Gas Grills Classification
Gas grills are classified according to:
Gas Type
- natural gas grills. They use natural gas which is mostly methane and also contains large quantities of other compounds: butane, ethane and propane. When you are to buy a gas grill, you should be aware whether you have a gas pipe in a permanent location and whether natural gas is available in your area. The pipe on a natural-gas grill is about twice as big as the one on a propane grill due to the differences of heat emission between the two gas types.
- propane grills. Liquid propane (LP) gas has the advantage of being delivered in a portable tank, and it is readily available. LP changes from a liquid to a gas at -46° F (-43° C) and has the property that when it is compressed, it condenses into a liquid and until it is uncompressed. This means that propane is much easier to store in a tank than natural gas. Another advantage is that it contains much more energy than natural gas; a grill's cooking capability is rated in BTU. A higher BTU rating indicates a larger grill with a greater cooking surface.
Mobility
- built in grills. They are steady units for backyard cooking
- portable gas grills or freestanding grills cart.
The Material Used for Manufacturing
- cast iron grill
- stainless steel gas grill
- ceramic grill.
Common Gas Grill Parts
- Gas source, connected to the valve regulators through the main hose
- Hoses
- Valve regulators, controlled by knobs that allow you to determine how much gas passes through the valve to the burner
- Burners. In order to get an evenly heated cooking surface, most gas grills have at least two separate burners, each with its regulator. Each burner has a series of tiny holes along its length to let the gas exit through.
- Starter or igniter
- Cooking surface, a large surface area to burn.
- Grill body
- Grill hood or grill cover. Its role is to cover the cooking surface and to "trap" the heated air inside. Thus, the temperature inside the grill increases.
There is no doubt that even the simplest gas grill is by far more complex than a charcoal grill or pellet grill. So, to make a gas grill work you need a spark, oxygen and gas. The spark is usually supplied by the igniter. This is a push-button or a knob that creates a spark of electricity to ignite the gas, making a popping noise. The noise you hear is a little spring-loaded hammer hitting a crystal and generating thousands of volts across the faces of a crystal. The resulting voltage is high enough to generate a spark, which, in turn, to light the gas in the grill. After that, the burner mixes the gas with oxygen and spreads it out over the cooking area. Each burner has a pair of electrodes connected to the starter/igniter.
Optionally, grill smokers are available in case you want to use grilling along with smoking, as a cooking method. The smoke comes via a smoker attachment added to the usual gas grill parts.