Basic guide to different types of barbecues and grills

March 16, 2012 - PRLog -- The market of barbecues is rich in types of grills that are designed for fundamentally different uses: some are ideal for barbecues on the garden a couple of times a year, others are more sophisticated and designed for lovers of grilled meat who will make extensive use of them, while others are specially built for restaurants where capacity and cooking speed are essential requirements.

Generally the grills are produced under a pretty stable pattern: the burner, which works as the main source of heat, is located under ceramic or stainless steel gratings which irradiate heat to the food positioned in the grids made of steel or other materials. The basis behind the construction of all of them, except for the infrared barbecue, is that the hot air cooks the food. For the infrared grills, on the contrary, the heat is directly applied to the food.

In general, barbecues in stainless steel are the ones that offer more guarantees as the surface of the grid is highly resistant to heat, high temperatures and corrosion. The ones created in steel and coated with porcelain are also popular among lovers of grilled food, while those coated with chromium are less expensive but tend to last less. Those build in high iron are fairly resistant and last for a long time, but are harder to clean.

The first and most popular type of barbecue is the one that uses charcoal. This has been historically the most used for obvious reasons like lack of access to electric or gas power supplies, and are the ones preferred by those who like to barbecue meat on their garden or while travelling. This is, in part, because many come in small, portable sizes that makes carrying them around an easy task. The simplest type is the grate, but there are more sophisticated models like the kettle barbecue, the most popular one in the United States.

Gas barbecues usually use a deposit located under the stainless steel cooking plate on top of which a burner creates a flame. These can work with propane or natural gas and are extensively used in restaurants in their biggest versions. Electric grills, like gas ones, need a power source and liquid collectors to prevent the juices of food from affecting the mechanism, but have the advantage of being cleaner and not generating as much smoke as coal barbecues do. In fact, food juices falling on the charcoal embers can create flames that may burn or blacken the meat and vegetables being cooked.

Another type of barbecue is the infrared one. The most significant difference among this and the other types of grills is that while for the most common ones the food is placed on a stainless steel or steel grid, here the heat is directed to a plate of porcelain where food is positioned. This means that it is not hot air cooking the meat but the plate that becomes hot and cooks the food as any frying pan would do. This means, of course, shorter cooking time and less drying of meat, a problem that is common among barbecue amateurs.

The choice of one or the other type of barbecue depends therefore on the use it is bought for, the desired size and available power supplies.

# # #

Written by Alba L with support from http://www.toffoli.it/griglie/prodotti/cestelli-ed-insert.... Visit http://www.toffoli.it/it/grigliati-tecnici-metallici.html for further details.
Prima Posizione Srl