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Do Indoor Grills Work?
Did you know that you can grill most food indoors? There are grills designed for this particular purpose. On the other hand, you cannot use an outdoor grill inside your house.
Do indoor grills work? Indoor grills work and cook effectively as outdoor grills do. However, there is a slight difference in flavor on foods cooked on indoor grills compared to foods cooked on a typical grill using a flame. This article is about indoor grills and how they work.
Types of Indoor Grills
Before we look into how indoor grills work, let’s highlight types of indoor grills. There two types of electric grills, i.e. open and contact grills.
Open grills have a relatively similar design to an outdoor grill and require you to flip your food halfway for even cooking. An excellent example of an open grill is the Atgrill Electric Indoor Grill. On the other hand, contact grills have two cooking surfaces, i.e. one on top and bottom, and do not require flipping foods.
How do Indoor Grills Work?
Indoor grills cook the same way outdoor grills do. Usually, they have a cooking surface where you place your food and an electric heat source underneath that cooking surface. A unique thing about indoor grills is that they don’t produce smoke since they don’t cook on flames.
To cook on an indoor grill, you need a flat surface in your kitchen where you place the electric grill and electric power source nearby. The next step entails preheating your electric grill for about 10-20 minutes, depending on how hot you want your grill and the food you’ll be cooking. Various foods are cooked on different heat levels. However, you should attain an ideal temperature of 350 degrees F after preheating the grill.
Once the grill is hot, you’re ready to start grilling. Most indoor grills have a non-stick cooking surface; therefore, using oils or butter is not necessary. You’ll be cooking on high yet intense heat; thus, you will have to turn over the food to attain even cooking on both sides when using an open grill. A contact grill cooks using two plates; thus, you will not turn over foods, and you will reduce the cooking time. Check out our guide on how to grill on electric grills.
Cooking on indoor grills is such an easy process, and so is the cleaning and maintenance. After you have grilled your food and removed it from the cooking surface, you should clean the grill. Switch off the grill and let it cool down. Most electric grills come with a removable cooking plate. Remove it and drain any oils that might be on it. You can wipe it with a damp towel then a dry cloth. You can as well clean it in a dishwasher. However, your power cord and temperature dial should not get into contact with water.
Benefits of Indoor Grills
Below are reasons why indoor grills are great for cooking.
1. Compact and portable
Electric indoor grills feature a compact design. That makes it easy to move from one place to another. Also, it makes it easy to store and occupies minimum space. They are also lightweight.
2. Year-round use
Unlike outdoor grills, indoor grills can cook throughout the year. Electric grills cook during summers, winter, and any period of the year. They are not affected by adverse weather conditions.
Additionally, they are smokeless and use no flames; thus, they are safe to cook indoors anytime you need grilled foods.
Related: How Do Smokeless Grills Work? A Guide For Beginners
3. Even heat distribution
Electric grills have a heating element underneath the cooking surfaces that heats them evenly. You can hardly have parts of the grills that are hotter than others. Therefore, your food is cooked uniformly
4. Versatility
You can cook a variety of foods on an electric grill. The fact that you can control the heat levels of the grill allows you to set a suitable temperature for that specific food you’re cooking.
Additionally, electric-indoor grills can be used on balconies, patios, or rooftops. You can read here about foods you can cook on electric grills.
5. No restrictions
Most states and property owners do not allow the use of charcoal and gas grills indoors. However, electric grills are ideal for the grill to cook indoors because they are safer and virtually smokeless.
6. Affordability
Indoor grills are very affordable. For instance, you can easily find an electric indoor grill costing less than $60.
Contrary to outdoor grills, electric grills do not require you to keep refilling gas tanks or buying charcoal now and then.
Bottom Line
Indoor grills are great and work even better than the typical outdoor grills. They are easy to use and have even heat distribution on the cooking plates. Also, you can cook a variety of foods indoors.
However, the flavor of foods cooked on electric grills differs to some extent from that of outdoor grills because there are no flames used to cook. The good thing is that there are ways of getting a charcoal flavor on electric grills.
