Infrared Grill vs. Gas Grill

When the grilling season comes, everyone spends a lot of time cleaning the patio, backyard or deck for getting those summer parties ready. This is the time when they start thinking about changing their grills if they are too old. You are quite familiar with gas grills and you might also own it or have in the past.

But the recent models that have hit the market are the infrared grills. Many people don’t know much about these grills and hence, they are ambiguous which grill to choose. Therefore, we have developed this post to help you with the comparison of infrared grills vs. gas grills.

Both these grills use different techniques to cook food. They both have their own positives and negatives.

So read on to find out what do we have for you in this infrared grill vs. gas grill comparison.

Before we go to differentiate both these types of grills, let’s have a look at what similarities do they have. Both of them are used for grilling food including meat and vegetables.

Another similarity between these two grills that they both use gas as their source of heat. However, infrared grills can also run on electricity but there are only a few models available that are electric infrared gas grills.

Infrared and gas grills are completely different from one another. We have listed the points of difference between the two as follows:

The primary difference between gas grills and infrared grills is the way that the grill transfers heat to the food that you are grilling. Now all grills feature one of these three methods of transferring heat from the source to the food.

. 1. Direct heating

. 2. Convection

. 3. Radiation

Direct heating the flame will be directly in contact with the food that you’re cooking. This is where flare-ups occur and uneven cooking is the ultimate result. This can be very frustrating if you end up eating unevenly cooked food.

Convection, on the other hand, is more popular on gas grills. This is where the air surrounding the gas flame gets heated and this heated air is circulated in the grill. But this can result in drying the food out just like your hairdryer dries your hair.

The third method is radiation and it is most commonly found in infrared grills. In this method, an object is heated and it radiated the heat in the form of radiation. This object is either made of ceramic or a metal plate and it is present between the food and the flame. You can say that this mechanism is quite similar to microwaves but the effects are pretty different.

The heating plate in an infrared grill is located very close to the food, much closer than in the case of a gas grill. Apart from that, the radiation due to the heat source produces high temperatures close to the surface of the food on the grill. Therefore, the cooking temperature in infrared grills can exceed 700 degrees.

In a gas grill, the temperature is highest near the burners and then right at the grill’s top. This is the place that is too high above the place where the food is being cooked. Therefore, the maximum temperature that a gas grill reaches is about 600 degrees.

Additionally, infrared grills are designed in a manner to reduce heat loss but that is not the case with any of those conventional gas grills. This means that when you open the door of a conventional gas grill the temperature will drop significantly.

You might see the infrared grills as more dangerous than gas grills as they can cook at a higher temperature. But this heat is under far better control and it is more evenly distributed in infrared grills as compared to gas grills. Due to this heating mechanism, infrared cooking is called flameless cooking sometimes.

With this method, there are far fewer chances of any flares or fire incidents in case of infrared grills as opposed to the gas grills where the flame is in the open air.

Nowadays, grilling time and efficiency are going to matter a lot. This becomes a lot more critical especially if you do a lot of grilling.

In terms of efficiency, infrared grills are far better than their gas counterparts. Since the heat from the source gets trapped by the heating grid or plate, it consumes less gas and produces high temperatures. Furthermore, you don’t need to reheat the grill after you have opened the door or lid. Therefore, your food is going to be cooked faster and it will provide you with an opportunity to cook more food in less time.

Taste is the main reason why we cook food on the grill. When we talk about taste, infrared grills are the best. The food is going to be cooked faster and the outside of the food is going to sear pretty nicely. The grill is not going to damage the tenderness of the food. The natural juices will retain inside the food and your food is going to taste lip-smacking.

Gas grills don’t keep the juices in and the food is going to dry out. These grills are also more prone to fire incidents and flare-ups. Gas grills can also result in your food tasting slightly bitter.

In a gas grill, your food will dry out because of the heating source and the technique that these grills use. These grills have a convection system that will make your food lose moisture pretty quickly.

Contrary to this, infrared grills are good in retaining moisture and your food will not lose its taste and health. Therefore, cooking in infrared grills is a far better option as compared to cooking on gas grills.

Infrared grills are in a totally different league as compared to the conventional gas grills. Conventional grills are not going to be worthwhile if you are looking to cook small portions of food. If you are cooking a large portion then this grill is going to be very useful. This is because once you open the lid of a conventional grill you will have to reheat the grill because it loses a lot of heat.

This can significantly slow down the cooking process as well. On the other hand, infrared grills are very efficient and their interior will not lose heat when you open the lid. Hence you don’t have to preheat the grill and you can also cook small portions of meals on them as well.

Electric infrared grills are even better for you to use. The heating source here is electricity. The ceramic or metal plate in this grill heats up with electricity and then the rest of the process is similar to a regular infrared grill. Electric infrared grills are highly portable and lightweight so you can use them indoors as well. This is not the case with a gas grill. But the thing is infrared electric grills are not readily available but gas grills are.

So the winner of this comparison of infrared grill vs. gas grill is infrared grills and by a far margin too. These grills are able to cook food that is a lot tastier and healthier as compared to gas grills. You can also reach high temperatures with infrared grills. These grills will not dry out the food from inside.

Infrared grills are able to cook faster and they provide you with more time to cook more food. So they can be your trusty friends when you are cooking for a crowd. Infrared grills are quickly becoming a phenomenon across the country. If you are good at handling the temperature and understand what different foods require different temperatures for cooking then you can truly put your infrared grill to good use.

The food cooked in an infrared grill is healthier as compared to the gas grill because the food retains moisture in it. Apart from that, you can quickly prepare a lot of food because of the high cooking temperatures. Additionally, you can also cook a variety of meats, and vegetables on your infrared grill without any trouble.