arsenal?
Today, we take a closer look at infrared grills and help you decide whether this technology is right for you.
What Is An Infrared Grill How Do They Work
To understand this fully we need to understand the difference between infrared and your usual go-to cooking method, which is usually either grilling with charcoal or gas-fired grilling.
Both these methods are convection cooking, in that the charcoal or gas flames heat the air between the fire and the food.
This hot air circulates around the food as it heats, which is known as a convection current.
This is the reason you close the lid while cooking, as it stops the hot air from escaping and allows the temperature to sit at a reasonably constant temperature, much like a traditional oven.
Infrared is different.
In simple terms, it is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which measures the length and speed of waves. Only a small part of the spectrum is visible to the human eye as visible light, and IR is just outside of this scope, and thus it is invisible to us. However, because it heats things, we can feel, see and taste the effect of it.
It is a lot like the sun. The suns energy is made up of around 50% infrared, and this is why pavements are hot to the touch in summer, yet we cannot see the heating process.
An IR grill uses a gas burner to heat a plate made of metal, ceramic, or glass and in turn produces infrared waves as opposed to just hot air. This plate heats quicker than just air and reaches a much higher temperature much faster.
The infrared waves created are what heats the surface of an object, such as meat, quicker than circulating hot air can.
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Easy Cleaning And Maintenance
You can turn up the heat and leave it on for 5 minutes to burn any food debris into ash which you can easily clean off.
Infrared grills also arent as prone to flare-ups as any juices or bits that drop onto the grill will be quickly vaporized due to the high cooking temperature of the infrared grill.
What Are The Benefits Of An Infrared Burner
Lynx Professional BBQ Grill Infrared Burners
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Similarities Between The Two
Before we go to differentiate both these types of grills, lets have a look at what similarities do they have. Both of them are used for grilling food including meat and vegetables.
Another similarity between these two grills that they both use gas as their source of heat. However, infrared grills can also run on electricity but there are only a few models available that are electric infrared gas grills.
What Is An Infrared Barbeque Grill
Last Updated on 7 months by admin
So youre a complete amateur and youre looking for a grill for your backyard which leads you to the age old question which grill should I buy? Honestly at this point, picking a grill is like picking a team. Are you team charcoal? Or are you team Propane? Honestly I never get tired of seeing people argue about this. It is hilarious. Its practically World War III. Youll find numerous websites and videos claiming Charcoal is better or Propane beats charcoal or It doesnt matter because it all tastes the same .
There is no lack of opinions on the internet and people are often subjective because they support their respective teams so finding the objective truth becomes difficult .But what if I tell you theres a third option. An option that is preferred by numerous steakhouses across the world. A grill to beat all grills. Yes, Im talking about Infrared. This way you can ditch the whole gas vs charcoal controversy and find an even better grill. Now the question is What is an infrared barbeque grill?
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Can You Convert An Infrared Grill To Regular
It certainly is possible to convert your infrared grill to a regular gas grill if you wanted to
You would have to remove the infrared grill emitter plates, and replace them with stainless steel grill plates that are of the same size as the infrared grill plates were. Then, to make it into a regular gas grill, all you would need to do is to supply the gas, and it becomes a standard grill.
There is a clear drawback to doing this, however. The converted grill will only cook meat on its far side, since the heat will be mostly on the far side only.
So, the real question is why would you want to convert your infrared grill to a regular grill in the first place? Infrared grills have a number of benefits over a regular grill. They provide a uniform distribution of heat, theres reduced flare-ups, they heat up quickly, theyre great for the outdoors, unaffected by wind, and theyre also one of the safest ways to cook.
Guide Explaining What Is A Tru Infrared Grill
Infrared grilling is one of the best ways to cook your meals.
Not only is it faster and hotter than conventional gas and charcoal grilling but also cheaper and the food is tastier and juicier.
Char-Broil even more improved this cooking technique with its own TRU-Infrared technology.
So if you have been looking for the answer to the question What is a TRU infrared grill? Well, this is simply an infrared grill built-in Char-Broils patented cooking technology.
There is a lot to like about it and I will share the benefits below.
This guide explains in detail what is a TRU infrared grill, how it works, and what are its advantages.
All this and more is explained by one of Char-Broils own engineers.
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Quick Preheat/fast Cooking Times
Infrared grills heat up faster and can generate much higher temperatures than most conventional grills. In fact, its not uncommon for an infrared grill to reach a temperature of 700 degrees F in under 7 minutes. This translates to faster cooking times, especially for solid, dense meats like steak, which can cook in as little as 1 minute per side. Plus, with faster preheating, grill enthusiasts will look forward to grilling more often, even when they may be short on time.
Minimizes The Chances Of Flare
The heat generated by infrared radiation is so intense that it instantly vaporizes grease or marinade drippings, generating flavor-enriching smoke in the process. This enhances the rich flavor of whatevers on the grill and virtually eliminates any chance of a flare-up. Its a win-win either way you slice it.
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Infrared Grill Vs Traditional Gas Grill
Infrared grills are in a totally different league as compared to the conventional gas grills. Conventional grills are not going to be worthwhile if you are looking to cook small portions of food. If you are cooking a large portion then this grill is going to be very useful. This is because once you open the lid of a conventional grill you will have to reheat the grill because it loses a lot of heat.
This can significantly slow down the cooking process as well. On the other hand, infrared grills are very efficient and their interior will not lose heat when you open the lid. Hence you dont have to preheat the grill and you can also cook small portions of meals on them as well.
