Tips and Advice - Kitchen Equipment

An indoor grill is an appliance that makes healthy eating quick and easy. Meats, vegetables, and sandwiches grill up in minutes, cooking both sides at one time.

Make sure to purchase a grill with removable plates. That one feature means cleanup will be a snap. If the plates don’t remove, you’ll have to drag the entire grill over to the sink for cleanup. It’s a messy process, because the grill itself is not submersible in soapy water. I always ended up with grill juice all over my counter when I cleaned my old one. I now have removable grill plates, and I’ll never buy another indoor grill without them.

The George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine and the Sensio Bella Cucina 3 in 1 Grill are two top choices.

Once you have your new grill, welcome it to the family with Healthy Grilled Monte Cristo Sandwiches.

George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine

Perhaps the most well known of all indoor grills, due to George Foreman’s popularity and marketing on television, these grills come in many sizes. Depending on your needs, you can buy a small one that grills one or two burger sized patties at a time, or a large one with enough room to grill a family meal.

The feature to look for in these indoor grills are removable grill plates. The model in this article is the one I own, and it has removable plates that can even be put in the dishwasher. Larger George Foreman grills even have stands that can be purchased for them. This makes them convenient to take outside on the patio or porch.

FUN rating: 14

Features: 4 (It would be nice if it had a temperature control dial.)

Usability: 5

Nice or Necessity: 5

Sensio Bella Cucina 3 in 1 Grill

To get the most bang for your buck, check out this Sensio Bella Cucina 3 in 1 Grill. It features interchangeable plates that snap in and out. It has a sandwich grill, a regular grill, and a waffle maker.

It’s compact and light, so you can leave it on your counter or easily store it in a cupboard. If you use it for waffles, you may have the usual trouble of cleaning up the waffle batter overflow. But for grilling and sandwiches, cleanup is simple. Just pop out the plates, put them in the dishwasher, and use a wet rag on the body of the grill. For versatility, this one can’t be beat.

FUN Rating: 14

Features: 4 (No temperature control dial makes it easy to overcook the food.)

Usability: 5

Nice or Necessity: 5

Suzanne Pitner loves to cook, knit, and teach. She has won several Editor’s Choice awards as a feature writer at Suite 101 and she maintains the TeacherWriter blog.