TEC Infrared

Everything You Need To Know About The New TEC Grills



TEC® GRILLS COOK WITH 100% INFRARED ENERGY AND NO FLARE-UPS

  • Other grill companies use either convection burners that cook with 100% hot air or ceramic infrared burners which cook with about 35% infrared energy and 65% hot air.
  • Hot air dries out food as it cooks it, but infrared energy can penetrate and cook food without drying it out.  (Just think about the clothes dryer in your home.  It uses hot air to dry clothes.) Consequently, the more hot air a grill uses to cook food the drier the food will be.
  • TEC’s new grilling system cooks with 100% infrared energy, totally eliminating the hot air associated with gas grilling, so there’s far less shrinkage and moisture loss in the food. Because food retains more of its own natural juices (up to 35% less moisture loss), chicken breasts, pork, even well done meats, remain tender and juicy. 
  • And by eliminating hot air, our grills also eliminate flare-ups because there’s no oxygen at the grilling surface to ignite food drippings. 

 

TEC® GRILLS GIVE FOOD AN AUTHENTIC OUTDOOR GRILLED FLAVOR

  • The radiant glass panel, located between the burner and the cooking grates, not only radiates 100% infrared energy, it incinerates food drippings, creating a smoky vapor that infuses food with an authentic charbroil flavor much like charcoal but without the ash. 
  • This glass panel is actually a high temperature glass ceramic like the glass on a residential cook top. It allows you to pour marinades on the food while grilling without wasting them because any excess that drips on the glass sizzles into steam and becomes part of the smoky vapor that flavors the food.
  • Wood chips can be placed directly on the cooking grates, eliminating the need for a smoker box. Small food items such as shrimp and vegetables can be, too, because the glass panels on which the cooking grates rest prevent anything from falling through them. This also keeps the burners and interior of the grill clean.

 

TEC® GRILLS HAVE A LARGER RANGE OF COOKING INTENSITY AND HEAT UP FASTER

  • Most people associate infrared grilling with high temperature searing because TEC’s original ceramic infrared burners have limited turndown – about 600° F on low fire. These burners are great for searing meat but not anything else.  That’s why other grill manufacturers that employ our old ceramic infrared technology typically build hybrid grills with ceramic infrared burners on one side of the cooking area and convection burners on the other. They instruct their customers to cook their steaks on the ceramic infrared section (that they typically call the “sear zone”) and their fish, chicken, vegetables, and fruit on the convection side which is 100% hot air (and hot air dries out food).
  • TEC’s new infrared grilling systems offer the highest and lowest grilling temperatures of any infrared grill available today.  On high fire settings, the new TEC’s cook with greater intensity and speed than other infrared grills. Food sears more rapidly but seldom sticks to the grilling surface, creating restaurant like grill marks on meats and vegetables for the ultimate presentation. But on low fire, TEC grills cook dramatically cooler than traditional infrared grills, allowing food to be slow roasted, smoked, or barbequed.
  • On the new TECs, you can sear food at 800° F on high fire, and slow roast on low fire at 450° F. The G-Sport turn down is even lower - you can smoke a turkey on low fire at 200° F but still sear a steak on high fire at 800° F.
  • TEC grills heat up quickly, too.  It takes about 7 minutes to reach maximum searing temperatures if you preheat on high with the hood closed.
  • And since the new TEC grills cook with infrared energy rather than hot air, they operate just as efficiently in extreme cold temperatures because freezing temperatures have no effect on infrared energy.

 

TEC® GRILLS DISTRIBUTE HEAT EVENLY ACROSS THE COOKING grates

  • Ceramic infrared burners create a hot spot in the center of the cooking grates, and convection burners heat the grilling surface so unevenly that you have to search for that “sweet spot” when grilling.  But there are no hot or cold spots on a TEC grill because the 304 stainless steel burners are designed (with specially configured apertures) to distribute heat evenly across the cooking surface.
  • Try filling the entire grill with hamburgers or steaks. Every piece of meat will cook exactly the same in the same amount of time.
  • Other grill companies advertise “x” amount of square inches of grilling surface which is misleading because their heat distribution is uneven, resulting in hot and cold spots on the grilling surface. But when we say we have a specific amount of grilling area, we really do because every square inch of cooking surface on a TEC grill is available for grilling.
  • In fact, we’ve estimated that you can cook more than twice the food on a TEC grill than you can on a convection gas grill of comparable size.

