Features
Additional features and capabilities of the electric grill.
Features such as a
thermostat,
thermometer probe,
shutdown timer, and
auto-cooking can be found in all types of grills (see "Type");
removable plates are also quite popular, except in electric skillets; however,
adjustable doneness,
upper plate height adjustment,
180° opening, and
separate temperature control are mainly relevant for contact grills (with rare exceptions). Here is a more detailed description of each of these features:
— Thermostat. A regulator that allows you to automatically maintain the set temperature of the working surface. A special sensor monitors the grill's temperature, turning off the heat when the desired value is reached and turning it back on when it cools down by a few degrees. This allows you to maintain the necessary cooking mode effortlessly. Thermostats are very simple in design and inexpensive, which is why they are found in most modern electric grills.
— Shutdown timer. A timer that turns off the heat after a set time. This feature frees the user from having to monitor the time themselves: just set the desired value on the timer. Additionally, it significantly r
...educes the risk of overcooking or burning the dish: such an unpleasantness can only occur if too much time was set for cooking. Note that the timer's capabilities depend on the type of control (see "Control"): with mechanical control, the time is usually set quite approximately (sometimes with an accuracy of one or two minutes), while with electronic control — with an accuracy of a second.
— Auto-cooking. The presence of one or more auto-cooking programs in the grill. This feature differs from the shutdown timer described above by being more convenient and functional. The user does not need to manually set the grill's operating time or temperature — usually, it's enough to select the type of product and the desired degree of doneness/heating. The specific set of auto-cooking programs can vary and should be clarified separately; among the most popular options are "meat" (often with a choice of doneness), "poultry," "fish," "burgers," "sandwiches," "sausages," and a defrost mode.
— Adjustable doneness. Adjusting the degree of doneness is especially relevant for meat dishes — particularly beef steaks. It allows you to choose the desired level of readiness: Blue Rare (completely rare), Rare (with blood), Medium Rare (medium-rare), Medium (medium), Medium Well (almost well-done), Well Done (fully cooked). Intermediate options for medium doneness may not be provided, just as the Blue level — it all depends on the specific model of the electric grill.
— Sear. The Sear function in electric grills is designed for quickly searing foods at high temperatures, creating a caramelized crust without drying out the inside. This is usually achieved by briefly heating to 260–300 °C, which is especially useful for cooking steaks, meat, fish, and vegetables.
— Removable plates. The ability to remove the grill's working plate(s). The main purpose of this feature is to facilitate washing and cleaning the working surface after use. Removable plates can be easily washed in the kitchen sink and often even in the dishwasher, whereas such options are not available for non-removable designs. Additionally, some devices with this feature may come with interchangeable plates of different types (see "Plates included"); and if a removable plate is damaged, you only need to buy a similar replacement part — there's no need to replace the entire grill or take it for repair.
— Upper plate height adjustment. The ability to manually adjust the height of the upper plate. The user can choose a position below which the plate should not descend. This slightly complicates the setup but provides some advantages and additional possibilities. First and foremost, it allows for "contactless" cooking — when the upper plate does not touch the products, and heating from above occurs only through thermal radiation.
— 180° opening. A feature primarily found in contact grills and some pizza makers (see "Type"). When the lid is opened to 180°, such a device effectively turns into a barbecue grill with two separate working surfaces. Thus, this feature allows for grilling not only in a "closed" but also in an "open" manner. In some such models, separate temperature control is provided (see below), further expanding functionality.
— Separate temperature control. In grills with this feature, the working surface is divided into two parts, and the temperature of each can be adjusted independently of the other. Most of these models are contact grills with the ability to open to 180° (see above) — in them, you can separately adjust the temperature of the main surface and the lid. In the "open" work format, this allows for simultaneously cooking dishes that require different temperature modes; and with a closed grill, separate regulation can provide different processing intensities from above and below — for example, browning the bottom half of a burger and only slightly heating the top. There are also open grills where the working surface is divided into two independent temperature zones; however, this feature significantly complicates the design and increases its cost, so very few such models are produced.
