Electric Grills: Are they better for you?

There are many types of grills that you can find out in the market: charcoal grills, gas grills, and more. One of the common but quite underrated grills you can find are electric grills- they have many things about them that make them better than others, and some that make them not as good.

Here is a list of the pros and cons of an electric grill to help you decide whether you want to commit to one or not.

PROS OF ELECTRIC GRILLS

Electric grills are very easy to use.

Other types of grills function differently. There are certain types of grills that need specific factors to work, the way a charcoal grill needs charcoal and a propane- gas grill needs a propane tank.

With an electric grill, however, all you need to do is press the switch button from ‘OFF’ to ‘ON’, and give it some time to heat up.

 Electric grills heat up faster than other grills.

Compared to other grills that need at least 20 minutes to reach cooking temperature, then an extra 5 minutes to make sure it is all equally fired up, an electric grill needs roughly 5 minutes to 10 minutes to heat up and allow you to get to cooking.

The heating element of an electric grill is usually either built in inside the cooking surface, or is directly below it.

And, while we’re on the topic of heat: electric grills can reach a wide variety of temperatures. From low to medium, to high-temperature settings, an electric grill can create intense heat for your cooking.

Electric grills are known to be healthier.

Healthy for both, your health and the environment’s health!

By using an electric grill to cook your food, you would not be using harmful gases and organic compounds that could take over your food. For example, soot and carbon can cover your steak and change the taste when one is using a charcoal grill.

As for the environment: electric grills don’t need nor use unsustainable fuels for gas.

Electric grills are considered to be safer.

Charcoal grills are known to pose the threat of fire due to sudden flare-ups; gas and propane- gas grills are known to be prone to explosions if not handled properly.

Electric grills? They can be a fire- risk only if the extension cord you are using is not suitable for outdoor use, and it is best to make sure you’re not exposing the cords, plug, or heating element to any water while it is in use. Besides that, there is not much of a risk if everything is handled correctly and taken care of well!

Electric grills can be used anywhere and everywhere.

While there are portable versions of charcoal and gas grills, there are certain places that completely prohibit the use of those devices due to the hazard they pose to people. Areas like public parks and apartments are known to have rules against the use of grilling machines.

An electric grill passes all the necessary local laws, and can be safely be installed and used in your home! They come in 2 different types and different sizes.

• Clamshell: this is the first type of electric grill you can find in the market. It comes closed.
• Open grill: this is the second type of electric grill you can purchase, and true to its name: it comes open on the top.

As for sizes, electric grills are known to come in varying sizes. There are small and compact electric grills that can be placed over the countertop in your kitchen, or on a table in your living room- perfect for those with small places! There are also larger sizes of electric grills that are perfect for cooking outdoors.

This specific type of grill also tends to come with a detachable dripping pan that catches any excess juices that drip down from your meat. You can re-use these juices or simply detach the drip pan and clean it easily.

Electric grills are quite easy to take care of.

With the more common grills (charcoal and gas grills), it is a known fact that you need to invest a lot of your time in the cleaning process. You need to ‘turn on’ your grill several times, and wait for it to cool down several times, you need to make sure you’re keeping up with constant care before and after using the grill, and you need to separate certain areas to clean them well lest they start to rust.

With an electric grill, however, the hassle is incredibly diminished.

To clean an electric grill, you simply need to:

1. Unplug the grill from the outlet, and allow it to mostly cool down.
2. Clean the grill plates with a wet cloth or wet paper towels.
3. Wash the detachable drip pan and allow it to dry.
4. Close the grill and allow it to dry and continue cooling down.
5. Lastly, give it a quick wipe with a cloth to make sure there is no leftover wet spots, nor any other gunk.

Now that we’ve listed some of the most important pros for electric grills, let’s talk about the cons.

CONS OF ELECTRIC GRILLS:

Electric grills don’t give the traditional grill flavor.

We ripped the band-aid right off: a big con of electric grills is that they don’t give the authentic and traditional flavor you can get from other grills.

Since you’re not quite working with charcoal nor gas, neither of does elements can give the food you’re grilling the usual flavor you’d seek out. However, it is because of those two missing elements that your food is considered ‘healthy’ and doesn’t come out with any charred sides or lighter fluid on it.

An additional point to this is that one can not usually sear their food when grilling with an electric grill. Most electric grills are designed to power off automatically for a set time when the temperature has reached its’ peak or been left turned on for too long of a time. Due to this, the process of searing is not quite possible seeing as it would need intense heat for a long time.

Electric grills need an outlet in order to work.

Since you’re working with an electric powered device, it goes by without a question that you need to plug your electric grill into an outlet for it to work.

Now, this does not need to be a bad thing, necessarily, but rather it’s more of an annoyance. Whether you want to use your grill indoors or outdoors, you are going to need to make sure that the area you’re positioning it has an outlet nearby, or you might need to add an extension cord into the equation.

Electric grills can rack up high electricity bills.

Seeing as electric grills can comfortably be used inside a house, one might be tempted to use it to grill any and all kinds of food almost every day. However, there are major setbacks in this ordeal, as frequent use of electric grills can result in high electricity bills.

An easy solution to this issue is lessening the use of the grill by limiting it to a few times a week or month.

In summary:

If you’re looking for a grill that can give you a maximum grilled flavor, an electric grill might not be for you.

If you’re looking for a grill that can save space and time, and give you a healthier alternative to your favorite dishes, an electric grill might be the perfect choice you can make.

Looking to know more about grills check out our gas grill vs charcoal grill article we dive into details on which parts are different and which characteristics they share is a fun read check it out here