You may have heard of the new infrared grills and wondered what the difference was between it and the traditional barbecue grill that you are used to. In other words, what’s the big deal?
A traditional barbecue grill cooks food with indirect heat which is also called convection heating. For example, when you use charcoal for heating your grill, the briquettes are lit and then as they burn the air surrounding the grill is warmed up and cooks your food. When you use a gas grill the same principle applies. It is the hot air surrounding the grill that cooks the food. As you already know, the convection heating method does produce delicious food, although there can be a few disadvantages. One potential problem is that is can be harder to control the temperature which makes it hard to cook food evenly.
The infrared grill, however, uses a direct method of cooking food. In other words, a direct heating source is used. Infrared grills use either propane or gas for heating. There is usually a button on the grill that is pushed to ignite the flame which is used to heat up a stainless steel or ceramic burner. Your food is placed directly on the hot burner and that is what cooks your food rather than the surrounding air. That is why you can produce those nice sear marks on a steak.
Infrared grilling technology enables the burner to be heated at a very high temperature. As the stainless steel or ceramic burner heats up it begins emitting infrared radiation which is how the food gets cooked directly. Infrared radiation can get a grill a lot hotter than the temperature would be using gas or charcoal with a regular grill. Food cooks a lot faster and evenly due to the high temperature and direct cooking method. Food stays juicy and more tender and there is less of a tendency for it to dry out.
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