Infrared BBQ grills use a special plate to distribute heat evenly, cooking food at high temperatures with little energy loss. They can prevent hot and cold areas and cook with the grill open. However, they can be expensive and dangerous if not handled carefully.
Infrared BBQ grills cook food using a special plate that helps distribute heat throughout the food without relying on the air inside a grill to heat up for cooking. The grill works by igniting propane or another type of cooking gas under a flat surface. This surface is capable of being heated to a very high temperature and begins to emit radiation in the form of infrared heat. This heat travels rapidly in the food, which means that the heat is cooking the food, regardless of the ambient temperature of the surrounding air. In general, infrared barbecue grills use less energy than conventional grills to cook food and do it faster because they can be raised to a much higher temperature with little energy dissipation.
The inside of an infrared barbecue grill contains a traditional heating element at the bottom, usually in the form of a gas burner. On the top of this burner there is a plate made of special ceramic or stainless steel. The burners heat up the plate very quickly and cause it to emit infrared radiation. One benefit that the grill offers is even heat distribution, as nearly all of the molecules in the plate will conduct heat evenly across the surface, reducing hot and cold areas within the grill.
Another aspect of infrared barbecue grills is that very little energy is lost in the transfer of heat from the burners on the cooking plate to the food itself. A traditional grill must heat the air around the food, which means that energy is lost heating the air and can be lost if you open the lid of the grill. Infrared BBQ grills can transfer heat directly, with very little energy lost, providing the ability to cook with the grill open without affecting cooking time or temperature.
The efficient type of heat created within infrared barbecues can actually prevent the unit from cooking food at lower temperatures. The heat from the ceramic plate within the grill cannot be effectively retained at low temperatures due to its conductive properties in relation to the gas burners below. To solve this problem, there are hybrid grills with an infrared cooking element on only one part of the grill, leaving the rest exposed to conventional burners.
While the technology is very efficient, infrared barbecue grills tend to be more expensive than traditional grills when first purchased. Some models are also very difficult to move once installed due to their size or installation requirements, although portable versions are also produced. Infrared grills can burn at incredibly hot temperatures and can be dangerous if the cooking element is not carefully avoided while hot.
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