Who can tell me about infrared grills.

[the_antithesis]

For father's day, my brother is getting an infrared grill. Conveniently, he's in the process of buying a house and won't be actually getting it until that's done. This did not keep him from dragging everyone to three different stores to look at grills. He asked me what I knew about them because I tend to have tons of knowledge I never use kicking around, but I had never heard of them before. So now I'm digging up what I can on the things.

From what I can tell, they use a ceramic or metal plate above the gas burner that captures much of the convection heat energy and converts it into radiant or infrared heat.  (creating it's own convection heat, but let's not split hairs) This supposedly cuts down on the convection so that food won't dry out as easily, heat hotter and more quickly without cold spots, reaching temperatures of 700 degree in a few minutes.

The down side may be that this is a good method for cooking a steak, but not everything you're likely to cook on a grill. Anything that requires a cooler, slower fire is SOL. Not that he's looking for a smoker.

What I'm not sure about is what features to look for in one of these things. Most that we found had corrugated stainless steel plates under the grill which had tiny holes in the grooves that would allow convection from the gas burner to still do that convection drying out thing. Found one model that had a curved, square bowl under the cooking grid which won't let stuff up from below up or let stuff from above to drip down into the works.

But again, I just don't know. I get the feeling he'll be searing meats more often than not, so such a device may be a good buy for him. But when it comes to features and designs, I'm clueless.

So, does anyone have any experience/pointers on these things?

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Overpriced junk. Go break up wooden shipping skids and cook on the coals.

Well, you asked. :-k

[the_antithesis]

I knew I could count on you.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I knew I could count on you.

No, you can't borrow my lighter. :)

[Colanth]

1) "Infrared" is another way of saying "heat".  Calling a grill an infrared grill is a marketing phrase that doesn't actually mean anything.  (Unless you like the "frigid grill" which is also called a refrigerator.)

2) It does give more even heat than one with ceramic briquettes.

3) Most good barbecue chefs will tell you that charcoal is best for almost all barbecue grilling.  You don't want a cooler heat only for smoking - each food needs a different temperature, and those "infrared" grills don't allow for that.

I cook strictly on charcoal.  If he wants gas too, there are combo grills - one side gas, one side charcoal.  But I've never liked how a gas grill cooks - with briquettes the heat is uneven and with blocks it's too even.  With charcoal you get the heat you want in the place you want.  I can keep corn warm while searing burgers, on the same grill.