5 Best Electric Grills for Indoor Reviews 2021

You may live in a climate that’s warm year-round, but there will still be days where the weather outside is frightening. But you want that juicy, barbecued steak or a tender, grilled flank of salmon.

The aroma and even the visual blackened grill marks make it all worthwhile. People who live in four-season climates have the same dilemma. How do you conquer the inclement weather? By buying the best electric indoor grill!

Indoor electric grills are smokeless and provide heating elements that reach outdoor grill temperatures without the coals, wood, and smoke. Along with the convenience of grilling indoors, these grills generally have features you won’t find on outdoor grills, like indicator lights and LCD information screens. Most indoor electric grills have removable grids that can go in the dishwasher for easy cleanup.

Indoor grills are made with two sides that come together and are considered ‘contact’ indoor grills. These are great for Panini sandwiches and burgers. Others are open and don’t fold. These typically hold more food than contact grills and are better for groups of people or family dinners.

Read on the learn more about taking your barbecue inside and why we chose our TOP PICKS in electric grills for indoors!

BRAND	Image	WEIGHT	GRILL SIZE	WARRANTY
#1 Best Choice T-fal GC702		11.6 lbs	14″x 13″ x 6″ 18″ power cord	Lifetime Limited Warranty
#2 George Foreman		12.8 lbs	17″ x 7″ x 14″ 24″ power cord	3 Year Limited Warranty
#3 Hamilton Beach (38546) 3 in 1		8 lbs	13″ x 17″ x 10″ 18″ power cord	1 Year Limited Warranty
#4 Zojirushi EB-CC15		7.75 lb	12 5/8″ x 18 3/4″ x 3″ 5.2 foot power cord	1 Year Limited Warranty
#5 Swissmar KF-77045 Classic 8		19 lbs	14″ x 9″ x 5.5″ 35″ power cord	1 Year Limited Warranty

Top Electric Indoor Grill For The Money

BT-fal GC702 OptiGrill Stainless Steel Indoor Electric Grill

The poT-fal OptiGrill is made from durable stainless steel and is our TOP PICK for indoor electric grilling! This easy to use grill comes with 6 pre-set programs so you can set it for whichever food you’re grilling.

There are settings for burgers, poultry, red meat, sausage, fish, and for sandwiches. Built-in technology detects the thickness of your food and with the pre-programmed option you choose, it cooks it to perfection.

A purple LED purple light appears for preheating and progresses from yellow to orange and then to red indicating your food is perfectly grilled! Beeps will sound for each choice of doneness; rare, medium, and well done.

There’s also a frozen mode for defrosting foods and a manual mode for you to cook your own recipes or vegetables. Grill indoor with ease with this T-fal OptiGrill; it comes with an 1800-watt heating element, die-cast aluminum plates that are non-stick, and easy to use controls on the handle.

The slight angle on the cooking plate allows grease and fat to run down into the drip tray and away from your food. There’s ample cooking surface to make 4 servings and this indoor grill provides grilled foods without the smoke, ash, cleanup, and you won’t sacrifice flavor!

George Foreman 6-Serving Removable Plate Grill and Panini Press

The George Foreman Grill and Panini Press is a well known name in indoor grilling and this product comes with a 100-sqaure-inch grilling surface. It’s a perfect countertop appliance that brings the flavors of outdoor barbecuing inside! Or course, it has the patented sloped design that channels fat and grease away from your food keeping it healthy by reducing up to 42% of fat. LED readouts alert you to temperature and cooking time and counts down to required preheat. The plates in this George Foreman grill have cool-touch handles and are nonstick and dishwasher safe for easy cleanup. There’s also a drip tray included with this electric grill. Cook perfectly seared steaks, pork chops, chicken, and salmon without having to grill outside! Even shrimp in their shell can be flash cooked in 3 to 5 minutes for a quick meal.

Pros

• 1-1/2-inch floating hinge for thicker foods
• Cook 6 juicy burgers all at the same time
• Digital timer
• 24″ power cord
• Large, easy to clean drip pan

Cons

• Some users felt it took too long to heat up and didn’t quite reach searing temperatures.

Hamilton Beach 3 in 1 Electric Smokeless Indoor Grill & Griddle Combo

This Hamilton beach 3 in 1 dual zone Griddle/grill is designed to provide three appliances in one; It’s a 2-sided griddle, a griddle on one side and grill on the other, or a 2-sided indoor electric grill! Each grid can be put in the dishwasher or washed by hand in your sink. Having 2 separate sides allows less grease accumulation where you don’t want it and keeps fat contained. Even the grease tray can is dishwasher safe. Each side has its own temperature control so you can be grilling chicken on one side and braising asparagus on the other! The surfaces are PFPA free non-stick and each has a cool-to-touch handle. Cook perfectly grilled steaks and burgers without the need for oil and make perfectly grilled family meals indoors!

Pros

• 2 reversible, removable, nonstick cooking plates
• 180 square inches of cooking surface
• Large grill and griddle surface can cook up to 10 eggs at once
• Convenient temperature control for each side separately

Cons

• Some people complained oil would burn off on the heat coils, but this could be from improper cleaning of one side of the grill pan.

