For grill lovers, a brand new flame

Dave Cox, executive chef at Boston's Capital Grille, uses propane when he cooks at home, but he backs the careful use of infrared by backyard amateurs. "Infrared's more consistent," he says, "It's [not only] high heat, but even cooking as well." And fast.

"People get scared when they see '1,000 degrees,'" he says. "But then you see [charcoal grills] with flames shooting up, and the meat is in the fire, charring. That's not a good thing."

Still, the technology might not be poised to scorch the market, based on interviews with a dozen or so grill shoppers in two big-box home-supply stores and the impassioned exchanges on discussion boards at grilling websites.

Most grillers are keep-it-simple cooks like the Provosts. The industry serves them with everything from basic kettle grills like the 1950s-looking Weber to the cult-favorite Big Green Egg, which burns lump hardwood coals and doubles as a smoker. Nearly 30 percent of US grillers own more than one grill, according to a new report from Greenfield Online (commissioned by Weber).

"For average civilians who've got a few bucks to spend," says Raichlen, "a good gas grill for weeknight grilling and a simple charcoal grill – like a kettle grill – for smoking, [is] a good combination."

Part of infrared's appeal: its relative novelty. Stainless steel has long since made it to outdoor-kitchen islands. "Dual fuel" is almost old school, though today it's as likely to mean propane/natural gas as propane/charcoal.

Infrared proponents proclaim real advantages: Rapid grill readiness, heat control, thorough self-cleaning. Wood chips can be placed on the grates for flavor, says Char-Broil. Marinades vaporize on the plate and infuse the food, rather than running into the flame.

But grilling communities online, responding to a Monitor request for input, were somewhat dismissive. "Might as well use a microwave," sniffed a poster at Sharky's Grilling Forums, where another admitted that he was fascinated by the technology, but maintained that the 700 degrees he can attain inside his Big Green Egg is sufficient.

Predictably, slow cookers dominated the Texas BBQ Rub Forum. One poster there said he used the time it took his grill to heat up to prepare his food. But Glenn Jarrett, a self-proclaimed "BBQ artist" from Tomball, Texas, wrote that one of his several grills is an infrared: a Texas Pit Crafters PM1000 that can hit 1,100 degrees. Since mastering it, he has used it to cook just about everything, including pizza, though it's mainly for making steak – and an impression.

"When we entertain I love to use [it]," he writes in a follow up e-mail. "It really impresses people, because not too many have ever seen such a grill."

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