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The Char Broil Quantum M500 IR is so named because it features Char Broil's patented and award winning Quantum Infrared cooking system. The Quantum Infrared cooking system completely eliminates flare up and its design allows for perhaps the greatest grilling versatility seen in years. Each burner has its own temperature gauge located above the control knob and working at grate level for a true reading of the heat about to sear you steak or whatever you may be grilling. The Quantum Infrared design also allows you to add wood chips directly on to the cooking grates for added flavor and no flare up. This three burner grill is highly efficient due to the unique patented infrared grates and thus needs just three burners and 31,000 BTUs to get the job done. Like the standard M500 grill from Char Broil, the Quantum Infrared has 500 sq. in. of primary cooking area, 280 sq. in. of secondary cooking area, new "Surefire" electronic ignition, and a combination of stainless steel and painted steel appliance style cart construction. The Quantum M500 IR is also a Dual Fuel designed grill for easy conversion to Natural Gas with the purchase of the conversion kit on Amazon.com
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Technical Details
- Three primary burners, rated up to 31,000 BTUs to heat the award winning and super-efficient Quantum Infrared grates- 13,000 BTU flush lid side burner
- 500 square inches of primary cooking area and 280 square inch warming rack
- "Surefire" Electronic ignition
- Dual Fuel convertible to Natural Gas with the purchase of conversion kit
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By Robert A. Gold Jr. (DC Metro)
I'm not sure I buy all the physics they claim is behind this but I do speak highly of the results. I cooked hot dogs, turkey burgers, and bone-in chicken breasts. I was very impressed by the results for all three, especially the chicken. Hot dogs are a no brainer. The turkey burgers were a bit tricky because the soft meat could fall into the grills. The saving factor here is that the grill cooks things very quickly once it's warmed up. The surface of the burger on the bottom cooked before the burgers could really sag much into the grates. What really amazed me was the quality of the chicken breasts. I cooked 5 very different sized breasts at the same time. The outsides on all of them were brown and crispy, the insides were moist and cooked all the way through. I added bbq sauce in the last minutes of cooking. These were the best grilled chicken breasts I've ever cooked. I have no doubt I'll be able to repeat these results for all kinds of meat with a little practice.
One noteworthy item - the booklet in the box doesn't mention this but the website does - season the grates with vegetable oil before cooking for the first time. This will inhibit rusting and should make the meats stick less to the grates. It took me a while to find this tip on the website but make sure you find it and follow the directions, it's a must for these grills.
I give it four stars because the grates/emitters will definitely be harder to clean than a normal open grate. I will likely (I haven't done it yet) just remove the grates and scrape the emitter plates clean with a plastic (when the grill is cold obviously) or metal putty knife. The grates can clean themselves or I can just knock the big chunks off.
I've only had the grill for a couple of days so I can't say how well the materials will hold up over time. Regarding customer service, one of the small bumpers for the lid was broken when I got the grill. I used the website to report the problem and had a response and order for replacement bumpers within 3 hours of my request. Note I had already followed their registration process (easy too).
By Nicole Pitcher
This Brand is HORRIBLE. I have bought 2 grills from the same company because they are supposingly one of the best. Well just to let you know, Im 2 for 2 on them catching on fire. I have put complaints into customer service and they haven't done anything. They say its user error. Well maybe, but I have a Weber and it doesn't catch on fire. I wouldn't by it.
By David Bigl (Springfield, MA USA)
My girlfriend purchased this grill for me about 3 months ago and I have used it about 30 times mostly for steaks, chicken breasts, and hamburgers. It has decent size cooking area. I can cook 9 huge steaks at the same time. Unless you plan on having a lot of cookouts with more than 20 people there then it is plenty big enough (and even then it is adequate). It is very easy to regulate the temperature of the grill because of the thermometer at the grilling surface so once you find a temperature that cooks the food the way you like it, it is easy to duplicate the desired results with amazing consistency (when i grill steaks i heat up the grill to 650 degrees and throw the steaks on for 7 minutes on each side to get a good sear, then I turn the burners off completely until the temperature drops to 400, then I fire it up and put it on low and close the grill...it gives me a great sear on the outside and is extremely tender on the inside). I haven't had a single flare-up...even on the fattiest piece of meat drenched in olive oil. I only have two small complaints. Cleaning the grill is more difficult than with a conventional grill (but besides scraping off the grates i only clean it once a month so it's not a big deal. That causes it to be less efficient but I'm lazy after eating a big meal so as long as the food comes out ok then I'm happy). The only other complaint I have is that the stainless steel grates do get stained and they aren't very attractive looking after a few uses but I don't really mind that. As long as they're functional I'm happy. Overall I would highly recommend it and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it's difficult to clean.