Zojirushi EB-CC15 Indoor Electric Grill

An indoor electric grill is the ultimate answer to grilling when you don’t have the option to grill outside and this Zojirushi grill is a perfect combination of precise grilling and easy cleanup. Extra oils and fats are drawn away from your food and collect in a dishwasher safe drip pan. Grill your chicken, burgers, fish, pork, and vegetables on this grill and feed a group of people or your family delicious grilled food cooked indoors! Zojirushi designed this countertop grill with safety in mind. The heat control provides power to the heating elements but unless the metal drip tray in inserted and the cooking grid is in place, the grill will not heat up. An extra long power cord gives you the freedom to place the grill almost anywhere in your kitchen. This indoor grill is the best way to grill without smoke and you’ll never have to deal with inclement weather!

Pros

• 176°F to 410°F heat range
• Cool-touch handles and base for easy transport
• Nonstick grill surface measures 12-1/2 by 9-1/4 inches
• Disassembles easily for cleaning
• 1,300 Watt Heating Element

Cons

• The base doesn’t have any handles to pick up the entire unit and carry it.

Swissmar KF-77045 Classic 8 Person Raclette with Granite Stone Grill Top

This traditional Switzerland styled grill is an 8 person grill for patio parties and kitchen dinners and takes its origins from the Swiss cheese recipe for Raclette. The French word racler means to scrape and when you eat the cheese dish called Raclette, you find yourself scraping the gooey melted cheese onto your dish. Part of the fun is the thickness of the cheese and its consistency and texture.

The term Raclette has a three part meaning; it’s the name of the cheese used, the actual dish created, and the type of electric grill used to melt the cheese.  This Swissmar Classic 8 Person Raclette grill is designed with the traditional Raclette in mind. It’s perfect for patio parties and as a centerpiece in your kitchen. Guests can join in on the fun if you’re making the Swiss dish, but it’s also a perfect grill for your burgers, steaks, poultry, fish, vegetables and more. The grill-top is a granite stone much like the original Raclette grills and it provides plenty of space for food for 8 people. This electric grill comes with a bonus! It includes 8 stylish Raclette dishes and8 Raclette spatulas! The top of the grill is flat and the bottom of the grill has circular indents for making pancakes. This is a unique and versatile electric grill!

Pros

• Cooking surface large enough to cook for 8 people
• Granite Stone grill top measures 9 by 14-inch
• 1200 Watts of power
• Variable heat control
• Bottom plate is durable cast iron

Cons

• Users complained the grill surface doesn’t heat up evenly.

Helping You Choose an Electric Indoor Grill

Which electric grill you purchase will depend on what foods you most often like to cook and grill. If you read our article on The Best Electric Grills, you learned there are two types of electric grills; open and contact. Open grills are like the Zojirushi EB-CC15 Indoor Electric Grill where there is a flat surface that does not have a hinge to fold over and the contact grill does fold over like our TOP PICK, the T-fal GC702 OptiGrill Stainless Steel.

Open or Contact

Part of the criteria for which electric grill you purchase includes you need an open or contact grill. If you often make Panini sandwiches, other grilled sandwiches, burgers, and other flat meats, a contact grill is fine. But if you want to provide a fantastic breakfast for your family or guests with bacon, eggs, and pancakes, the open electric grill is best like the Swissmar KF-77045 Classic 8 Person Raclette with Granite Stone Grill Top. We loved how this grill has two sides to grill on with one side having a round indent for pancakes!

Temperature Control

Proper temperature control is important if you’re new to indoor grilling or to cooking. Grills with preprogrammed settings for type of meat and doneness make grilling practically error-free. That’s why the T-fal GC702 OptiGrill Stainless Steel as our TOP PICK at #1. It’s preprogrammed and senses the thickness of your food.

Easy Cleanup

One very important feature is the ease of removing the grills, plates, and drip pans for cleaning. Non-stick is essential and then being dishwasher safe is just as important. You don’t want to purchase an indoor grill so you can enjoy the flavors of outdoor grilling and not be able to clean up without too much work.

Size and Capacity

How many people you will be feeding on a regular basis is relative to the size of your grill. If you live alone or with one other person and the kids are gone, a smaller surface is sufficient. But if your indoor grilling will entail making food for groups of people or a family, consider the capacity of the grill. The Hamilton Beach grill offers 180 square inches of grilling surface so you can juggle several foods at once for larger crowds. The actual size of the unit should be considered depending on the amount of counter space you have for it in your kitchen.

One additional consideration is the length of the power cord. If you have a certain place you’d like to put your grill in your kitchen, consider the length of the power cord. We provided each grill’s power cord length in our comparison chart above.

From Busy Schedules to Inclement Weather to Small Living Spaces… 

Busy? Bad weather? Living quarters too small? That’s when an electric indoor grill comes in handy! Don’t deprive yourself or your family and guests from the delicious tastes and juicy meats created on an outside grill. You can easily recreate the flavors of grilled food with an electric grill indoor and most of them fit in small spaces, are quick to heat up and cook, and easy to clean!

Rethink the electric grill stigma—if you use your favorite barbecue sauces, spice mixes, and match them to your choice of meats and foods, the best electric indoor grill will produce mouth-watering results! Now that you’ve read through our informative article and expert reviews, you can safely buy one of our top picks and begin your indoor grilling adventure!