“The short answer for what is the difference between grilling and broiling is that by grilling the heat comes from below and by broiling the heat comes from above.”
Radiant Heat
Both methods are called radian heat. This means that the food you are grilling or broiling does not touch the food.
Both of them are also done with a high heat source above 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 Celsius)
Although you can basically use grilling and broiling and have the same result there are a few things that cook better using one or the other.
Grilling in a skillet is not a radiant heat source but contact heat.
Grilling
Grilling is preparing food over a usually high heat source. Best to use for steaks, pork chops, hamburgers, sausages, and such types of food.
Broiling
Broiling is preparing food with the heat source above the food and can be used interchangeably with grilling in many cases.
There are types of food that do better with broiling, however. Food such as fish fillets, Lobster, Shrimp, and most other types of seafood.
Tip: Have a look at all my grill recipes.
Grilling Or Broiling – My Experience
As you maybe know I love to smoke meat on my pellet grill. The advantage in my opinion is that I end up with very tender meat.
However, sometimes the outside needs a little more high heat from the grill.
I am not always in the mood to fire up the grill to finish my smoked meat on high heat there to finish it off or just to make cross hatch grill marks.
In that case, I just heat up the oven on “broil” and wait for it to get as hot as possible. This goes most of the time faster than getting my Weber charcoal starter and heating up the grill
Then I take the meat and place it in a skillet (most of the time cast iron) and finish it off for a few minutes.
If you have any tips on how you use grilling and broiling feel free to leave them in the comments.
Robert Chill
Robert Chill loves to cook on BBQs and grills and uses all types of recipes and techniques to cook some awesome food. With his experience, he can share many reviews, tips, and ideas on how to use any grill. You can read more about him here