TEC Grill - First Real Test

[Jon Tofte]

I posted earlier about picking up a working $2800 TEC Infra-Red grill for just $100. Tonight I did a couple of sirloin steaks on it. Here's a little feedback:

1) For so much money, this grill is really plain and lacking in any bells or whistles. No thermometer. In spite of having a nice stainless side shelf absolutely no place to hang tools. Seems really crazy to me!

2) Rotary piezo igniter that doesn't work. Easy enough to light, but I think I have found a really cheap source for a replacement. That would be convenient but even more important if I decided to flip for resale.

3) Here is how the Infra-Red burner lays out. The burner itself is a large version of what you see on the back of some Summit (and other brand) grills for doing rotisserie:

This burner is protected and covered by a special glass shield, basically like a glass-top range. Sorry for another upside down picture:

4) I mentioned before that the grates aren't very impressive. They are stainless slats made by doubling over pieces of stainless. These are then set in a square frame that reminds me a lot of an air conditioner (OK furnace for you far northeners) intake vent. They kind of wiggle around rather than being set in firmly. I don't know why they picked this system, but a custom set of Dave Santana's grates (rcplanebuyer) would make a nice upgrade I think:

This grill also has removable stainless warming rack. Just like on my Weber's I am not that much of a fan, but at least it doesn't rust out:

So, I fired her up again tonight with my two sirloins. Grill gets plenty hot. There were flashes of fire, but they don't last long. The glass gets SO HOT that everything pretty much incinerates. The flimsy grates did pretty well in delivering my beloved sear marks, and the overall steak had perhaps a little more "crust" than when I use my Weber (GrillGrates OR cast iron):

Our steaks cooked very well. They weren't world class, but I blame that on the less than high quality sirloin I got at Publix. Sometimes it is really good, and others it is not. My older son thought the actual grilling results were very good as far as outside crust and juicy center. I plan to give this grill another try with higher grade steaks when my budget allows. Then I will have to decide what to do:

Keep of Flip??????

 

[Chris in TX]

Try it with some nice meat, if it cooks better than your others keep it.
If it cooks the same (or worse) and you can flip it, take the money and buy some more Weber grills.

That looks good! Makes me hungry.

 

[LMichaels]

Looks like you got good results. I don't think Dave's grates would be a good investment as I think the grates are engineered to absorb heat from the inverted V underside. You'd have to do a little research. Actually IIRC they were designed to be used V side up to catch drippings and drain them away from the burner. You might want to research that but I seem to recall this when my brother in law's friend was raving about the one he bought which was earlier than your model as it didn't have the glass

 

[Jon Tofte]

Larry,
I looked again at the manual I downloaded and you are absolutely correct that they recommend facing the grate with the pointed side down for the grease runoff management you mentioned. When I am able I will buy some better steaks and try again using the grate the correct way. I will let everybody know how it works out.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Very impressive Jon, for just a $100 I would keep it for awhile and experiment with it. I know it sounds strange but I have true Weber propane powered Weber silver kettle that is only used for cooking whole chickens. It does such a great job you would swear it was the best roto chicken you ever had.
That TEC might be the same for steaks.

 

[LMichaels]

I would be very interested to see how it does with the grates in the correct direction.

 

[Jon Tofte]

TEC Grill - Round Two

My local Publix had NY strips on sale, so I decided it was a good opportunity to give this TEC grill another try. I also wanted to follow the manual instructions more carefully. As Larry noted, they call for using the stainless grates with the pointed side of the ‘V’ DOWN, the opposite of what I would have thought and not what I did last time. Since the grates are made of thin flat pieces of stainless folded over, you have double-edged grates with a narrow channel in between:

Like Larry said, this is supposed to help grease to runoff to the edges of grill and down to the drip pan rather than falling on the glass cover over the infrared burner. I am not really sure I saw it work that way.

