Barbecue Grills
Grills are small cooking appliances usually used to cook food outdoors. There are three categories of grills – gas-fuelled, infrared and charcoal. Propane is the gas most commonly used in the gas-fuelled models. It either heats the grill or produces a flame that cooks the food. Most of the gas grills of this nature are called barbecues and can range in size from a small grill that cooks one or two steaks to a larger model with racks for different types of food.
Some gas grills use infrared technology in a burner located at the back of the appliance. This provides an even heat and one can use it as a horizontal rotisserie. The flattop grill is another form of this appliance in which there is no flame at all.
In infrared grills, the gas heats up a specially designed tile that in turn produces infrared radiation. The heat is evenly distributed throughout the cooking surface and the grill can heat up rather quickly. When cooking on this type of grill, the food is cooked from the outside in and you don’t need to close the cover when cooking. The preheat time is significantly less – only 2 or 3 minutes, but these grills are more expensive than the other models.
Charcoal grills use lumps of charcoal as the heat source for cooking. There are several different kinds of these grills:
- Brazier – this grill is the simplest kind. It consists of a round pan in which you place the pieces of charcoal and light them. When they have turned gray, you place a grid over them and then lay the food on the grid.
- Hibachi – this is similar to the brazier, but in using this type of grill, you have to move the cooking grids up and down to adjust the heat.
- Kettle grill – this looks somewhat like a round barbecue in that it has a cover, a place for the charcoal, a grid, a ventilation system and a cooking grid.
- Kamado Ceramic Cooker – this is very much like the kettle grill, but it distributes the heat more evenly.
- Tandoor oven – in this type of grill, there is a wood fire in the lower chamber. The food is cooked by placing it on long skewers and inserting the skewers into the oven through an opening in the top, so that they rest just above the fire.
There are also electric grills that are small kitchen appliances for cooking indoors. These devices consist of two ridged surfaces, one of which is the cover. You place the food on the lower surface and close the cover until the food is cooked.