Infrared grills have a reputation for being unable to maintain low temperatures, but Char-Broil puts your concerns to rest with these two grills. Read these Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 300/450 Reviews to learn whether these versatile infrared grills will meet your needs.
Char-Broil Infrared 300 vs 450
Both the Char-Broil Performance TRU infrared 300 and 450 are high quality infrared grills that can provide even heat across the cooking surface whether you want low or high heat. The 300 is geared towards families with smaller spaces who don’t want to compromise on even heat and cooking power. The 300 features fold-down shelves that make it easy for you to store this infrared grill in a small space. An enclosed storage cabinet gives you room to store all of your grilling accessories, wood chips, etc. right within the grill. This grill features 300 square inches of room, which is enough to grill for your family and a few friends.
The Char-Broil Performance Tru 450 offers more versatility and space for a very pleasurable grilling experience. 450 square inches of cooking surface provides plenty of room to cook for your friends and family while an extra side burner provides room for you to make side dishes while you are grilling. The 450 model comes in a cart or cabinet design so that you can take your pick. This grill is not as compact as the smaller model and comes at an increased cost.
Whether you prefer the good-looking cabinet model with the stainless steel top or the straightforward old fashioned grill cart model, you can feel confident of getting lots of power to your burners and achieving even heat with the TRU infrared cooking system.
Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 450 Grill
- Convenient side burner with secure flip-down cover
- Starts every time with Surefire electronic ignition system
- 450 square inches of cooking space with foldaway warming tray
- Comes in cart or cabinet models so you can take your pick
- Broken up warranty can make it difficult to place your claim
- Open sides of cart model are not very attractive
- 100 lbs can be heavy to navigate on the cart model
- Cart model grill cannot be moved while there is food on it since it needs to be tilted
- Small wheels of cabinet model may not navigate well over rougher terrain or bumps on your patio well
Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 450 Specifications
- 450 square inches of cooking area
- 150 square in warming rack area
- Three primary burners with 24000 BTUs of power
- One side burner with 10000 BTUs of power
- Surefire electronic ignition system
- Five year warranty on burners
- One year warranty on grates and emitters
- Two year warranty on lid and firebox
- One year warranty on other parts
Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 450 Review
The Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 450 starts every time with the push of the Surefire electronic ignition button so you will never have to deal with matches or trying multiple times to start your grill. The infrared technology gets hot faster and cooks more evenly than traditional grills so that you will have juicier food with the flavors locked in and less risk of grill flare-ups. This Char-Broil Performance features a side burner so that you can conveniently cook side dishes as you grill. A fold-down cover securely protects the grill surface when you don’t want to use the side burner and would prefer more work surface.
450 square inches of cooking surface gives you plenty of room to prepare lots of food for even a large party, while the 150 square inches of warming rack gives you room to keep food at a good temperature as you finish the rest of your cooking or toast buns. The grates of this grill are coated with a durable porcelain that makes them easy to clean. Stainless steel burners can be adjusted to very small increments, and allow you to go from very low temperatures for long term smoking to searing hot quickly and easily. This heat is delivered more evenly so that you can put food anywhere on the cooking grate and feel confident that your food will be cooked consistently.
This Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 450 grill features Char Broils TRU infrared Cooking System, which provides even heat and incredible temperature control utilizing infrared technology. Infrared technology is better at preventing cold or hot spots on the grill surface so that food is cooked more evenly. Traditional complaints of infrared being unable to achieve low temperatures well are belied by this grill, which is able to maintain very low even heat for slow cooking better than expected.
A temperature gauge makes it easy to read the a temperature right below the lid, but it is a good idea to have a secondary thermometer with meat probes to read the temperature of your meat and an ambient temperature sensor to get a more accurate reading of the temperature within your grill.
This Char-Broil Performance Tru Infrared 3 burner grill comes in a cart or cabinet style so that you can make your choice. The cabinet model looks sleeker with its stainless steel top and attractive doors. It can also be rolled while remaining flat on it’s caster wheels, unlike the cart which needs to be rocked up and then wheeled on its two large wheels. The cabinet model’s small wheels may not cover rough terrain or bumps on your patio as well though, so if you want to move the grill across your yard the cart version may be better for you. A front panel blocks the propane tank on the cart version.
Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 300 Grill
- Design eliminates danger of flare-ups
- Even heating
- Compact design won’t take up too much room on your patio
- Convenient fold down shelves
- Caster wheels for easy mobility
- Broken up warranty can be frustrating if more than one thing goes wrong at a time
- Only works with a standard propane tank
- Grates do not clean up well unless you take them out to clean them
- Cooler spots at edges
- Difficult to clean
- Can be difficult to move on tiny wheels
Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 300 Specifications
- 18000 BTUs
- Two burners
- 5 year warranty
- 1 year warranty on grate and emitter
- 2 year warranty on the lid and firebox
- 1 year warranty on other parts
Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared 300 Review
The Char-Broil Performance TRU Infrared two burner grill provides awesome performance for under $250. This two burner grill won’t take up too much room on your porch or patio but it is still packed with features that will make your grilling experience very pleasant. The Surefire electronic ignition syncs both burners for reliable and rapid startups every time.
Char-Broil utilizes infrared technology to heat your grill hotter and faster with more even heat than more traditional heat systems. Grill flare-ups will be less of a problem so you will be left with much juicier food. The infrared system prevents colder and hotter areas on your grill so the temperature will be the same no matter where you put the food. Such even heating enables rapid cooking using less gas while producing delicious juicy results.
A special cooking grate is at the core of the TRU infrared technology. It works to spread heat evenly over the grill top as well as creating a barrier between the flames and the food so dangerous and food destroying flare-ups will be no more.
You can easily store this Char-Broil performance utilizing the folding side shelves so this grill will be even better for smaller spaces. When you are ready to grill, the two side tables provide a lot of room for you to put your food and store your tools.
300 square inches of cooking surface gives you the maximum room for a grill of this size. 300 square inch should be enough to feed your family and several friends for pleasant weekend cook outs. The grates of this TRU 300 are porcelain coated so that they will be easy to clean as well as durable. Adjust the burners from very low heat to smoke food over a longer period of time or high heat for searing.
This two burner infrared grill is designed with your convenience in mind, with the enclosed storage cabinet that provides plenty of room for you to store all of your wood chips, grill tools, etc. The durable steel lid and firebox stand both have porcelain coating so they will stand up well to weather over the years. The grill is situated on four casters that allow you to easily move your grill around your space. You can lock two of the casters when you are ready to cook for stable grilling.
A temperature gauge is mounted to the lid of this grill so that you can get an idea of the ambient temperature within the grilling chamber, but it is a good idea to have a secondary thermometer that will als0 utilize a meat probe to tell you the temperature of your meat as the ambient temperature within the grill lower near the where the meat is. A smart thermometer can even communicate to you via your smart device when your food is done or when temperatures exceed set limits so that you can set your food and not worry about it.
