The Science Behind The Magic
Inevitably, people who first experience a TEC grill use the same or similar words to describe the difference - moist, juicy, tender. Of course, they are talking about the taste of the food, and there is a scientific reason why TEC grills preserve the maximum amount of moisture and natural flavor of food and other grills cannot.
Everything in nature is surrounded by a moisture boundary - a stagnate layer of air and water molecules. Infrared or radiant energy can penetrate this boundary without disturbing it, directly transferring its energy to the food with minimum moisture loss. Because food retains more of its own natural juices, it remains tender and juicy. Grills that use hot air to cook dry out food because hot air cannot penetrate food without disturbing the moisture boundary, and once this boundary layer is disturbed, the food is exposed to the drying effects of the hot air as it cooks.
Just think about it - hot air has been used for centuries as a drying agent in any number of processes. The clothes dryer in your home is just one example. It is not surprising then that food dries out quickly on a traditional convection style gas grill because these grills cook with 100% hot air.
But what about charcoal? Believe it or not, glowing charcoal generates up to 25% infrared or radiant energy. That is why food cooked on a charcoal grill retains more moisture than food cooked on a convection style gas grill. Unfortunately though, the remaining 75% or more of the heat generated by charcoal is hot air, so there is still a significant amount of moisture loss in the food.
Let's talk about ceramic infrared grills. TEC invented the first infrared grill in the early 1980's. It employed a ceramic infrared burner like the ones that other grill companies use today in their radiant grills. This original TEC technology was a great improvement over convection style gas grills because it reduced the hot air used to cook the food. Ceramic burners produce up to 35% infrared energy. The remaining 65% or more of the energy emitted is hot air.
TEC's new patented infrared grilling system combines a 304 stainless steel burner and a high temperature radiant glass panel and cooks with 100% infrared energy. We've totally eliminated the hot air associated with other types of grilling which means food retains its maximum amount of moisture. Even pork and chicken breasts remain tender and juicy, and those of you who like your steak well done do not have to sacrifice the moisture and natural flavor of the meat if you cook on a TEC grill.
Conventional gas grills use simple, metal burners to produce flames that are too large and too few, causing uneven heating that produces hot and cold spots across the grilling surface. And because they cook with 100% hot air, they dry food out quickly and flare-ups are often a problem.
TEC's first infrared grills used ceramic burners that cooked with about 35% infrared energy and 65% hot air. By reducing the hot air associated with gas grilling, these grills cook food with less drying than conventional grills. Still, the flames were open to the food, so flareups were prevalent, and the burner's limited temperature turn-down made it impossible to slow cook.
TEC’s new infrared grilling system is by far the most sophisticated ever invented. The radiant glass panels, positioned directly over the burners, not only radiate 100% infrared energy, they block any rising hot air, preventing it from contacting the food and drying it out so food retains more of its own natural juices (up to 35% more moisture retention). Placement of the grates, glass, and burner provides total heat uniformity and virtually eliminates flare-ups.
To learn more about the benefits of TEC's new grilling system, click here for The TEC Advantage