By B. Christensen (Santa Barbara, CA United States)
I have always been a wood fire BBQ kind of guy - I like meat cooked over a *real* flame, and even charcoal has always seemed to me like cheating (though I've been using a charcoal Weber kettle for 20 years). I never even considered a gas grill for myself for these reasons.
For my senior Mom & Dad, however, the task of lighting charcoal, etc was too much hassle, so this past weekend I went out shopping for a gas grill for them. After going back and forth between three different home centers and Costco, I settled on this unit as by far the best "bang for the buck" in terms of build quality, performance characteristics, and ease of use for under $500. I seriously considered going up to the Weber Genesis, but for 50% more, I just couldn't quite justify it. My requirement was good quality for under $500.
After about a one-hour erector set project putting it all together (not difficult, just time consuming), I fired it up and let it burn off for about 20 minutes. I was immediately impressed with how hot the cooking surfaces became (and how quickly). The nifty temp sensors at the grate level registered 700+ degrees!
After burn-off, I tried it out with what I have found to be one of the trickiest things to grill over open flame (gas or wood/charcoal): raw marinated chicken parts. To be done right, the chicken has to be crispy on the outside - not burned, and moist and completely cooked on the inside. With unevenly shaped and sized chicken parts, this can be devilishly tricky.
But with this grill, I found I was able to keep the left most burner at full throttle, and the two right burners at low settings and get creative. This allowed me to beautifully sear the skin using the left side of the grill, then finish cooking on the right side (with the BBQ closed). The results were amazing.
One of my favorite things about this grill turned out to be that it is really easy to add wood chips for smoke flavor. Because there is a perforated metal "screen" (the infrared reflector) under the food, it catches the wood chips and holds them at a perfect smoking temperature where they will smolder but not flare up.
Speaking of flare-ups, this grill did NOT exhibit flare-ups at all. Even with fatty pieces of chicken that had been marinated in an olive oil mixture, there was almost no burning or smoking, even on the "searing" side of the hot grill.
When turned down low, I also found the evenness of the heating surface to be impressively consistent, and the large stainless "grill" surface not only made great marks on the food, but also did not stick as badly as most coated steel or iron grill surfaces do.
On the con side, I can imagine that the perforated screen is going to require some periodic maintenance to keep it clean. The good news is that it comes out in three easy-to-handle sections shaped like little trays, each holding a section of grill. You pull the "tray" up and out, then lift the grill surface out of the tray making both very easy to clean.
One final note - I also prepared a boneless leg of lamb on the grill using a "generic" rotisserie (Grill-Pro brand). it *barely* fit between the closed lid and the grill surface, but again, the infrared cooking system worked beautifully. I warmed it up at full throttle for about 5-10 minutes before mounting the marinated lamb roast, then allowed it to sear beautifully for about 15 minutes. Then I turned the burners all down to their lowest settings, threw on a thumb-sized stick of oak from one of our trees, and dropped the lid.
An hour and a half later, we enjoyed one of the best lamb roasts I have ever had!
Highly recommended, especially if you can get it for the price I paid (which was about $[...] less than Amazon's currently listed price)
Pros:
*Great heat output for searing
*Even distribution of heat for predictable results
*Good low-temp performance
*Easy to use wood chips for flavor
*Good build quality in the hood and firebox
Cons:
*Bottom 1/2 of construction is a bit flimsy, but better than many at this price point
*Requires pre-heating for about 10 minutes for best results
*Periodic clean-up probably required for optimum performance
By L. Rosencrantz (USA)
The big advantages of this grill are even heating and flavor. Even low fat content hamburgers came out juicy and did not shrink. The manufacturer claims that it uses 30% less fuel and it does cook faster than open flame barbeques, but there is a full power 10-15 minute warm up and then another high heat period after you finish to burn off cooking residue so total gas use may actually be more than claimed.
It does not flare up but the screens underneath the grills need to be cleaned or the heat output will drop off. This grill requires more maintenance each time than an open flame unit but it is worth it. Our previous Brinkman BBQ completely rusted out (burners, supports, firebox) after five years but we didn't take very good care of it
A couple of neat features are that you can rotisserie without a special burner, you can add wood chips without a smoker box and there are separate thermometers at grill height for each burner. This latter feature makes temperature control especially easy and accurate at the cooking surface.
All in all very pleased with this grill. Time will tell just how durable it will be, but the screens should protect the firebox and burners better than an open flame BBQ. Burners are lifetime warranty.
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