I'm looking to build a IR sear broiler for my outdoor kitchen but I'm having trouble finding a complete assembly to work with (burner, air inlet, valve, etc). The other day I noticed an IR heater made by Mr. Heater that looks like it might work really well. Its model number MH35LP and heres a link to the manufacturer page:

Mr. Heater MH35LP

Its 35,000 btu/hr and has the whole assembly together plus it has a nice reflector to concentrate the heat. You'd have to disable the tip over switch to mount it so the burner faces down but it seems like it might work great.

Does anyone have any idea if this will work? The whole assembly can be had for less than $100 new shipped off Ebay which is pretty cheap for an iR burner. Since it'll be a broiler instead of a grill type burner it seems that it would hold up longer as there would be no drippings coming in contact with the burner itself.

Anyway if anyone has any experience or suggestions about homemade IR burners I'd love some more info. If not I guess I'll have to just go for it and give it a try!

Thanks in advance,

Jay

Jay..If you check over on the Member's Mark Grill catagory on that Grill forum I included pictures of installing a 33K Btu Solaroinic IR Burner @$156.81 final price. I used the existing burners valve for control. I mounted it under the grate to vaporize the drippings for more flavor. It was shipped with both orfices and you can have them add an ignitor bracket for no charge..Size was my main critera! I needed it to fit the cut out of the existing side burner location..

The price for that heater is great, but looking at the output and thinking about the heat it will put out, I would think that it would be too hot for use as a broiler. The outside of any food place near that unit would be burned to a crisp before the inside had a chance to cook. I would look for a unit in the 18 to 20K range.

Is there a reason that you are going for the broiler concept vs using the IR searing style. It seems to me that the results would be the same, and you wouldn't have to build an "oven-type enclosure". HD is selling a external side unit IR sear unit for about $150 to use as a built-in.

Thanks for the replies.

The infrared unit you installed does like really nice, seems like its a better form factor than the Mr Heater one which is long and skinny rather than more rectangular like the Solaroinic one. That would definitely be nicer than the Long skinny Mr Heater one. I don't currently have a grill that I can modify, I just moved, so I was thinking of making this a freestanding unit using a small portable grill as the host. I don't have any of the valving set up yet. I'm sure its not terribly pricey, but it would add up after a while. Anyway I'll look into the Solaroinic units for sure.

The reason I was planning on going with the broiler is that it will keep the IR unit very clean and all the pores unclogged regardless of what I put (or drop!) in the grill and because I like making sauces for the meats I cook using the drippings. With a broiler unit I'll be able to put a pan under the meat and catch the drippings while the meat is cooking. Thats not possible with a regular grill setup. The broiler setup also allws for direct IR heating without the usual convection heating associated with the IR unit under the meat, this way the meat should sear better before heating too much up on the inside. Seems like you'd have better control.

The one thing I like about the Mr Heater unit is that it has that nice reflector all the way around. That would allow for better zoning of the temperature so that you could move the steak a bit to the side to get reduced heat, but it would be a gradual decrease in heat.

I was thinking of just using an old grill body (or just some scrap sheet steel riveted together into a box) as host and put a new stainless grate in it and use the whole Mr Heater unit as the top of the grill. By attaching a handle and some hinges I could just open and close the IR unit to access the grill. I think I could devise some sort of spacer system that would allow me to adjust the height of the burner.

Well its just a thought but the MR heater unit is pretty cheap and it includes everything so it'd be doable for under $100.

Jay

I purchased a CalFlame infrared burner for $69.99, removed one of the tube burners from my Vermont Castings 5000 series grill, made a little extender to make the valve outlet terminate within the venturi of the burner, and bingo, it works perfectly. No muss no fuss..

Easiest thing I coud have imagined doing for the quality of the result. 70 bucks. Can't go wrong. And nothing was permanently damaged, which means I can easily go back to the old configuration. Though I can't imagine why I would, 5 tube burners was a bit overkill, it's nice to have a searing station.

E