Infrared Grilling Tips

Outdoor cooking is fun, relaxing, and produces delicious foods. Cooking on an outdoor grill is a completely different experience than cooking over a stove or inside an oven. Plus, it's a necessary means of cooking some foods and barbeque recipes. Whether it's an old charcoal grill or a gas grill, the invention of new and improved grilling equipment has changed the face of cooking meat. And one such craze has taken its step in the world of grilling called the infrared grill. If you are planning to buy one or already have one of these, learn about the techniques and cooking instructions.

What Is Infrared Grilling?

It's a special burner that concentrates its flames from the burner directly on the ceramic tile. The heat is converted into infrared energy that radiates from the tile and right on the food. This technique gives intense and really hot source of heat, which is basically much hotter than any traditional gas or charcoal grill. The burner provides direct heat which can go above 700 F directly to the grill surface. Infrared grill cooking time is reduced because foods are cooked faster, more evenly, and better than other heat sources. There are certain foods which can't be slow cooked, which is why grilling with infrared heat is ideal for them. Plus, with this burner, the meat on the outside can be easily cooked and caramelized, while keeping the juices and flavors intact. Of course, there are some pros and cons, but the highlight of the burner is that it helps save energy by cooking food faster.

Points to Note

Know this -

• Since the grill takes less time to cook food, the chances of browning the food before it gets a chance to cook all the way through reduces.
• Grilling fish, vegetables, poultry, and meat will be very different. They all require unique methods as their cooking times are not the same.
• You will NOT be able to perfect the mechanism at the first try. It will take you some time to figure out how the equipment works and what are its best and not so great sides.
• Make sure that while you're cooking food on the infrared grill, you cannot disappear. What I mean is, you need to he around in order to keep an eye on the cooking process.

Even though grilling is a part of summer, entertaining your friends and family year-round with the infrared grill has its own perks. Knowing some helpful grilling techniques is the next step for any backyard cookout. While using the grill, you're saving the food from carcinogens (as charcoal grills often add in the food) and from burning the meat unevenly (as gas grills have hot spots or the rocks collect drippings till they flare up).

Techniques to Apply

Since traditional gas grills heat the air which surrounds the food while cooking, oftentimes it can dry out the meats and vegetables. With infrared grill, you're making sure that the flavors and moisture stay intact. Following are some basic techniques that will help you learn how to cook on it.

• One of the best techniques to cook succulent foods is by preheating the grill on high for about 2 - 3 minutes. Doing so will guarantee that when you place your food on the grill, it will have even heat for cooking thoroughly.
• Char the food for about 2 - 3 minutes on all sides. Since the preheating will take care of your food being cooked fast and thoroughly, the outer layer needs to be charred. This will create a barrier between the moisture/flavors of the food and the heat outside.
• After the food is charred properly on all sides, decrease the heat on the grill. Cook your food after lowering the heat and turning it over every 2 - 3 minutes.
• One of the key grilling tips is to keep the hood of the grill open while cooking. The reason being, the grill heats the food and not its surrounding air.
• Once the food is cooked properly, let it rest for about 3 - 5 minutes before eating. Due to the intense heat from the grill, the food will keep cooking itself even after it has been removed. Let it sit for some time so that the temperature of the inner and outer surface is even.

These were the basic tips a barbeque lover should know about. And after you're done eating, cleaning this grill doesn't take much time too. All you have to do is turn it back on to high heat. This will char the residue away and make grilling much easier.