
Rating 4.4 out of 5 stars with 111 reviews
4.4- Ease of use (46)
- Cooking Time (27)
- Heating Speed (13)
- Grill Marks (11)
- Taste (5)
- Smoke (35)
- Size (14)
- Price (3)
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- Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Solid Option for Simple Indoor Grilling
Philips Avance Collection Smoke-Less Indoor Electric Grill Solid Option for Simple Indoor Grilling Specs Price: $279.99 Color: Black Use: Indoor Weight: 12½ lbs. Power: Electric, 1660 Watts Cooking: Infrared Grate: Cast Aluminum Warranty: 1 Year Bonus: 30-Page Color Cookbook w/Grilling Recipes & Tips Summary: I’m pleasantly surprised w/how well this grill has worked out. Getting started is easy w/just 3 primary parts: the main housing, the liftoff grilling grid, & the removable grease tray. These take all of 1 minute to set up. The grill surface heats up very quickly (6-minute warmup time recommended prior to placing your food on the grill); so, you’ll want all your food prep work completed before you turn on the grill. The aluminum grilling grid surface heats up to a constant 446° F.—the perfect temp for grilling different types of food simultaneously, including searing meat, preserving tenderness & juiciness, & browning w/o burning—& maintains that temp throughout the cooking process. The simple temp control knob has just 3 settings: Off, High, & Low. The Low or ‘Keep Warm’ setting is self-explanatory as it allows you to keep your food warm once you’ve finished cooking it. Cooking: So far, I’ve grilled rib-eye steaks, chicken thighs, lamb chops, & vegetables, including zucchini, yellow squash, & mushrooms. (Be sure to cut your veggies large enough so that they don’t fall thru the grate to the bottom.) All the meats & veggies turned out fantastic & tasted very good, though the finished product doesn’t taste quite like charcoal-grilled food from a real outdoor BBQ. (But then neither do they taste that way w/an outdoor propane grill.) The die-cast aluminum grid does make authentic BBQ grill marks, & it did brown/grill all sides of our cuts surprisingly evenly, thanks, in part, to the heat reflectors. All in all, I got much better results w/this 112-sq. in. indoor infrared grill than w/my large, round, 240-sq. in., 15-serving, George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbecue Grill. Cleaning: The grill’s nonstick surface is much easier to clean than my Foreman grill, though I’ll be interested to see how durable the nonstick surface is after a year of use. Thankfully, there was minimal splatter. With my Foreman grill, there’s a ton of splatter; so, I have to line the sides of that grill w/walls of aluminum foil, or I end up scrubbing grease off everything around the cooking surface. And the Philips grill is “virtually smokeless” (boasting an 80% smoke reduction), although my nearby hallway smoke alarm did go off several times. (But it also goes off when I broil steaks in the oven.) Rather than your food cooking in its own grease, excess fat drops onto the XL-grease tray, allowing for leaner grilling. But the grill is too long to fit into a standard kitchen sink; so, soaking it isn’t feasible in our kitchen. Tip: Line the drip pan & the 2 non-heating-element sides for easier cleaning. The detachable parts of the grill are dishwasher safe. Portability/Space: This Philips grill takes up less space than my large Foreman grill. And this grill is light enough that’s it easy to move at just 12½ lbs., yet the rectangular cooking surface provides enough space to grill an adequate quantity of food for a family of 4. It’s large enough to grill 4 steaks or 6-to-8 hamburgers at once. Convenience: In my experience, cooking on this electric grill has proven far easier vs. the hassles associated w/my gas, propane, & charcoal grills, including even my other electric George Foreman grills. This Philips grill provides a simple & convenient way to grill indoors all year round, though I’ll probably use it mostly during the winter months & when it’s raining. Extras: Included in the box is a 30-page color booklet of grilling recipes, but I haven’t tried any of them yet. Electric Power Cord: Philips gives the user a pretty short leash. Based upon our limited counter space available for grilling, due to our many other kitchen countertop appliances, we don’t have an open/unused power receptacle immediately adjacent to our preferred spot for grill placement. So, a power cord longer than 40” would be helpful. Safety: The infrared heating lights (& reflectors) are extremely bright. There’s a warning not to stare at them, which seems obvious, but it’s difficult not to look down at them during the cooking process as I’m turning, repositioning, & monitoring the food on the grill. I’m seriously considering donning my polarized sunglasses the next time I grill. Durability: I wonder about the longevity of the reflector surfaces, which I find are accumulating burn spots from dripped grease w/each successive grilling session. Because they’re so hard to clean (dishwashing soap & hot water won’t cut it), it seems logical that the gradual buildup of these “stains” will reduce the efficacy of the grill over time. Price: The grill is a bit pricey for the value, but it’s far less expensive than a large outdoor grill. Bottom Line: 4 stars out of 5—I recommend this product. This Philips indoor infrared grill is a wonderful & convenient alternative to bulky, cumbersome, multi-step outdoor grills. I’ll be using this grill often.
