3 Reasons an Infrared Grill Is a Smart Investment for Your Restaurant

Most career restaurateurs agree that infrared grills represent the way of the future. In addition to being easier to maintain than traditional grills, infrared models are very easy to use and highly cost-effective. Although a high-end infrared grill may leave you with a mild case of sticker shock, it won’t be long before your investment pays off. Restaurant owners who are debating whether or not to add an infrared grill to their kitchen are urged to consider the following perks. 

1. Hassle-Free Maintenance

No restaurant worker relishes having to clean grills. It’s irksome, it’s time-consuming and it has to be done multiple times throughout the workday. Furthermore, scrubbing and brushing grills that accumulate substantial amounts of food particles and caked-on gristle can prove physically strenuous. Conversely, cleaning an infrared grill couldn’t be easier. Since most infrared models are self-cleaning, workers can use this time to focus on more pressing matters, thus increasing productivity in the kitchen.  

2. Reduced Preparation Times

Since infrared grills are able to cook meat much faster than their grate-based counterparts, your kitchen staff will be able to get orders out more quickly. Even low-end infrared burners are capable of reaching temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees in under a minute’s time. As an added bonus, most of these grills can be preheated in less than three minutes, much to the delight of perpetually busy food preppers. 

3. Better Tasting Entrees

Meat that’s cooked on infrared grills tends to be more flavorful than meat prepared on traditional grills. This is largely due to the fact that infrared burners provide even distribution of heat, whereas older grills have an unfortunate tendency to overcook certain areas and undercook others.  

There are many good reasons for restaurateurs to put their money behind infrared grills. If you find hassle-free maintenance, short prep times, and evenly-cooked meat appealing, a dependable infrared grill is a worthwhile investment.   

Tips for Getting Your Grill Grates Sparkly Clean

The grates are the dirtiest components of most grills. Since they attract more than their fair share of gristle and food particles, grill grates need to be cleaned on a fairly consistent basis. However, getting your grates to sparkle like new can prove rather tricky, particularly if your grill receives a fair amount of use. Restaurateurs and backyard grill masters in search of effective grate cleaning tips can benefit from the following pointers.

Heat Is Your Friend

When setting out to clean your grill grates, heat can be your best friend. If you’re overwhelmed by the amount of caked-on filth your grates have accumulated, place them in a self-cleaning oven and subject them to the cleaning process. Doing this on a regular basis has been known to lead to discoloration, but if you don’t care what color your grates are, you have absolutely nothing to lose. 

Baking Soda Is Very Handy

Baking soda is an immensely popular cleaning tool whose effectiveness extends to dirty grill grates. Before attempting to utilize this tip, confirm that your grates haven’t been used for at least one hour. Next, fill a bucket with hot water; add a quarter-cup of dish soap, then pour in a quarter-cup of baking soda. After stirring this mixture until it forms a lather allow your grates to soak in the bucket for an hour. This should make short work of any food particles and gristle that are clinging to the grates. 

Regularly Brush Your Grates

One of the most effective ways to prevent excessive gristle buildup is to brush your grates on a regular basis. At-home grill masters are urged to brush their grates after every barbecue, while restaurateurs whose grills are constantly in use will need to brush their grates several times a day. 

Purging grill grates of filth is no small undertaking. In light of their propensity for attracting and retaining food particles, most grates are essentially dirt magnets. However, while it can certainly be tricky, effective grate cleaning is far from impossible.