Patent attributes
A grill includes a cooking surface. The cooking surface includes at least one grate. The grate has internal heating elements operable to raise the temperature of the great above the temperature achievable via a heat source of the grill. The grate may be referred to as a searing station. In one embodiment, the grill is a wood pellet grill, the heat source is burning wood pellets in a burnpot of the grill, and the heating elements are resistive heating elements fully contained within slats of the grate. A searing station is especially suited for wood pellet grills which operate at lower temperatures than conventional gas or charcoal grills because it combines the slow cooking characteristics of a pellet grill with the quick searing capabilities of an infrared gas grill. The searing station may, however, be used in any type of grill.
