Use of the word grill refers to cooking food directly over a source of dry heat,[8] typically with the food sitting on a metal grate that leaves "grill marks." Grilling is usually done outdoors on charcoal grills or gas grills, a recent trend is the concept of infrared grilling. Grilling may also be performed using stove-top "grill pans" which have raised metal ridges for the food to sit on, or using an indoor electric grill.
A skewer or brochette, or a rotisserie may be used to cook small pieces of food. The resulting food product is often called a "kabob" or "kebab" which means "to grill" in Persian, which is short for "shish kebab" (shish = skewer)(similar to a "satay" in Asian cuisine, or "alambre" in Mexican-Yucatan cuisine). Shish kebabs have a Persian origin, but are now commonplace in American cuisine.