Insulate my grill hood?

June 3, 2009 6:22 AM

Insulate my grill hood? The lid on my propane grill has far more headroom than I'll ever use. Should I fill the top half with insulation? How would you recommend I do it?
posted by markcmyers to home & garden (9 comments total)

I can't imagine how you would keep the insulation from getting saturated with grease. The grease would be quite difficult to remove, and would become rancid or pose a risk of fire.

I don't think it is a good idea.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 6:32 AM on June 3 [1 favorite]

Not to mention it helps in convection. Leave your grill hood as it is :)
posted by royalsong at 6:47 AM on June 3

You mean like fiberglass insulation? Bleeech.

I would worry whatever you used for insulation would melt and somehow, infect my food. I'd say no, don't do it, but as someone who likes to grill, I like how you're thinking.

Have you gone to the websites of any of the well known grill manufacturers to see if they had any insight on whether or not this was a good idea?
posted by PsuDab93 at 6:48 AM on June 3

Most grill mods I see in this vein use a lining of foil rather than insulation. Some BBQ aficionados use a thermal blanket to keep their smokers from cooling too fast in the winter, but that goes on the outside.
posted by mkb at 6:55 AM on June 3

Yeah, don't bother. At best it would do nothing, at worst it would reduce cooking quality. The "bubble" of air is thermal mass that keeps cooking even.
posted by gjc at 7:03 AM on June 3

Yeah, don't bother. At best it would do nothing, at worst it would reduce cooking quality. The "bubble" of air is thermal mass that keeps cooking even.

This jives with my experience. I've had to cook on cheap grills that use a less powerful heating element and a small grill space. They tend to char the outside of the food while leaving the inside raw. That big mass of hot air benefits your cooking, it keeps the grill from dropping too much in temperature when you add the food. It's kind of like the difference between boiling pasta in a big pot of water vs a small one.
posted by TungstenChef at 8:35 AM on June 3

markcmyers, what effect are you hoping to achieve with the insulation? It's not clear what the point is.
posted by alms at 11:14 AM on June 3

I would like to second insulating the *outside* of the grill if you are having trouble keeping a stable, hot temperature inside.

I use an old welding blanket for this sometimes in the winter. Only for my smoker, though, not my grill.
posted by OilPull at 11:17 AM on June 3

Skip the insulation.

On top of what everyone else has said it would be extremely ineffective. Your grill has tons of air flow (it must, in order for the propane to burn safely and effectively.)

Altering the inside of the grill will most likely decrease the efficiency, not increase it and you'll introduce new variables to the design. It might not malfunction, but the meat won't cook the same way as you're used to it cooking (and the company designed it to cook.)
posted by JFitzpatrick at 8:53 PM on June 5