Poor Steve! Please learn from his tale of woe:
“I finally got a chance to see [the Solaire] on the Food Network tonight… Oh yeah, and thanks for making me sit here and fume because I cheaped out and purchased my cheese ball **** grill instead of popping for the Solaire. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. So, can I retrofit my grill with the infrared burners??”
— Steve, Southern California
Solaire Response:
There is no good way to retrofit your grill with infrared, as there are too many critical relationships in the design of our grill to optimize the grilling performance of the Solaire Infrared burner that would not exist in your grill. However, you can enjoy the best of both worlds by using one of our Solaire Anywhere Portable Infrared Grills alongside your grill. You sear first on the Solaire Anywhere, then transfer the food to the lower heat of your grill. This is the same technique I use on my 42″ Solaire with great results.
More from Steve:
One of my best friends and I were at his house a week or two ago and he also had the big stainless steel 4 burner grill that he purchased the same time as mine from Expo or some place like that. We were both having the same problem………….no sizzle!
I’ve monkeyed with my grill by even taking the regulator out to get more gas flow and raised the temp up to about 550 but it still isn’t the same. I’m sure that’s why you’re starting to see those cheaper brands putting in one infrared burner on their home models (and it isn’t nearly the size or btu capacity of yours). They probably have a bunch of people who want more heat.
Solaire Response:
The problems with most everyone else who is putting an infrared burner in their grill are many-fold:
- They use round rod cooking grids, instead of a V-shape like we use. The V-shape controls flare-ups and contributes to the taste by capturing some of the drippings closer to the food. The round rods promote a flood of juices onto the burner, which quenches the infrared effect and results in flare-ups.
- Because they are placing an infrared burner in a grill designed for conventional burners, the infrared burner is usually either too close or too far from the food. Too close results in a charred outside and a raw inside. Too far negates much of the infrared searing advantage.
- The burners are too small to have much effect.
- There is only one infrared burner. The rest of the burners are severely under powered. You know how that goes.
“Serious Heat for Serious Grilling” – that’s what Solaire is about, and we’ve been doing it longer than just about everyone else.
Don’t Be Like Steve! Buy a Solaire!
Update 6/15 – Steve just bought a Solaire Anywhere Portable Infrared Grill to use for searing next to his low-powered conventional grill. We await his feedback.
Update 6/26 – From Steve: “Well, my Father’s Day present to myself (my close friend purchased one too. He also made the same blunder as me by buying the ‘pretty’…………but lukewarm, stainless grill from our local home supply store) was the portable Solaire Anywhere Grill. My Father’s Day BBQ was a big hit with the family who were all surprised that I finally learned how to cook a steak. Perfectly charred on the outside and exquisite on the inside described the steaks I sat on the table. My self esteem is restored!”
Update 7/2 – Steve reports that his friend is working on his wife to let him purchase a large Solaire Infrared, as he is amazed with the food he grills with his Solaire Anywhere Portable Infrared Grill.
