How to Use Ceramic Briquettes for Gas Grills [Installing, Lighting, Cleaning]

Are you tired of unevenly cooked meals on your gas grill? Are flare-ups ruining your outdoor cooking experience? If so, it’s time to revolutionize your grilling game with ceramic briquettes. These small, heat-retaining marvels are the secret ingredient to achieving perfectly grilled meats and vegetables.

Briquettes are of different materials – wood, lava rocks, and ceramic. People prefer to use them mainly on gas grills. These briquettes are more expensive compared to the other types but are energy efficient. It is environmentally friendly and the perfect fuel to use when you have friends or family coming over for brunch. They come in various configurations to fit your gas grill as well as your specific needs. Some look like the common charcoal lump; others are square, rectangle, or octagon.

Why ceramic briquettes?

Ceramic is a quality material, and therefore briquettes made from it have a longer lifespan. With these briquettes, your meaty foods or vegetables will have a tastier smoky flavor in them. They are a better replacement for lava rocks on your grill. With the heat distribution produced evenly, it takes a shorter time to wait for your grill to heat up before cooking. Its heat retention capability enables it to consume less fuel. You are sure to get the food slow cooked even with the gas turned off.

The grill’s food does not hit directly with the flames as the briquette tray prevents flaring up flames. Ceramic briquettes do not absorb grease as they get burnt off naturally and add rich flavors to the food. They have a self-cleaning mechanism, and that’s why many people prefer them over other briquettes on a gas grill.

Using ceramic briquettes on a gas grill is easy and does not require any special skills. They are easy to place on the gas grill for a great seared meal.

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Installing ceramic briquettes on a gas grill

1. Ensure the grill is clean before putting ceramics on it. A clean grill equals a tasty meal. Remove any food debris on the racks. Check if the ventilation is okay.
2. Open the gas grill and remove the grill rack and place aluminum foil on the firebox walls. Aluminum provides heat retention and reflects heat to the grill . Lining up with aluminum foil is optional, and you can skip it if you wish to. Fill up the bottom with the briquettes. Ceramic briquettes hold up the heat and provide an even distribution while cooking. They help our grill to reach higher temperatures without consuming too much fuel.
3. Arrange the ceramic briquettes on the try if your grill comes in handy with a briquette tray. Depending on the shape you choose, you should arrange them a bit closer together for an even heat. There should be even no social distance between them.
4. Put back the rack when you finish putting the ceramics on the grill.

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Lighting up the ceramic briquettes

Ceramic briquettes might take time to heat up, but its advantage is that it will be able to retain the heat once it is on fire.

Heat your gas grill the normal way and let the ceramic briquettes catch some heat. Let the briquettes turn reddish-brown to ensure they are hot and ready to cook the food. To check its temperature, use an infrared cooking thermometer to ascertain its hotness.

When the ceramic briquettes start to glow reddish hot, voila, your grill is ready for barbequing.

Ceramic briquettes are costly are worth the money you spend on purchasing them. They are ideal for slow cooking on a gas grill with no hot or cold spots on the food you cook. With this type of briquettes, it will take you years before they need a replacement. They do not crumble like wood or other briquettes.

Knowing when a ceramic briquette calls for replacement

A ceramic briquette only calls for a replacement if you notice it has started to crumble. Due to longevity, the briquettes may begin to crumble after five years.  Using ceramic briquettes that are crumbling will reduce its performance. It is better to use those in good condition and if not replace them with a new one. This way, you can avoid incidences of briquettes flaring up while cooking.

Using cleaned ceramic briquettes

Cleaning is an important part of ensuring the food has a tasty smell when cooking. Each time you are cooking, ensure the ceramic briquettes are clean. Cooking on a clean briquette grill will determine the flavor of your food. And dirty briquettes will not bring that to the table. They are self-cleaning, but sometimes you will need to clean them manually.

Cleaning also comes with its benefits; remember, rodents and insects are attracted to dirty grills. If you leave the briquette uncleansed, chances are, there will be infestation with any of these. Dirty ceramic briquettes do not provide efficient heat and can also cause food contamination in your next cooking. Cleaning your briquettes improves longevity and performance.

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How do you clean a ceramic briquette?

The best way to cook without worrying over dirty ceramic briquettes is by letting it self-clean. When you cook, grease drop over the briquettes; it may not absorb all of it. Grease falling on the briquettes gets usually converted back to smoky flavors when cooking.

Allow your grill to cool down before beginning the cleaning process. Brush off visible debris with a kitchen brush and flip over the briquettes. The greasy part should face the bottom and fire up the grill for a few minutes to allow the ceramic briquettes to self-clean.

The food debris will be burnt out and turned to ashes. The advantage of using a briquette tray is that you do not need to flip them over.

Conclusion

To sum up, a gas grill using ceramic briquettes produces tasty smoky flavored meals. Ceramic briquettes have a longer lifespan ability giving you years of grilling anytime, any season. They take more than a year before they break. As long as you use them correctly and maintain them by cleaning, you are sure to take barbequing to the next level. Ensure the briquettes matches your grill, and it’s clean before adding briquettes to it. If you have been using other briquettes for your gas grill, then it’s time to upgrade to ceramic ones.

Ceramic briquettes offer an excellent option for enhancing the grilling experience on gas grills. Their ability to distribute heat evenly, reduce flare-ups, and impart a smoky flavor to food make them a valuable tool for achieving delicious results. By using ceramic briquettes effectively, grill enthusiasts can achieve restaurant-quality grilling at home while also enjoying a more consistent cooking performance.