A barbecue grill is a device for cooking food by applying heat directly from below. There are several varieties of such grills, with most falling into one of two categories: gas-fueled and charcoal. There is a great debate over the merits of charcoal or gas for use as the cooking method between barbecue grillers.
Barbecuing is a pervasive tradition in much of the world. Almost all competition grillers use charcoal, most often in large, custom designed brick or steel grills. They can range from a few 55 gallon oil drums sawed lengthwise on their sides to make a lid and grill base, to large, vehicle sized grills made of brick, weighing nearly a ton.
History in the USA
Grilling existed in the Americas since pre-colonial times. The Arawak people used a wooden structure to roast meat on, which was called barbacoa in Spanish. For some time, the word refered to the wooden structure and not the act of grilling, but this word was eventually applied to the pit style cooking techniques used in the Southeastern United States. Originally used to slow cook hogs, different ways of preparing the food lead to regional variations. In time, other food were cooked in a similar fashion, with hamburgers and hot dogs being recent additions.
E.G. Kingsford is the inventor of the modern charcoal briquette. Kingsford was a relative of Henry Ford who saw that Ford's Model T production lines were producing a large amount of wood scraps that were just being discarded. Kingsford suggested to Ford that a charcoal manufacturing facility be established next to the assembly line and sell the charcoal, with the Ford name, in Ford dealerships. After Kingsford's death, the company was renamed Kingsford Charcoal Co. in his honor.
George Stephen created the hemispherical grill design, jokingly called "Sputnik" by Stephen's neighbors. Stephen, a welder, worked for Weber Brothers Metal Works, a metal fabrication shop primarily concerned with welding steel spheres together to make buoys. Stephen was tired of wind blowing ash onto his food when he grilled so he took the lower half of a buoy, welded three steel legs onto it, and fabricated a shallower hemisphere for use as a lid. He took the results home and following some initial success started the Weber-Stephen Products Co.
The outdoor gas grill was invented in the 1960s in Little Rock, Arkansas by William G. Wepfer and Melton Lancaster while working for ARKLA, the Arkansas and Louisiana power company. Wepfer, a graduate of the U.S.Naval Academy, was Director of Marketing, charged with finding new ways to sell natural gas to ARKLA residential customers, and therefore bought a basic charcoal grill and re-designed it in the Wepfer's garage so that natural gas provided the fuel for the grill.
Gas Grills
Gas-fueled grills typically use propane (LP) or natural gas (NG) as their fuel source, with gas-flame either cooking food directly or heating grilling elements which in turn radiate the heat necessary to cook food. Gas grills are available in sizes ranging from small, single steak grills up to large, industrial sized restaurant grills which are able to cook enough meat to feed a hundred or more people. Gas grills are designed for either LP or NG, although it's possible to convert a grill from one gas source to another.
The majority of gas grills follow the cart grill design concept: the grill unit itself is attached to a wheeled frame that holds the fuel tank. The wheeled frame may also support side tables and other features.
A recent trend in gas grills is for the manufacturers to add an infrared radiant burner to the back of the grill enclosure. This radiant burner provides an even heat across the burner and is intended for use with a horizontal rotisserie. A meat item (whole chicken, beef roast, pork loin roast) is placed on a metal skewer that is rotated by an electric motor. Smaller cuts of meat can be grilled in this manner using a round metal basket that slips over the metal skewer.
Another type of gas grill gaining popularity is called a flattop grill. According to Hearth and Home magazine, flattop grills "on which food cooks on a griddlelike surface and is not exposed to an open flame at all" is an emerging trend in the outdoor grilling market.
A small metal "smoker box" containing wood chips may be used on a gas grill to give a smoky flavor to the grilled foods. Although, barbecue purists would argue that to get a true smoky flavor (and smoke ring) you have to cook low and slow, indirectly and using wood or charcoal. According to The Gas Grill Review and Ratings Guide gas grills are difficult to maintain at the low temperatures required (~225-250F), especially for extended periods.
Infrared Grills
Infrared grills work by igniting propane or natural gas to superheat a ceramic tile, causing it to emit an infrared radiation of a thermal radiation technique that cooks food. Basically, the thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charged particles within atoms is converted to electromagnetic radiation in the infrared heat frequency range. The benefits are that heat is uniformly distributed across the cooking surface and that temperatures reach over 500 °C (900 °F), allowing users to sear items quickly.
Infrared cooking differs from other forms of grilling, which use hot air to cook the food. Instead of heating the air, infrared radiation heats the food directly. The benefits of this are a reduction in pre-heat time and less drying of the food. Grilling enthusiasts claim food cooked on an infrared grill tastes similar to food from char-grills. This is because charcoal, when burned, emits infrared radiation, the same as an infrared grill, but the difference is that char-grills cook with only about 25% infrared heat and the remaining 75% from convection (hot air). Proponents say that food cooked on infrared grills seems juicier. Also, infrared grills have the advantages of instant ignition, better heat control, and a uniform heat source.
This technology was previously patented, but the patents expired in 2000 and more companies have started offering infrared grills at lower prices.
Charcoal
Charcoal grills use either charcoal briquets or all-natural lump charcoal as their fuel source. The charcoal, when burned, will transform into embers radiating the heat necessary to cook food.
There is contention among grilling enthusiasts on what type of charcoal is best for grilling. Users of charcoal briquets emphasize the uniformity in size, burn rate, heat creation, and quality exemplified by briquets. Users of all-natural lump charcoal emphasize the reasons they prefer it: subtle smoky aromas, high heat production, and lack of binders and fillers often present in briquets.
There are many different charcoal grill configurations. Some grills are square, round, or rectangular, some have lids while others do not, and some may or may not have a venting system for heat control. The majority of charcoal grills, however, fall into the following categories:
Brazilian rodízio
The Brazilian Rodizio Machine Gas Grill, is a heavy duty spitroast machine for making the popular Brazilian "rodízio". It works with top radiant gas burners which roasts the meat in rotating spits.
Brazier
The simplest and most inexpensive of charcoal grills, the brazier grill is made of wire and sheet metal and composed of a cooking grid placed over a charcoal pan. Usually the grill is supported by legs attached to the charcoal pan. The brazier grill does not have a lid or venting system. Heat is adjusted by moving the cooking grid up or down over the charcoal pan. Even after George Stephen invented the kettle grill in the early 1950s, the brazier grill remained a dominant charcoal grill type for a number of years. Brazier grills are available at most discount department stores during the summer.
Pellet Grill
Pellet grills are fueled by compressed hardwood pellets (sawdust compressed with vegetable oil at approx. 10k psi) that are loaded into a hopper and fed into a fire box at the bottom of the grill via an electric powered auger that is controlled by a thermostat. The pellets are lit by an electric igniter rod that starts the pellets burning and they turn into coals in the firebox once they burn down. Most pellet grills are a barrel shape with a square hopper box at the end or side.
The advantage of a pellet grill is that it can be set on a "smoke" mode where it burns at 100 to 150 degrees for slow smoking. It can be set at 180 to 300 to slow cook or BBQ meats (like brisket, ribs and hams) or cranked up to a max of 450 to 500 degrees for what would be considered low temp. grilling. It is one of the few "grills" that is actually a great smoker, a fantastic BBQ and a decent grill. Critics argue that a good "grill" should be able to exceed 500 degrees to sear the meat.
Most pellet grills burn 1/2 to 1 pound of pellets per hour at 180 to 250 degrees, depending on the "hardness" of the wood, ambient temp. and (of course) how often the lid is opened. Most
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