The other unusual recommendation in the manual was to grill steaks with the cover OPEN. This surprised me a little, but I tried to follow it for the most part. The strips cooked up well, with the exception of a couple edges that were blackened. On the other hand, they definitely had a more universal “crust” than my efforts on other grills:

I am not so sure I like the double-line sear marks. I still wish I could try this grill with quality stainless rods:

I was super happy with how our steaks tasted this time. My wife, on the other hand, was not that impressed and said she prefers the “grill” vs this infrared. I guess I am left to ponder. I may clean this thing up and list at a high price to see if I get any bites. I wish I could compare to the Broilmaster I just restored, but I don’t want to get that one dirty until I know for sure I have my 3rd large Broilmaster sold. If that sale falls through I am going to list both and keep the one that doesn’t sell first.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Steaks look good but I'm not sure about the double sear marks also.
One thing I discovered with so many grills I'm not the master of any of them. They each cook a little different the one I'm the best with is the E320, because with the fire restrictions and monsoons it gets used more than the others.
I know if I had the TEC it would drive me nuts trying to get thinks cooked right.

 

[LMichaels]

Honestly I think they look great! I'd eat them in a heart beat. No photos sorry but I did ribeyes on the Wolf last night. I don't "sear" ribeyes in the usual sense though as they have too much fat and connective tissue for that IMO. They get a nice seasoning of S&P or my special "wet" rub I make in the little food processor. I keep half the grill on medium/low and the other just between medium and full blast furnace.
I let them roast on the lower side until just shy of where I like them and let them finish roasting on the hotter side. I get a beautiful "crust" and good sear marks (though marks are not truly my goal cooking like this) but the Wolf and Dave's wonderful heavy SS grates just can't help themselves from putting down a good set. They turn out wonderfully every time.
Wet rub is as follows (this is enough for 2 large ribeye steaks). 2 med cloves garlic, couple tsp salt some good healthy grinds of black pepper (optional some red pepper flakes), 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp ground cumin. Whirl it up in a small food processor with just enough oil (I use either grape seed or EVOO) to make a paste. Rub well into the meat about 20 minutes prior to cooking or up to a couple hours.
You will have flavorful beautifully roasted steaks. Just a small "trick" here too. If you absolutely have to have big deep brown grill marks to show off in the mix put maybe 1/4 tsp agave nectar (trust me you will NEVER taste it). It will give you bragging rights grill marks if you REALLY have to have them or you don't feel like you're having steak.
I'm not all about heavy dark grill marks I'm about taste. The marks I get using the Wolf do just fine for me and anyone who eats my steaks

 

[Jon Tofte]

Thank You and update of grate direction

Larry,

Thanks for the compliment. I did really enjoy my steak and can't really see why my wife didn't... Thank you, too, for sharing your recipe! I will definitely give it a try.

As a follow up, tonight I was hit by an ad for TEC grills (Big Brother IS watching). I couldn't help noticing the picture of the grate (virtually identical to one that I picked up) and that they clearly show it being used with the pointed side UP. That, in spite of the instructions saying the opposite:

I have to say that I wasn't persuaded at all that the pointed side down did much of anything to direct grease to the edges. So, I think next time I will go back to pointed side up.

I SO WANT to try out my Broilmaster to see how it does steaks. As I mentioned, right now I want to keep it spotless and ready to sell until I actually sell off the large one I obtained with the kind help of fellow club member Chiku. If the Broilmaster does steaks just as well, then I would rather see if I can flip this TEC for some profit. But if it doesn't, for only a hundred bucks I have a very cool and somewhat exotic steak-griller that should last a long, long time given its all 304 construction.

 

[LMichaels]

