For grill lovers, a brand new flame

Vicky and Mark Provost dragged their propane grill to the curb this spring at their home north of Boston. After six years, the old workhorse – a Sunbeam with a small extra burner on the side – had rusted into retirement.

To choose its replacement they will check Consumer Reports, Ms. Provost says. They'll weigh the latest options and try to spend no more than $300.

"I'd love to go back to charcoal," she says. "I like the old stuff."

There's always plenty of action at the retro end of the grill market – charcoal-grill and smoker ownership are on the rise – and many professional chefs still put their faith in open flames. But, as in every corner of consumerdom, high-tech colors one definition of the leading edge.

The manufacturer buzz this summer: infrared, an ultra-high radiant heat – sometimes well above 1,000 degrees F. – typically generated by forcing gas flames through many tiny burner holes to heat a ceramic plate.

Time for consumers – steak fans, in particular – to work out a new calculus for outdoor cookery.

For several years, small "searing strips" – often placed upright behind a rotisserie, for browning big cuts of meat – have appeared in some high-end home grills. Firms including Jenn-Air and Modern Home Products now offer grills with at least one lie-flat infrared burner as well. And this year, grillmaker Char-Broil joins with Thermal Engineering Corporation, an infrared pioneer, on a (barely) sub-$1,000 line that uses high-temperature glass to distribute heat – up to 900 degrees F. – from a flat-surface steel burner. (It also has traditional gas burners.) "This is technology that's been in the commercial restaurant industry for many years," says Thom Ward, a spokesman for Georgia-based Char-Broil. "The taste results that you get cooking with infrared heat is incredible."

The flow of hot air, or convection, that occurs inside conventional grills can have a drying effect, he explains. As most cooks know, fast searing – achieved with inverted broilers at steakhouses – seals in juices.

"When you are up in the 900-to-1,000-degree range you get a surface charring that is very akin to a steakhouse-steak kind of experience," says Steven Raichlen, author of "The Barbeque Bible" and "How to Grill."

"[There is a] crusting, charring, and caramelization of the meat proteins in an infrared situation," he says. "Nothing [else] gives you that kind of flavor."

Still, Mr. Raichlen says, the list of things a user can't easily do with infrared – cook more delicate meats and vegetables for example – might be longer than the list of its superlatives.

"On a desert island, if I could have one grill and one fuel it would be lump charcoal," he says. "Actually, my favorite fuel is wood, but that's a little bit complicated for people to use."

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