# Infrared heat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668 "2010-09-14T00:17:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meme\_Chose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Meme\_Chose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meme_Chose)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/1 "2010-09-14T00:17:18Z")
We were shopping for gas grills yesterday, and the salesperson came by and tried to interest us in an “infrared” model. My pseudo-science detectors started clanging (didn’t help that this model was part of the Quantum series…) and i said, “All the heat is infrared.” No, says he, the infrared cooks by direct heat, and the plain old grill cooks by convection. For practical purposes, such as heating the house, cooking some food, or gazing dreamily at glowing embers, aren’t all heat sources infrared? As a side issue, the infrared unit was a small pad that looked like a kitchen scrubber with a wire mesh covering it and a probe inserted in it. How would the same fuel source (gas) produce this WonderHeat that’s soo different from and more innovative than what’s happening 3 inches over on the other side of the grill? Apparently, it’s not possible to sear a steak without this, and i must sear steak!! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/2 "2010-09-14T00:33:27Z")
Sounds like a catalytic heater. Don’t get the part about convection though. I cook over charcoal, so its definitely infra-red doing the work. A lot more infra-red than ordinary gas grills deliver. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/3 "2010-09-14T00:44:35Z")
There are, roughly speaking, three ways to transfer heat: By conduction, convection, or radiation. Conduction means that the hot thing is directly in contact with the thing being heated: This is what’s going on when you cook up a steak on the griddle on top of your stove. Convection is when you’ve got a hot fluid (air, or water, or whatever), and the hotter parts of the fluid are actually moving to to a colder place (this motion might actually be driven by the heat, or it might be forced in some other way). Radiation is where the hot thing produces light (typically infrared, in cooking situations, but it can be anything), which is then absorbed by the thing being heated. When you’re cooking over a barbecue, all three will occur, but radiation is probably the dominant one, followed by convection. I don’t know why it’d be particularly desirable to have one kind over another. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/4 "2010-09-14T00:51:23Z")
Gas fired, infrared broilers have been available to commercial kitchens at a high price because it was a patented technology. The patent recently ran out and now they are showing up in consumer devices. They do sear things really well and it is not a scam. Whether you should buy one is up to you. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/5 "2010-09-14T00:56:37Z")
My gas range has this. Here is what the user manual sez on page 24: > [@](#): > > All Wolf gas range ovens have an infrared broiler, except for the small oven on the 48" (1219) gas range models. The 18,000 Btu/hr (5.3 kW) broiler is located inside the oven. The broil burner heats a metal screen at the top of the oven cavity. When the screen reaches a reddish glow, it creates enough infrared heat to broil food by searing the exterior and sealing in the juices. [Here’s the link in case you want the entire PDF](http://www.wolfappliance.com/resources/products/downloads/gasrangeucguide.pdf). I’m not exactly clear on why it’s better to heat a piece of metal that in turn gets hot enough to heat nearby food, instead of bringing the flame close enough to the food to heat it directly. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/6 "2010-09-14T01:22:25Z")
You know when you have an electric space heater, and one side of you facing the radiator is hot and the other side is still freezing? Compared with a fan/convection heater where you get warm air blowing at you? That’s the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/7 "2010-09-14T02:40:58Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_grill#Infrared_Grills) has a good, short description of the differences and advantages of infrared grills. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/8 "2010-09-14T12:36:12Z")
This Spring I purchased a Char Broil RED grill to replace my old Weber Genesis that needed parts. I find that the RED gets hotter than the Weber ever did. Because there is no flame exposed near the food, there have been no grease flare ups. It is also convenient to use wood chips. Just drop them on the infrared emitter and they start to smoke. No water soaking required. Note that the RED is not the Quantum and uses slightly different technology. Other than the fact that some of the surfaces are painted rather than stainless, I’m happy with the purchase. Lamb chops, chicken, and pork steaks are great. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/9 "2010-09-14T15:03:25Z")
[Similar thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=470183). A grill uses a combination of convection, radiation. The infrared thing refers to a broiler which is all radiation. It does cook a little differently; I use it on my grill with a rotisserie to cook whole chickens. Does a nice job. BTW > [@As quoted by Patty O'Furniture](#): > > …When the screen reaches a reddish glow, it creates enough infrared heat to broil food by searing the exterior and sealing in the juices. [It is a myth that searing meat seals in the juices](http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GWYF_enUS321US241&q=seraing+meat+seals+juices+myth#hl=en&expIds=17259,24815,25901,25930,26446,26511,26543,26561&sugexp=ldymls&tok=mxFc0duQv9lphYjFwfpVzA&xhr=t&q=searing+meat+seals+juices+myth&cp=4&pf=p&sclient=psy&rlz=1T4GWYF_enUS321US241&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=searing+meat+seals+juices+myth&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=f15f489f05fd40f5). ---
**Author:** ![Meme\_Chose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Meme\_Chose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meme_Chose)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/10 "2010-09-14T17:07:45Z")
Thanks for all the input. At first, it seemed that this was just a marketing thing, but it may be worth considering. How hard is it to clean that unit? Thanks also for the link to the other thread. Now i have to go look up more about cooler objects radiating microwaves and radio waves. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/11 "2010-09-14T18:41:21Z")
The Quantum has metal grids with holes. I think it would be hard to clean. Maybe it all burns off? The RED has a concave emitter that’s heated by the gas flame. No holes and it’s perfectly smooth. Just brush it out and maybe wipe with a wet rag when it’s cool. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infrared-heat/553668/12 "2010-09-14T19:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > it creates enough infrared heat to broil food by searing the exterior and sealing in the juices. I love it when my toast has all the bread juices sealed inside.