Infrared Barbecues And Infrared Gas Grills
Infrared gas grills are some of the most desirable grills on the market.
Their style of cooking is leading-edge, and has been used by many restaurants for a long time.
Right now the high-end infrared gas grills will cost you over $1,000, but there are many mainstream models under $500.
But anyone who uses one will say that if you love perfect grilling, the money is well worth it.
The patent on this technology has recently expired, allowing many competitors into the field.
This has brought a lot of innovation to the sector.
Another thing is it causing is a drop in prices.
Since there is more competition, the price of one of these grills is going to drop substantially.
There arent that many people who understand how an infrared gas grill works.
This is mainly because these types of grills are not commonly owned by the average family.
Infrared grills are very expensive, and because of that have mostly been owned by restaurants and the wealthy.
What makes an infrared gas grill work the way it does is the ceramic plate in it.
A flame is focused on this plate, which has a multitude of tiny holes in it.
Once it is hot, it is radiating infrared heat, not unlike what we feel coming off the sun.
Now that multiple companies have access to this technology and can improve upon it, many variations are coming out.
There are now grills that have an infrared burner, charcoal firebox, and standard burner in them.
If you can spend the money to get an infrared gas grill, it is well worth it.
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Infrared Barbecue Grill Learning Center
From this style of cooking came a host of modern barbecuing techniques.
Many homeowners build permanent barbecue pits in their backyards in order to create a true, southern-style barbecue experience.
Barbecue smokers are also quite popular.
While these can be purchased through a number of sources, the best examples are often homemade.
A barbecue smoker can be easily built at home using a 55 gallon steel drum, some metal grating and a few pieces of angle iron.
There are numerous sources on the internet that offer plan sets and short video clips to help you build your very own backyard smoker.
Many people go whole hog when it comes to their outdoor cooking set-up.
Entire outdoor kitchens can be constructed to make the grilling experience that much more enjoyable.
Many of these include barbecue islands, which serve the same purpose as a common kitchen island.
Refrigerators, sinks, and ample counter space are all staples of the best cooking islands.
These are most often situated near the grill for convenience.
Bbq Catering: Perfect For Any Size Party
BBQ catering is ideal for any sized party because caterers can supply as many portable barbecues and chefs as you need, regardless of the number of guests.
Similarly, if you host a small to medium-sized party, it can seem overwhelming when you are preparing food yourself.
It may be suitable to have full-service catering with cooks and servers for a large gathering.
BBQ catering may be a perfect compromise for a small party because you can purchase food that can be dropped off but does not require a lot of manpower to cook or clean up.
Additionally, you can also purchase ready-made, cold salads that can complement the main course.
If you intend to serve a choice of entrees, a caterer will offer a selection that is prepared with different marinades or rubs.
You can select multiple dishes without taking the time to purchase the individual ingredients yourself.
Fish, poultry, meat and vegetables can be cooked on a barbecue.
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Tips To Grill The Perfect Steak:
How An Infrared Grill Works
Infrared grills, especially those manufactured by Char-Broil, are different from the traditional gas and charcoal grills in that they rely on radiant waves to cook.
You are, probably, wondering where these radiant waves come from.
Well, for you to understand this, I, first of all, have to explain the structure of a Char-Broil TRU infrared grill.
Infrared grills are similar to gas grills in that they both use liquid propane as fuel but that is where the similarities end.
Infrared grills have an emitter plate that produces radiant waves that cook the food.
This emitter plate is located just above the burner and when it is heated, it produces infrared radiation.
You may be wondering what is different with this grill that makes it special.
Traditional grills that lack the infrared emitter plate use convectional currents to transfer heat.
This method of heat transfer has a lot of challenges.
Here, the air just above the grill is hot and it moves to the food that is being cooked.
This heated air cooks your meals but there is a lot of energy lost to the surrounding area.
The lost energy is one of the reasons why infrared grills are better as they hardly waste any energy.
All the energy is used to cook your meals and therefore your fuel consumption will be low.
The rising heated air also causes your food to dry up and that is why meals cooked with gas or charcoal grills are usually dry.
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How Do Infrared Grills Work
The grill utilizes infrared energy to warm up your food before cooking it. Heres a clarification of what Infrared rays are and how it prepares your meal. Cooking with an infrared grill will provide you heat on a metallic or a fired surface, which then emits infrared radiation, which directly prepares meals. These surfaces intend to transport heat in the infrared frequency range.
Thermal light is essential for the electromagnetic range that is imperceptible. You cannot feel or see the radiations because of their extremely low frequency. Infrared can perceive warmth at higher frequencies when youre barefoot on scorching sand at the beach. The heat you experience causes by infrared radiation discharge by the sand which is heated by the Sun.
Differences Between Types Of Infrared Grills
There are two main categories of infrared grills: gas-fired and electric-fired. Within these categories, there are distinct differences in how each type of grill operates. When selecting an infrared grill, consider factors such as propane usage, BTU burners, cooking area, durability, ease of use and clean up.
When using a gas-fired infrared grill, the infrared burner is usually powered by propane or natural gas. There are also some models that use butane. The food is cooked quickly due to the intense heat supplied by these burners. These grills work similar to regular gas grills in that they have turn knobs for heat control and a regulator to adjust flame height . Some models even have additional features such as side burners and rotisseries. Many models also come with a built-in thermometer gauge for more accurate temperature readings
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