How to Choose the Right Grill for Your Cooking Style

Roasting meat on a grill, outdoors, in particular, is not just cookery! A weekend barbecue in the family and friend circle turns into an exciting event.

The family and guests get together in advance to prepare meat and vegetables, enjoy the process of fire setting, slowly pour out the drinks, and enjoy delicious food during pleasant communication and relax.

Grilled food is not only tasty and nice, but it is also much healthier than pan-fried in oil. It is well known that when fish, meat or poultry is cooked on a grill, a part of their fat melts out.

But not every type of grill is appropriate for usage in the apartment. According to GrillFAQ, a wide selection of models which are sold today is designated for people with various cooking skills. There are models for beginners as well as appliances for professional cooks and chefs. Let’s review the main features of the grills, learn their capabilities and peculiarities. So, what types of grills do modern producers offer?

Types of Grills: What to Choose?

Gas grills

Gas grills use gas as a fuel as their name suggests. This type of grill reminds a gas stove.

The base of gas grills is a panel made of high-strength and heat-resistant metal alloys with a different number of burners and a cast iron or steel grate. Besides, gas grills are often equipped with spit skewers.

One of the integral parts of a gas grill is a metal flip lid with a handle. Many grills have small cooking shelves at the sides and a cabinet for a bottle with tools under the frying panel.

Besides essential elements, grills may have supplementary parts, and their task is simplifying the appliance maintenance and care.

These elements include electronic or piezo ignition systems, additional grates for heating, a reducer for disposable gas cartridges, a removable grease tray, a temperature sensor under the lid, and others. Usually, gas grills, as well as ovens, are large-sized stationary structures.

But you may also find compact portable models or middle-sizes portable grills equipped with wheels for convenient transportation. The volume of gas grills is calculated based on a number of burners: from 1 burner in miniature portable grills and up to 6 ones in large models meant for public catering.

Despite the common belief that a classical grill should be charcoal (based on association with an ordinary barbecue), it should be noted that actually many restaurants and steakhouses use gas grills, and it is not by chance.

It is necessary to underline their advantages like instant ignition and possibility to accurately adjust the temperature. Rational fuel consumption and cooking waste absence are also important features. Though, these indicators are actually for large-sized models working on a stream in cafes and restaurants.

Charcoal Grills

A charcoal grill is a classical one. It is the most popular, easy-to-use and familiar to most of us types of grill. Its fuel is coal which is placed in the grill bowl where it smolders for a long time providing the temperature necessary for roasting. It may seem this type of grill does not differ from a usual barbecue. But there is still some difference.

A charcoal grill is equipped with a lid. It allows the food to be cooked in the same way as in the oven, and the heat is regularly distributed. On a barbecue, meat or fish is cooked from the bottom only, and they need to be turned over from time to time.

Wood Grills

Such grills work on wood or wood shavings. Normally, they are constructions without a lid.

An ordinary barbecue is an example of wood grills. Since wood gives a lot of smoke during combustion, these devices cannot be used indoors. A wood grill is very similar to a charcoal grill by the operating principle. The main difference is the fuel.

These grills are the cheapest to use. Gas and high-quality coal are more expensive than wood. Moreover, you can pick up wood by yourself during a picnic in the forest, and it is completely free. Nevertheless, wood grills have a number of drawbacks. In particular, it will take time to prepare dinner. You need hot coals for cooking and not fire.

That’s why you will have to wait until the wool totally burns. The fuel consumption is rather high, especially for the models where you cannot control the speed of wood burning.

Electric Grills

They are widely represented in the modern market as they are an indisputable and totally affordable variant for all barbecue lovers, not only for beginners, but also for gourmets.

There are non-contact and contact electric grills. Non-contact ones are appliances with a very simple construction consisting of an open heating coil and a grease and juice collecting tray.

They are not very convenient for indoor use as the melting grease from the meat can drop directly on the coil creating a lot of smoke in the kitchen. Contact grills allow cooking right on the working surface.

It is the most popular type of grills. These models are functional, simple and convenient to use, and do not require additional devices or efforts for cooking. According to the operational mode, there are two types of contact grills.

Single grills have the heating from one side only. This feature increases food cooking time as it needs to be turned over.

Double grills allow roasting food from both sides at the same time which greatly reduces cooking time. Such models usually provide the possibility to adjust the distance between the plates for the products of different thickness.

Combined grills integrate the functionality of single and double grills, and they are in the greatest demand because of it.

According to the type of construction, electric grills are divided into:

• Open (without a lid);

• Closed (with a lid);

• Universal (with a possibility to choose a cooking method).

An electric grill is a multifunctional appliance. You can use it to cook meat, fish, poultry, as well as toasts, croutons, and sometimes even pancakes, pizza, bread, casseroles, vegetable dishes, eggs, and much more. That is why the electric grill is useful not only for barbecue fans.

Conclusion

As a rule, the producers give a 2-5-year warranty for the standard grill models and up to 25 years for the premium models. In some cases, a warranty is given for certain parts. Be sure to check warranty terms before taking a decision to purchase a grill.

Read more:

• 10 Best Smoker Grills for the Money in 2019 (Review & Guide)
• Best Portable & Natural Gas Grill in 2019 (Review & Guide)
• 10 Best Charcoal Grill in 2019 (Review & Guide)
• 10 Best Electric Grills in 2019 (Review & Guide)