If you’re into grilling and BBQ you’ve probably seen a new buzzword being thrown around by many grill manufacturers such as Char Broil, the infrared grill. In this article we will take a look at what infrared grilling really is all about and review one of the best selling portable infrared grills. After reviewing the pros and cons of infrared cooking and understanding the process behind it you’ll be able to make a more informed choice whether or not it’s for you.
How Infrared Grills Work
To understand how infrared grills work we first need to consider the two different ways that heat can be emitted. When we heat anything we use one of two different forms of heat emission, convection and radiation.
Convection involves the heating up of air, and in turn, that air provides heat to the subject. Whether it be a person, food or a space, convection heating relies on the air surrounding the object to be warm enough to penetrate warmth. Convection heating has its benefits but at the same time a lot of energy is lost as wasted air. Typically when heating a house you want to use convection heat, you want the air throughout the house to be a comfortable temperature.
The second form of heat is radiant. When we talk about heat through radiation we are providing heat to a solid surface. The heat is built up and then is radiated as infrared waves to directly heat the subject. Using radiated heat the subject absorbs the heat directly and very little energy is wasted heating the air in between.
To understand this better we can look at different types of patio heaters. When searching for patio heaters you’ll notice they normally fall into two categories. The first are gas flame heaters that release hot air at the top and direct it down with a hood. These types of heaters are effective in closed environments such as a tarpaulin as they heat the air around it, much like the heating in a regular house. These types of patio heaters don’t do much on an open patio where the air can flow too freely, as most of the hot air it produces is immediately blown away.
Some electric patio heaters are effective at keeping you warm even in open air spaces. You often see these types of heaters in bar beer gardens and other open areas. They work by emitting infrared heat directly into you. The air around you remains cool but you feel the warmth of the heat being radiated by the heater.
This is fundamentally what infrared grilling is, using radiated heat instead of convection to cook food.
Traditional grills and BBQs use convection to heat and cook food. You start with a fuel such as gas or charcoal to produce a heat source. That heat source then makes the air around it hot and your food heats up as a result of the hot air circulating around your food.
Infrared grills work differently. Typically an infrared grill will have a solid surface made from ceramic or metal that sits in between the heat source and the grate where you cook your food. Instead of the heat generated by the fuel being released straight into the surrounding air, the majority of it is absorbed by this solid surface.
The solid surface used in infrared grills begins to heat up to very high temperatures. The heat then radiates from the surface directly into the food above through infrared waves, exactly like the electric patio heater providing heat to a person in the example above.
This form of grilling has many benefits, but also a few drawbacks that you should consider before deciding whether or not to invest in an infrared grill.
The benefits of an infrared grill
The main difference you’ll notice when cooking using an infrared grill is the heat. Grills that use infrared radiated heat are capable of getting a lot hotter than traditional convection style grills. This makes them the perfect choice for searing at high heats to make amazing char grilled steaks.
Because the heat being generated is going straight into a solid material, the heat in an infrared grill gets distributed evenly across the entire surface. This reduces the problem of unwanted hot or cold spots across your grill and you are guaranteed to have the same cooking temperature over the entire surface of your grate.
Because the heat emitting surface lies in between the fire and your food, there is less risk of flare ups as fat dripping from the grate is not as likely to make direct contact with the flame. The solid surface under the grate is also very hot, so as fat drips off it will vaporise quickly and still release plenty of smoke to produce those highly sought after barbecue flavors.
Some manufacturers also claim that using infrared technology in their grills helps to stop food from drying out and produces more moist end results. There is clearly some sense in this claim, since a convection grill circulates hot dry air around the outside of your food evaporating the moisture. With an infrared grill radiating heat directly into the food, more moisture is retained in the meat the results are noticeable.
The cons of infrared grills
Depending on your cooking style and what type of food you want to cook, some of the benefits listed above may actually be drawbacks. While they are great at cooking at high heat, they are not so good at producing medium to low heats. Infrared grills are not suitable for any kind of “low and slow” cooking since they are designed to capture as much heat as possible and radiate it straight to your food. If you primarily cook large cuts of chicken or want to smoke ribs, then you should probably stick to traditional grills that use convection as these are easier to run at cooler temperatures.
While not having hot and cool spots may be a benefit when grilling steaks, there are times when you want to create hotter and cooler parts of a grill. This is easy to achieve on a traditional charcoal convection grill but you will lose this ability with an infrared grill. This also means that while infrared grills are a fantastic choice for direct grilling, they are not that suitable for indirect cooking.
What is the best portable infrared grill
If you’ve weighed up the pros and cons and decided that infrared grilling is for you, there are many different grills out there offering infrared. For camping, picnics or RV use a fantastic pic for a portable infrared grill is the Char-Broil Grill2Go, also known as the X200.
With dimensions of 24″ x 16″ x 14″ it’s an ideal size to fit neatly into a car trunk making it super portable for camping trips, picnics and tailgating. It has heat resistant carry handles and a lid that latches closed for easy storage and transport. With the lid closed there is also plenty of space inside to store extras, it can fit up to 3 1lb propane canisters.
The build quality is outstanding and rugid thanks to it’s die cast aluminium construction. The sturdy legs provide plenty of stability and also enough clearance to prevent surfaces from becoming too hot.
The cooking grate is ample for a small family with enough space to cook up to 12 burgers. Thanks to it’s branded TRU-Infrared techology you’ll get all of the benefits listed above when grilling. With up to 2.7kw of output power, this little beast will be ideal for grilling delicious juicy cuts of steak.
The lid not only allows you to trap in all those smokey barbecue flavors into your meat but also has a handy temperature gauge on the lid that helps you to achieve the desired temperature for your cook.
The Char-Broil X200 runs on standard 1lb propane tanks that are connected to a mounting valve on the side. It can be lit by pressing a piezo style lighter button situated on the inner part of the leg to prevent accidental damage. The grill can also be run off a 20lb propane tank by using a regulator sold seperatly.
If you want to try infrared grilling and are looking for something portable enough to take camping or to a picnic, then you should definitely take a look at this grill. Check out the excellent reviews and price on Amazon.
Summary
Infrared grills are certainly generating a lot of discussion right now. Most major brands are coming out with grills with infrared technology. It certainly has great benefits and we love cooking on them. Like any grill or cooking system there is nothing to please everyone. Before deciding to invest in an infrared grill you should understand what benefits it will give you and if it suits your style of cooking. That said, if you like steaks, you’ll love these!