Infrared gas grill review

Jeff · May 23, 2011, 07:20:18 PM

First thing when the weather broke this spring I went out to get the gas grill going. I knew it was getting old, but didnt realize this last fall had been it's last hurrah. All three burners were cracked to the point you could not get a good flame, the deflectors were rotted off and the grates themselves had seen better days. So, this last week I went to Home Depot looking to get the replacement parts to fix the old girl up. They priced out at almost $140. No way was I going to put that kind of money in that old grill. So, I started looking at new ones. Didn't pull the trigger on one and came home. That night I was talking to my neighbor and he said they were thinking about getting an infrared model, as they had been told how well they worked. I got on line and did some searching, then went back to Home Depot and decided that is what we were going to get.

So far I love it. This weekend we made brats and I roasted potatoes. Tonight was what I consider the supreme test for a grill. PIZZA! It came out amazing. The crust and sauce were home made. I got the grill up to 650 degrees and the pizza took less than 12 minuted to cook. I precooked the sausage that was on it because I don't like grease, and I nuked the onions for 4 minutes first because Tammy only likes thoroughly cooked onions. The even heat in the thing is really great, as you can see in one of the photos, the bottom of the crust was perfect. I use corn meal on the cookie sheet instead of oil for non-stick.

Jeff · May 23, 2011, 07:34:14 PM

Char-Broil RED 3-Burner Gas Infrared Grill

It was on sale here for $369 Were calling it our Mothers and Fathers day present.

Norm · May 23, 2011, 08:24:51 PM

Holy cow that is the best pizza I've ever seen done on a grill!

Let's see some of your other cooks on it Jeff.

Buck · May 23, 2011, 11:36:54 PM

Love mine Jefro. Gotta try pizza though. Looks good.

sandhills · May 24, 2011, 12:43:35 AM

That looks great, never tried pizza on the grill before, now I have to

.

SwampDonkey · May 24, 2011, 04:24:32 AM

Jeff, that's what I do when preparing my pizza to. Pre-cook the meats and toppings, and use homemade crust with a dusting of corn meal in the pan, and maybe a sprinkle on the crust. I never seem to have any black olives though. :-\

Looks like good pizza. The BBQ looks awesome to.

Homemade crust rocks. 8)

D Hagens · May 24, 2011, 12:11:03 PM

So like with the infrared do you have to plug this in or does it run off the gas like a chafe warmer ???

Jeff · May 24, 2011, 12:19:38 PM

Just gas. I'm not sure why its considered infrared, I would call it reflective I think. The food is isolated from the burners. The link I gave to the grill above, on that page is a product demo link that has a video. Lets see if I can embed it here.

D Hagens · May 24, 2011, 12:35:31 PM

Ok I get it now, it works like some of the ovens in restaurants where you wold need intense heat.
So if my eyes caught that in the vid this BBQ is self-cleaning?

Jeff · May 24, 2011, 12:49:12 PM

Yup, and so far thats worked pretty good. ONly made brats so far directly on the grates, but when we were done, kicked it up to clean. When it wasdone there was only white ash, which after the grill cooled, Tammy whiped out with a damp cloth. So far so good. Tammy is gone on a trip tonight, so I'll eat left overs, but tomorrow I am making Chicken. That should be a good test on its self-cleaning properties.

D Hagens · May 24, 2011, 01:15:08 PM

That's an interesting concept for a BBQ

Keep us posted on the clean up after the chicken it can be a pain to clean the grates.

Jeff · May 24, 2011, 01:22:56 PM

Usually I par boil chicken before I grill it. I'm half tempted to try and do it from raw this time.

Raider Bill · May 24, 2011, 01:35:44 PM

Jeff,
Why do you par boil chicken? IMO there goes the good flavor.

Wait till you do a nice steak on the infrared! you will love it.

Tom · May 24, 2011, 02:16:48 PM

Infrared?

SwampDonkey · May 24, 2011, 02:18:36 PM

We've always parboiled chicken before grilling up here to.

Propane is too high up here to justify using a grill.

Jeff · May 24, 2011, 03:16:09 PM

Quote from: Raider Bill on May 24, 2011, 01:35:44 PM
Jeff,
Why do you par boil chicken? IMO there goes the good flavor.

Wait till you do a nice steak on the infrared! you will love it.

Because it seems that if you don't it is always overcooked on the outside and raw in the middle when cooked on a grill. I par boil it and get my flavor from sweet baby ray.

25 lb tank of propane here is currently 16.95 to get filled. Last year it was 10.95

SwampDonkey · May 24, 2011, 03:33:32 PM

$30 here I guess. I have a thin wallet. ;)

Jeff · May 25, 2011, 06:12:48 PM

The Chicken turned out awesome. I opted to not do BBQ sauce as I always do because I wanted to really see what the meat was going to do. What I did was put some olive oil in a bag, then tossed in some sweet basil, onion powder and some ground garlic-pepper. Then I dropped the big ole chicken legs in the bag and worked it all up. I roasted some potatoes in foil as well. Potatoes, spices and grated Parmesan.

The chicken cooked perfectly to the center without a hint of being over cooked on the outside. I took a picture also of the dirty grill so I could put a photo up after the cleaning cycle, but it has started to pour, so the cleaning will have to wait. Anyhow, I'm still sold.

8)

After the cleaning cycle and wiping out with a damp cloth.

I'm thinking that cleaning it after each use is over kill for gas consumption. We may work on that.

Raider Bill · May 25, 2011, 06:22:46 PM

I never understood par boiling the flavor out of meat. I've even seen people boil ribs before they grill them

But then I never looked at it from a money saving side like Swamp Donkey.
IMO Fat is flavor!

Jeff · May 25, 2011, 06:45:11 PM

I added the photo of the grill after the cleaning cycle and wiping with a damp cloth.

Burlkraft · May 25, 2011, 07:21:30 PM

Quote from: Raider Bill on May 25, 2011, 06:22:46 PM
I never understood par boiling the flavor out of meat. I've even seen people boil ribs before they grill them
But then I never looked at it from a money saving side like Swamp Donkey.
IMO Fat is flavor!

My Granny used to boil the tar outta them squirrels I would bring her.

She could boil 'em forever and not soften the shot :D :D :D It would end up on the bottom of the pot.

Like a little lead with yer squirrel?

D Hagens · May 25, 2011, 09:16:30 PM

Quote from: Jeff on May 25, 2011, 06:45:11 PM
I added the photo of the grill after the cleaning cycle and wiping with a damp cloth.

Wow, that's pretty cool Jeff

So cleaning the bottom with a damp rag is as easy as cleaning the grill?
Thanks for the pics and the info

SD, it cost me about $20.00 a month for propane our 3 BBQ'S, we BBQ in the rain, snow and all through the year 8)
Don't be so cheap :D Start cooking on the grill, better way to eat and the fresh air is good for you

SwampDonkey · May 26, 2011, 03:43:30 AM

Raider_Bill, I try to cut back on fats in cooking where I can. But the parboiling the chicken doesn't take all the fat out, it was just done for the reason Jeff stated. It was always good cooked that way. But, that being said I can understand where your coming from when your talking about flavor and fats in the cooking. ;)

thecfarm · May 26, 2011, 06:03:52 AM

I'm sold on it too. Looks good,the cleaning part too.

Norm · May 26, 2011, 08:26:49 AM

If I'm tight on time I'll microwave the chicken to pre cook it some. Seems like that heats up the bone to help out with the time it takes to cook. Chicken is about the only meat you can microwave and not ruin it.