Not silly at all, great question. Most of the heat transfer will occur directly above the grill grates, and thus leave grill marks as normal.

If the grill surface is too hot, the heat differentiation is diminished between the area where the grill grate is and the area in between the grill grates, and you end up cooking the items more evenly.

General rules around grill marks...

Grill marks are a function of heat and time. If your grill marks are too light, whether you are using a BBQ grill mat or not, you will have to increase the heat and/or allow the food to remain still for a longer period of time.

Do not constantly move the items around.

If you notice water pooling around your items, this will cool the grill mat way down, below 212 degrees, the boiling point of water. You will either have to remove the water by pushing it off with the back of a spatula or absorbing with paper towel and tongs and/or move the food item to where no water is present.

Great question! These are made out of a food-safe PTFE and fibers, that provide a non-stick cooking surface very similar to your nonstick cookware. They do not contain PFOA. Every lot manufactured goes through an approval process with the FDA.

Yes it will. Simply follow the recommendations laid out above and you will not have any issues. Keep in mind that IR grills can get to well over 1,000 degrees at the grill surface, so you may want to buy a grill surface thermometer. Another way to test your grill surface temperature is to turn your grill on and leave the lid closed for 20 minutes. Then check the lid thermometer temperature. This will provide a close approximation of your typical grill surface temperature at that burner intensity. Thank you for your question!

You will not have any issues. We recommend 7" for charcoal grills only. For gas grills with heat deflectors, you can place the grill mats directly on the grill grates. Thanks for your question!

KONA BBQ Grill Mats are global products. The surface coating is manufactured in Delaware. The core material is manufactured in Europe and the products are assembled in China. Final Quality Control is completed in Delaware.

Kona branded products are owned and solely distributed by Nickles Arcade LLC. We are a small 100% American owned and operated business headquartered in Delaware. Products are manufactured in Michigan, China, India, Wisconsin, Delaware, Georgia and shipped to our Delaware warehouse for additional Quality Control assurance.

Not really! It does allow slight grill marks on food like steaks. We really love it, though. What a difference in "clean-up". The mat just easily washes off in the sink and is ready for the next use and the actual grill plates stay very clean. We have two of them and use them every time. Great for doing veggies.

-Kathy

Great Question! Besides the appearance, both are very similar. Our standard Black grill mats are designed for maximum durability. The trade-off here is that there can be a slight learning curve in figuring out the best temperature settings for your grill to get the desired level of grill marks.

Copper grill mats are just a hint thinner, making them more user-friendly for getting the grill marks you want with less fuss. 

Yes, typically we do recommend an air gap, a half-inch to an inch, to allow air to circulate on at least 2 sides. Some grills have higher air circulation and may not need gap, but we recommend it for best results. For electric grills, no gap is required.

Kona grill mats are meant to be used on both sides to extend the life of the product. 

Great Question. At 400 degrees nearly all oils will smoke, giving off unpleasant flavors, including the fats in meat. Therefore, for best food taste and to get those tender juicy steaks and chicken, we recommend grilling at grill surface temperatures of between 350 to 400 degrees, with searing at 450 degrees.

If you are doing low and slow, 225 to 275 is best.

Keep in mind, that lid thermometer on your grill is not giving you the temperature at the grill surface. It is only measuring the air temperature above the grill. So if your like me and open the lid frequently, the lid thermometer is going to show a much lower temperature than reality.

We have a lot of professional chefs who like to sear off their cuts of meat at 800 to 1,000 degrees (NOT on a grill mat) for 45 seconds to a minute per side, then they transfer the meat to a grill mat at 400 degrees to finish off for the remaining 6 to 10 minutes. Talk about cutting a steak with a fork!!!

Just keep in mind that these are a tool. Have fun and experiment with them. But like any tool, it will not work perfectly for 100% of all situations. Happy Grilling!