 

TEC® GRILLS EMPLOY HEAVY DUTY 304 STAINLESS STEEL BURNERS

  • Ceramic infrared burners are fragile – susceptible to impact breakage and moisture damage.  They require special burn-off after each grilling – about 5 to 10 minutes on high fire with the hood open – to ensure that any moisture from food drippings is evaporated, and they must be shielded from rain and early morning dew; otherwise, the ceramic may swell and crack.  Special care must also be taken not to drop anything on top of the ceramic burner plates when removing the cooking grates for cleaning as they are fragile and easily broken.
  • TEC’s new infrared burner systems are made of 100% 304 stainless and are ultra tough and built to last.

 

TEC® GRILLS PROVIDE FUEL EFFICIENT GREEN GRILLING

  • TEC® grills are the most energy efficient grills made today. Laboratory tests show that our patented infrared burners use up to 50% or more less fuel than other grills.
  • And because the volume of emissions produced by a burner is directly proportionate to the amount of fuel it consumes, CO2 and oxides of nitrogen emissions are also reduced by up to 50% or more.
  • CO2 (carbon dioxide) has been associated by some scientists with global warming, and oxides of nitrogen have been directly linked to acid rain and smog.

 

TEC® GRILLS ARE FAST AND EASY TO CLEAN

  • TEC® grills use the same self-cleaning concept as residential ovens.  Operating the grill on high fire for five minutes with the hood closed after grilling will incinerate any food drippings and debris that accumulate during grilling.  What remains is a light residue of ash that settles on the cooking grates and glass panels.  Once the grill has cooled, you can remove the grates and scrape the remaining ash on the glass panel to the back of the grill with a spatula where it will fall through an opening to the drip tray below.  You may also want to wipe the glass panel with a dry or damp cloth as well as the cooking grates although this is not necessary.
  • Interior trim at the back and sides of the grill as well as the warming rack and drip tray can be removed and put in the dishwasher or washed by hand.

 

TEC® GRILLS ARE HANDCRAFTED IN AMERICA OF 304 STAINLESS STEEL


  • TEC® grills are constructed of 304 stainless – even the burners and cooking grates – and are built to last a lifetime.  304 stainless is considered the top choice of material in the manufacture of appliances because it is one of the most corrosive resistant grades of stainless available today.  It’s also easier to clean and more stain resistant than the inexpensive, lesser grades of stainless steel.
  • There are many grills advertised as all stainless but that does not mean that they are 304 grade.  You can use a magnet to test for 304 stainless.  The rule of thumb is if the body of an appliance proves to be magnetic, it is not 304 stainless.
  • TEC® grills are beautifully handcrafted, as opposed to mass manufactured, at our plant in Columbia, South Carolina. Unlike other grill companies, TEC does not outsource any of its fabricated parts, so we can truly say that our grills are 100% made in America. Many of our sub-assemblies, including our grill and cabinet bodies, hood and hood bodies, and interior trim, are welded, then hand ground and polished for final assembly.

 

TEC® GRILLS CAN BE USED AS CONVENTIONAL STOVETOPS

  • TEC® grills do not require a side burner because the grill surface itself also functions like a conventional stovetop.  Simply put your cookware directly on the cooking grates or remove the grates and cook on the radiant glass panel. Try preparing your entire meal on a TEC grill. Whether you’re boiling water for pasta, grilling, sautéing vegetables in a pan, or deep fat frying, you’ll find outdoor cooking on a TEC fast and easy, and you can do it all.