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| How do you like your steak? | My back yard grill was on its last leg. So the other day while I was in my local home improvement store’s garden center, I wandered over to look at some new ones. I came across an “infrared grill” and couldn’t imagine how it would work. After a little research, I quickly learned why this type of grill is such a popular choice.Infrared use has been around for ages. It’s the main reason why we enjoy a great seared steak at a fancy restaurant or when cooked on a well-prepared charcoal fire. Infrared grills have actually been in the marketplace for a number of years, all priced in the thousands of dollars. But the patent recently lapsed on the original infrared technology used for grilling, leading to a flood of more affordable infrared grills now showing up on the market. The concept of infrared radiant energy is still a mystery to a lot of people, including me. Here’s what I learned: First, it’s not nuclear radiation. While it works a little like a microwave, it doesn’t have to be electric. It works more like the sun and is actually among our most widely experienced sources of energy. You may already be familiar with infrared and not even know it: Two examples of it are the warmth of the sun and the intense cooking capacity of glowing charcoal. Infrared energy is transferred directly from its source to the object being heated. Everyday the Earth is warmed by radiant energy from the sun, and glowing charcoal produces this same molecular activity in food.
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