I can't say how the BM will compare to the TEC as it has been so long since I saw anything from the TEC my brother in law's friend had. His was an earlier generation also prior to the glass protector over the burner. My guess is it was more important to use pointy side down on that generation otherwise meat juices would fall directly into the ceramic portion of the burner and cause severe popping, flame up and out and clogging of the fine pores in the burner. With the glass plate not so important I guess.
But I will say I enjoyed steaks off the BM. I think the idea here is that it has good distance from the flame tamer (whether briquettes, ceramic tiles or what have you) so they could get very fierce heat at grate level all while keeping those flavorful flare ups far enough away from the meat to prevent actual "damage" to it. My take on the BM is a steak cooked properly on it was as close as I have ever tasted to a steak coming off my kettle with hardwood lump charcoal (my gold standard). Honestly my only gripe (if you can call it that) with the BM was it's usability was somewhat limited by it's smaller size. Which by offering that extendable stainless steel upper rack they tried to negate giving you a dual layer type of cook. So for how I cook I could not justify keeping it around. Also maintenance was a little harder on it compared to a Genesis for cleaning and such. You have to admit George Stephens (don't know if you're old enough to remember the Amos & Andy TV show) but the real name of "Da Kingfish" in the show was "George Stephens" LOL. Anyway you have to admit when he designed the original Genesis he did think ahead about making it easy to maintain (even though people never did LOL). But I do consider the BM the gold standard of steak on a gas grill. Though from an aesthetic standpoint (the steaks not the grill) I consider the Wolf (if used correctly) a close second, and tied with the Q320, and bringing up a VERY VERY close 3rd is the Genesis/Summit. The thing with the Genesis deep box it does not have quite the "power" to accomplish what the BM does unless the lid is left down but than you lose it when you open the lid. Later shallow Genesis models still don't have that "power" but try to compensate by the shallow box and close proximity to the flame tamers. Same for the Summit model I have.
The Wolf has power but flame tamers are VERY close to the grates too. So that full on fierce heat is harder to actually "use". The Q *especially the 3xxx" has great power especially because much of that power is harnessed as contact heat transfer rather than radiant. Which is why people think GrillGrates are da bomb because they basically turn a "grill" into a "griddle" with grease drain holes. Basically the whole reason I disdain the product as a "lazy" way to "grill" as I don't consider it "true" "grilling". Sure they produce "cosmetics" but if you blind taste tested a steak cooked on those "imitators" against a steak cooked say on your BrolMaster there would be no comparison to taste. As I have mentioned in another thread when I make a fine steak I am NOT just about aesthetics but flavor too.

 

[Jon Tofte]

A couple steaks and a burger on the TEC

My son was planning on charcoal grilling at his girlfriends house. I posted in the charcoal grill section about restoring a Weber Master Touch and selling it at cost to his girlfriends father, so they were going to try it out. A “tropical wave” is passing through our area so he rethought his plan and had me help him using the TEC grill I am experimenting with. I tossed on a burger for myself.

Results looked good, but my son said while they tasted fine they were not off the charts. Burger was great! Still not sure what I think of this grill...

 

[LMichaels]

Looks like you still have the grates pointy side up. I recall reading somewhere there were 2 reasons to have them "upside down". One was to channel grease and the other was the channel helped to collect heat and helped give a better char and smoky flavor. Maybe that's why you're not finding it off the charts

 

[Jon Tofte]

Looks like you still have the grates pointy side up. I recall reading somewhere there were 2 reasons to have them "upside down". One was to channel grease and the other was the channel helped to collect heat and helped give a better char and smoky flavor. Maybe that's why you're not finding it off the charts

Larry,

You can see earlier in this thread where I DID try the grates in the other direction. They worked fine and with a better grade of beef produced better results. I wasn't persuaded that any great grease channeling was going on, and I wasn't too excited about the funky double grill marks. (See again my pictures preceding). What really got me, though, was that an internet ad that tracked me down form TEC clearly showed the identical grate being used with the pointed side UP! So, I am not sure how much that matters. My son's steak selection looked OK, but probably not high enough grade to achieve "off the charts" results.

I actually kind of like this grill - especially for the super bargain price of $100. I am disappointed that my wife hasn't been impressed, and I guess I can't say it is so extraordinary that it eclipses other grills. I especially want to put my Broilmaster through it's paces. I am trying to get to the other Broilmaster restore I have to do so that I can be sure it is sold before using one that is ready for sale now. I can only keep one, and I have to be sure which one it will be. From just briefly experimenting with the larger one, unrestored, I have a feeling once mastered that it can do steaks just as well or maybe even better than this TEC. If so, I will see if I can flip the TEC for some $ to recover past grillgambling losses!

 

[LMichaels]

Didn't realize you tried it. Missed it I guess. I think she may be missing some of the "smokiness" as I bet those drippings vaporize so hot and instantly they either burst into little flames or don't last long enough to get a little "smoke" on them. So while the maillard reaction may be very good from the truly IR cooking it may not be imparting the flavor she's after of being "grilled" which is another reason I believe the grates are meant to be "upside down" so the fats that come off sit in that channel and impart some "smokiness" to the foods being grilled. I think the theory behind the truly IR cooking is grill marks are not needed as the maillard reaction will give a good crustiness all over the food you cook. Anyway this is what my research showed on it and also what was told to the acquaintance I know who bought one way back when they first came out. Try a blind taste test on her. One where she cannot see "defined" lines and only taste final result using the grates upside down V rather than pointy side up. I have a feeling she'll like it better.
What you'll find on the BM is if you actually use that really fierce heat they put out it will cook quite closely to that TEC