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Recommendation: Grills ?

post #1 of 9
1/5/04 at 12:18pm
Thread Starter 
Hi folks, I've been searching high and low for a forum like this, and now that I've found one, I believe my misadventures in the kitchen will now be somewhat productive and fun!

Well, I am in search of a grill, but not just any grill. I have read that gas powered grills are carcinogenic so that's out of the question. My stove uses electric and the thought of buying one of those skillet with grill lines has crossed my mind, but will those be suf***ient? I really want something as close to a grill as possible without actually being one. Is that too much to ask? Well, perhaps someone has recommendations, but if such a product does not exist, I guess I'm out of luck.

Thanks in advance
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post #2 of 9
1/5/04 at 12:33pm
If this is for your home? Swiss raclette grills are excellent.

My old boss was from Lausanne, he brought me one about 6 years ago.

These are not designed however for high heat grilling, although you can buy a hot stone to bring up the heat quite high.

Believe it or not (though I don't own one)the George Forman "style" of grill is very good. You can but a commercial version at a quality restaurant supply house.
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post #3 of 9
1/5/04 at 12:49pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Cape chef,

My culinary expertise starts and stops at boiling a pot of water, so yes, this is definitely for home use :D

You mentioned the Foreman grill, which I happen to own, albeit a small personal size one. I am actually looking for an open top style so I can cook other varieties of things; the Foreman is simply too restrictive for this need, I find.

I'll look into the other thing you mentioned, though the term hot stone is over my head. Is that literally a stone heat to high temperature? ..
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post #4 of 9
1/5/04 at 1:50pm
http://www.theezycatalog.com/product...m/KF-77041.jpg

I did a web search.


This is similar to the one I own.
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post #5 of 9
1/5/04 at 2:23pm
As I understand it, gas is no more carcinogenic than any other grilling method.

Which is not to say that it is carcinogenics free. Rather, the cause of the carcinogens is the fats and liquids running on to hot surfaces and burning. The soot and combustion products of the fats are the carcinogens. These same products are produced in grill pans and such. They are not present in any great degree. There are other much more common carcinogens in your foods, such as wheat and wheat products, which are also quite ignorable.

Natural or propane gases are hydrocargbons. They are made up of a chain of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Burtned with oxygen, you get water and CO2 as the combustion products. Usually, you get some CO too (carbon monoxide) and some incomplete combustion of the hydrocarbon. Of course, air has other things in it besides just oxygen so there are some fun bonus chemicals besides, the most common being NOx as Nitrogen is the most common gas in our atmosphere.

I say by a gas grill and grill away. Lump charcoal is good too. Carcinogens are a very low concern with these tools.

Phil
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post #6 of 9
1/5/04 at 5:03pm
I agree with Phil, cooking by gas is the only way to go - for indoors anyway. The only thing is, with indoor grilling you need a really good exhaust hood, otherwise the kitchen will become smoke filled to the point of being uninhabitable.

Jock
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post #7 of 9
1/5/04 at 9:54pm
My Weber charcoal-fired grill has seen heavy use for nearly a decade. I use it outside, of course.

Smoked turkey, grilled quesadillas, steaks, quick-smoked salmon fillet, chops, grilled red peppers, grilled pineapple, shrimp skewers, Korean marinated baby octopus, beer-butt chicken, grilled scallions, smoked eggplant for baigan bartha or baba ganoush ... yep, the Weber is one versatile cat.

I find gas grills (when I use them at other people's homes) have a hard time getting a good sear because the gas doesn't get hot enough. Never had that problem with lump hardwood and my Weber.

Some people seem to think charcoal is slower to fire up. I light a chimney of charcoal and prep my grillables, and usually the charcoal is ready first (15 minutes in the chimney, no lighter fluid, just newspaper).

Of course, if you're living in an apartment and can't grill on a porch or something ... never mind.
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post #8 of 9
1/6/04 at 8:28am
I can only recommend grills for outside use, and that said, I'll happily live for the carcinogens for the enjoyment of my food.

Gas Grill: Weber Summit series. Yes, they're expensive, yes they're worth it, and yes, they'll get more than hot enough to sear your steak into a lump of charcoal.

Charcoal Grill: Weber one touch series. Yes, again expensive for a charcoal grill, but again totally worth while.

I have literally thousands of hours on these grills combined and they have never failed me.

I also use my Weber bullet smoker as a grill and it works just fine, if a bit small. But it also will let you smoke meats for days at a time without hassle.
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post #9 of 9
1/16/04 at 8:06am
If you have health concerns, I would recommend avoiding a teflon coated electrical grill. Teflon will produce toxic smoke at high heats and high heats are the only way to do meat right.

I'm certainly not a doctor, but from a health perspective, lean meat carefully gas or lump charcoal grilled to avoid flare ups is healthier than teflon electrically grilled meat (and a lot tastier too).

As far as taste is concerned... there is nothing better than lump charcoal grilling. There is some debate on this, but I believe gas grilling gives an off taste to food. Do yourself a huge favor and never use anything but natural lump charcoal and a chimney (NEVER use lighter fluid)

If you can live with the off flavor from gas (usually only detectable with plain chicken breast), don't be too thrifty when buying a grill or you won't get enough BTU's to give you a good sear. Because on of the by products of burning gas is water, you need a lot more heat in order to prevent the food from getting steamed.
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