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All considered, I decided to give this Sanyo indoor grill a 5-star rating. It's probably more like 4.5 stars, but Amazon doesn't allow that. I'll explain.
On the plus side, I really like the simplicity of this grill. It's also light-weight, registering a little under seven pounds, which means it's easy to move around - no breaking your back! It's also quite easy to clean: just soapy warm water and dry! The grill consists of three pieces: a metal grill, a sheet metal oil drip pan, and a plastic base. The base does feel a little insubstantial, but the whole thing, put together, is quite sturdy. The 200 in^2 cooking surface is good for a family of up to four.
I also loved the price: I never imagined I could have a quality indoor grill for such a low price. (Thanks to Amazon, too?) This is probably what tilted me to the five-star rating. The grill, made in China, is of pretty good build quality, and looks like it'll last a long time. The price and value just can't be beat.
Above all, the grill really gives you delicious BBQ food! I've grilled steaks, pork chops, burgers, franks, chicken breasts, chicken legs, chicken wings, vegetables, and more, and *each and every time* the food came out absolutely delicious. For example, I bought 2 pounds of semi-boneless rib steaks at Shaw's for ten bucks. I sprayed the grill with some oil spray, pre-heat the grill to 350 F degrees (which took about 20 minutes), and then grilled the steaks (together with a couple burger patties and some green peppers) for about 15 or 16 minutes to well-done. Then my family enjoyed a delicious steak meal. Not counting the cost of the grill itself, but including electricity (the grill is rated at 1300W), the whole meal came to less than $15 for four full-sized adults! Imagine if we had eaten out at a steakhouse; the last time I went to a steakhouse in Manhattan, I had to shell out over $80 per person, with no appetitizer ordered and only tap water! In fact, I found my own grilled steaks (served with Diet Coke bought on sale) even better. Even if the Sanyo had gone meet its makers after this one meal, I'd have more than broken even on the meal, compared to any restaurant that serves steaks.
So I'm really thrilled about the value and the quality of the food.
Now, why not a full-hearted five stars? Well, because this is a low-cost product, there are a couple items that I dislike. One, the thermostat is a joke; it has temperature ranges like "200-250" and "300-425" but doesn't give you exact markers, so you have to guess where to turn the knob to in order to preheat to 325. Not a big deal after a few tries, and I seem to get it right (more or less) each time even though I'd never operated a grill, indoor or outdoor, before. Two, cooking time is not short, period. Preheating to 300 takes about 15 minutes and to 425 takes over 20 minutes. Cooking itself takes between 10 and 20 minutes depending on what you cook and the meat's thickness. Also, the cooking time seems to vary with room temperature.
Three, more important, this grill is not completely smokeless. The oil spray will give out the most smoke, although it hasn't set off our smoke alarm yet. (I keep the doors and kitchen windows open when cooking.) In fact, I don't think any open grill can give you smokeless cooking. As long as you have oil heated to over 300 degrees, you will get smoke. Please keep this in mind if you live in a meticulously maintained house and cannot stand any grill smoke.
But all in all, I love this grill. I'd gladly buy another one any time. While grilled meat may not be healthy, this grill cooks yummy BBQ meat and veggies and saves me tons of money. I recommend this grill.
On the plus side, I really like the simplicity of this grill. It's also light-weight, registering a little under seven pounds, which means it's easy to move around - no breaking your back! It's also quite easy to clean: just soapy warm water and dry! The grill consists of three pieces: a metal grill, a sheet metal oil drip pan, and a plastic base. The base does feel a little insubstantial, but the whole thing, put together, is quite sturdy. The 200 in^2 cooking surface is good for a family of up to four.
I also loved the price: I never imagined I could have a quality indoor grill for such a low price. (Thanks to Amazon, too?) This is probably what tilted me to the five-star rating. The grill, made in China, is of pretty good build quality, and looks like it'll last a long time. The price and value just can't be beat.
Above all, the grill really gives you delicious BBQ food! I've grilled steaks, pork chops, burgers, franks, chicken breasts, chicken legs, chicken wings, vegetables, and more, and *each and every time* the food came out absolutely delicious. For example, I bought 2 pounds of semi-boneless rib steaks at Shaw's for ten bucks. I sprayed the grill with some oil spray, pre-heat the grill to 350 F degrees (which took about 20 minutes), and then grilled the steaks (together with a couple burger patties and some green peppers) for about 15 or 16 minutes to well-done. Then my family enjoyed a delicious steak meal. Not counting the cost of the grill itself, but including electricity (the grill is rated at 1300W), the whole meal came to less than $15 for four full-sized adults! Imagine if we had eaten out at a steakhouse; the last time I went to a steakhouse in Manhattan, I had to shell out over $80 per person, with no appetitizer ordered and only tap water! In fact, I found my own grilled steaks (served with Diet Coke bought on sale) even better. Even if the Sanyo had gone meet its makers after this one meal, I'd have more than broken even on the meal, compared to any restaurant that serves steaks.
So I'm really thrilled about the value and the quality of the food.
Now, why not a full-hearted five stars? Well, because this is a low-cost product, there are a couple items that I dislike. One, the thermostat is a joke; it has temperature ranges like "200-250" and "300-425" but doesn't give you exact markers, so you have to guess where to turn the knob to in order to preheat to 325. Not a big deal after a few tries, and I seem to get it right (more or less) each time even though I'd never operated a grill, indoor or outdoor, before. Two, cooking time is not short, period. Preheating to 300 takes about 15 minutes and to 425 takes over 20 minutes. Cooking itself takes between 10 and 20 minutes depending on what you cook and the meat's thickness. Also, the cooking time seems to vary with room temperature.
Three, more important, this grill is not completely smokeless. The oil spray will give out the most smoke, although it hasn't set off our smoke alarm yet. (I keep the doors and kitchen windows open when cooking.) In fact, I don't think any open grill can give you smokeless cooking. As long as you have oil heated to over 300 degrees, you will get smoke. Please keep this in mind if you live in a meticulously maintained house and cannot stand any grill smoke.
But all in all, I love this grill. I'd gladly buy another one any time. While grilled meat may not be healthy, this grill cooks yummy BBQ meat and veggies and saves me tons of money. I recommend this grill.
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