Posted by CriticalEye
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Very nice addition to our kitchen
Philips - Avance Collection Indoor Electric Grill - Black My family at home is now only my wife and myself. We both work and have long drives home each day. Like many families you just want your dinner to be fast and easy. The evenings go by to fast before you are back at work again. We both love grilled foods but we haven’t used an outside grill because it is just too much of a hassell. Between the time to prepare the grill and actually cook a meal on it takes to much of our limited time. The Phillips grill has completely changed that for us. It is really fast at both getting started up and actual cooking times are greatly reduced. One complaint is the same for any countertop appliance which is the room it takes. We have a small kitchen and did have the space but it would be something to consider. The grill uses infrared heat and Phillips claims up to 80% reduction in smoke. This will depend on what you're actually cooking but some foods you don’t even see any smoke. Others you might have smoke but it's never anything even close to any outside grill. The grill is very easy to clean and the two main parts to clean are dishwasher safe. You probably can’t get any outside grill to even fit in a dishwasher. Of course that also is because the actual cooking surface isn’t that large but it can fit two good size steaks and maybe a third if there not to big. The fact is this grill does perform as claimed and cooks fast with a minimum of cleanup and you never get the burning you would over a flame. If you looking to grill a quick steak or any other number of choices this grill is a great addition. There is only one control that turns the grill on and it has two settings. The second is full on and the first is a keep warm setting. Thats a nice addition since you will need to learn to adjust your cooking times as you get used to using the grill. There is no actual temperature adjustment here. Within a minute or two the grill gets to 446 degrees and that’s it. The perfect cooking temperature without actually burning your meal. Grilling can really make a quick meal something special. The Philips grill is a great addition and has made it possible to expand our meal choices in a way I can’t think of any other countertop appliance that can. It comes highly recommended but you will want to leave in on a counter and not put it in a cabinet like so many other appliance end up.
Posted by Reddog
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Lights - Action - Dinner!
When I first saw the Grill on-line pictures it looked Big, which was a bit of a concern for us due to counter space and storing. Turns out the grill is not overly large and fits our needs to a T. Sits nicely on the kitchen counter and found space in my utility shelve for storage. Cleaning. It could not be more simple and easy, grease from meats drops into a removable tray. The infrared lights do not point toward the tray so the grease is not cooked further, you do not end up with hard baked grease. Simply spray warm water onto the tray to wash away some of the cleanup, then we swiped the pan with a sponge and everything came out in one swipe. NO Scrubbing. Kudos, could not be easier. The grill as well is simple to clean after cooking, not hard baked on particles. The grill appears to be have been made for our sink as the raised feet underneath the grill made for keeping the grill steady in the cooker fit exactly within our sink. Makes for, again a simple cleanup. First meal. We went for Brats and sliced grilled vegies. The Brats and grilled vegies came out spectacularly, could not have been more delicious. Lovely grill marks on the Brats and perfectly grilled bell peppers, mushrooms and onions. Yummy, thumbs up all around the kitchen table. Second meal. Went with 1” Pork Loin Steaks to see how the grill handled the thick steaks. The experience would lead me to go with a less thick cut next round due to how the infrared works. The infrared fires more directly at the bottom of the steaks rather than sides. We ended up holding up the steaks a bit to get the sides fully cooked, not a big deal, but will cook thinner cuts in the future which should work well. Was the Pork Good? Absolutely delicious. Very little smoke was produced from the brats, just a wisp. The Pork Loin Steaks did produce more smoke as I expected, it is not smokeless, but it is from our observation less than cooking in a skittle on the stove. Reason for that is the grease falling under the cooking area into pan below and not being cooked further. The grill can hold two large steaks with a cooking time of approximately 15 minutes. Believe you could cook about six hamburgers, as for Brats load up the grill! Big Pluses: Convenience of indoor grilling, similar to a gas grill for flavor Quick, easy meal without messing up the kitchen Easy, fast clean up (love it) Infrared Cooking – cool stuff And not last but least – wonderfully cooked food, your taste buds will thank you Do pay heed to the instruction on not staring into the infrared lamps, it is not comfortable. That being said, you still have to look into the grill area to cook and cannot avoid the lamps completely. Not a big issue. Like grilling, easy clean up and tasty eats? Than you will enjoy the Grill.
Posted by vrs99
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
great
great for indoor & easy to clean. there’s little smoke but its ok as long you are enjoying the grilling this winter.
Posted by kuwatog
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Very little smoke
Grill is relatively small, good for one or two portions at a time. Grilling any meats or vegetables does produce smoke from the food itself, there's no way around it. However this grill keeps the grease pan relatively cold so it does not keep on searing the oils and grease on the tray. The heating elements are recessed on the sides and covered by a glass. A steak takes about 18 minutes (thick cut, medium temperature). Heat seems consistent around the edges. Vegetables produce almost no smoke, a lean beef cut produces some smoke and a sausage would produce a bit more smoke. However it is actually a lot less smoke than cooking a beef on the stove. Cleaning is relatively quick. The grill top is solid aluminum (coated black) and the grease pan is deep enough to handle with ease. It slides to one side. The side panels are not removable, so it's impossible to keep perfectly clean, but it's simple to clean well enough so it doesn't grease up with moist paper towels. The grill and pans are dishwasher safe, but it's simpler to just rinse them with dish soap and hot water. It would've been better if the inside walls of the grill were removable. It comes with simple instructions and a recipe book. The only control on the switch is off/warming/on. So it's simple to use, lightweight, doesn't produce a lot of smoke, cooks consistently and is easy to clean most of it.
Posted by emiliosic