— Thermometer probe. A device for measuring the temperature of a dish and determining its degree of readiness. The thermometer probe is a thin rod with a temperature sensor at the end. Measurements with it can be conducted both on the surface and inside the product, allowing you to determine the dish's readiness or roughly estimate the remaining time until it's cooked.Surface material
Nowadays, among electric grills, you can find models with
metal,
ceramic and
stone surfaces, as well as devices that use
both metal and stone. Here is a detailed description of each of these options:
— Metal. The most popular plate material nowadays, found in all types and price categories of electric grills. Metal is relatively inexpensive, it can be easily given both a smooth and ribbed shape. Surfaces made of this material are durable and reliable, in addition, they have minimal thermal inertia (they heat up and cool down quickly, and also react almost instantly to changes in temperature settings). For additional convenience, metal plates can be supplemented with a non-stick coating - it, as a rule, requires careful handling and does not tolerate contact with metal utensils, but it significantly facilitates cleaning and in many cases allows cooking without the use of oil. In addition, surfaces made of this material can be easily made removable.
— Stone. Stone work surfaces are found mainly among barbecue grills and raclette makers (and can be
square,
round,
rectangular,
oval); there are other types of devices with this feature, but they are very few. In general, this material is durable, re
...liable and practical: it has certain non-stick properties and at the same time easily tolerates contact with metal spatulas, forks, etc. In open-format grills (including raclette makers), stone plates are massive and have a fairly high thermal inertia, but these points can be both disadvantages and advantages. Thus, significant weight contributes to stability and reduces the likelihood of moving or tipping over the grill; and the ability to retain heat after switching off can be very useful in some cases - for example, in the same raclette maker, due to this, the products on the top plate can remain warm throughout the meal. The disadvantages of this material include, first of all, the complexity of production and relatively high cost.
— Metal and stone. Grills equipped with two types of working surface at the same time — metal and stone. Almost all such devices are raclette grills (see “Type”). The features of each of the mentioned materials are described in detail above, but here we note that the specific format of their combination may be different. The most popular are combined surfaces — part stone, part metal; in this case, the stone is made only smooth, and the metal can also be ribbed (see “Plate surface”). In any case, such a combination allows you to fry different types of products at the same time; and after cooking, you can dump everything on the stone surface, which cools slowly and keeps the contents hot well. Somewhat less common are raclette grills with two replaceable plates — one metal, the other stone. They are in many ways similar to the first type, but do not allow the simultaneous use of different types of materials.
— Ceramic coating. Ceramic and glass-ceramic surfaces are found mainly among contact grills — although there are other devices with plates made of these materials, including barbecue grills (see "Type"). Such a surface has good non-stick properties and is easy to clean from dirt — if necessary, ceramics can even be cleaned with abrasives. On the other hand, ceramics should be protected from impacts and strong temperature changes, since all this can lead to chipping, cracking and peeling of the working surface of the grill.Work surface size
The size of the work surface installed in the grill — that is, the surface intended for the cooked products.
The amount of food that can be cooked directly depends on this indicator at a time. On the other hand, a large work surface requires high power, and also directly affects the overall dimensions of the grill. Therefore, when choosing according to this indicator, it is necessary to take into account the expected volumes of cooking and the amount of space available for installing the device first of all.
Note that this parameter is indicated by the length and width of the working surface, regardless of its shape. Therefore, the same dimensions — for example, 30x30 cm — can mean both a square and a round device, while the usable area in the first case will be noticeably larger than in the second. So in such cases, it will not prevent clarify the specific shape of the working surface.
Plates included
The number of individual plates in the device delivery set.
For operating the contact grill (see "Type"), two plates are needed, for other types of grills, one is enough. So if the characteristics state more such parts (4 or more for contact models, 2 or more for the rest) — this means that the device has removable plates (see "Functions") and is equipped with several types of plates that can be changed to your discretion. Most often, such replacement parts differ in the shape of the surface (see "Surface of the plates"); in addition, the set may include specialized devices for waffles, for pancakes (see below), etc.
A separate case in this regard is represented by pizza makers (see "Type"): although they use two-sided heating, but only one complete plate can be indicated in the characteristics. In such cases, we are talking about a removable plate that is attached to the upper half of the device (lid): when this part is installed, the pizza maker actually turns into a contact grill, and without it there is free space under the lid, which is convenient for cooking pizza and other similar dishes.
