Indoor Grills?

[verdict]

Hello, I am a college student looking to eat healthier and minimize the cleaning, so I was looking at indoor grills. I've been looking at the George Foreman grills and I was wondering if they're a good choice. There are ones under 30 dollars, and they're supposedly the right size for one person, which is the number I intend to cook for. I eat simple dinners now, and a typical dinner for me would be a chicken breast and some broccoli. I'm looking to toss everything inside the George Foreman and leave it at that.

Has anyone used a GF and can recommend it?

 

[Edcculus]

I personally think George Foreman sytle grills are absolutely useless. You can do everything that can do, and more with a good flat cast iron pan. They also make ones with ridges if you insist on the grill marks look.

I seriously use this pan for everything. Toasting sandwiches and or grilled cheese. Cooking burgers and steaks. (heat it blazing hot, 2 min on each side, then into a 400F oven until it reaches the correct temp). Pancakes, eggs, sausages, and pretty much anything else that can be grilled.

The George Foreman offers much less flexibility. Either a slab of meat, or a sandwich. Its also non stick, which I don't trust.

 

[kwigibocity]

For my money, this thing is way, way better...I use it all the time. Gets MUCH hotter than any others thanks to that cast iron core. You get what you pay for.

http://www.zojirushi.com/ourproducts/breadmakers/eb_cc.html

 

[DeusVult]

Hello, I am a college student looking to eat healthier and minimize the cleaning, so I was looking at indoor grills. I've been looking at the George Foreman grills and I was wondering if they're a good choice. There are ones under 30 dollars, and they're supposedly the right size for one person, which is the number I intend to cook for. I eat simple dinners now, and a typical dinner for me would be a chicken breast and some broccoli. I'm looking to toss everything inside the George Foreman and leave it at that.

Has anyone used a GF and can recommend it?

I've never used the GF one, but we did try a Cuisinart that was somewhat similar and more expensive. It doubled as an electric griddle and panini press. I cannot recommend these devices very highly. I'm going to affirm what Edcculus said. Buy some good cast iron for indoor grilling/searing/sandwich making. Here's a good yet relatively inexpensive brand:

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

We have their chicken fryer and a griddle. I also have a grill pan, reversible rectangular griddle/stovetop grill, and vintage Griswold 10" griddle, 7" skillet, and 12" skillet. I love cast iron. Check some antique stores and rummage sales and you can get some great old cast iron.

If you're set on the GF grill, I recommend checking some garage sales and thrift stores. These things are all over the place for not much money.

Another thing to consider, if you have an outdoor place for it, and are allowed to use it, would be a hibachi or small charcoal grill. When I was in a particular apartment, charcoal wasn't allowed, but I did have a cheap propane mini-grill and it worked great.

If you get two skillets, you can heat them both and stack one on top of the food in the other. You can also buy some nice cast iron presses to do the same thing. This stuff isn't terribly expensive, but it will last a lifetime, or several.

 

[pyrrhusmj]

Hello, I am a college student looking to eat healthier and minimize the cleaning, so I was looking at indoor grills. I've been looking at the George Foreman grills and I was wondering if they're a good choice. There are ones under 30 dollars, and they're supposedly the right size for one person, which is the number I intend to cook for. I eat simple dinners now, and a typical dinner for me would be a chicken breast and some broccoli. I'm looking to toss everything inside the George Foreman and leave it at that.

Has anyone used a GF and can recommend it?

WTH? College, healthy, broccoli? Does not compute

Michael

 

[verdict]

Thanks for suggesting some better methods of cooking, but right now I'm looking for fast and cheap. I am looking at some one siding grills as well, but I'll have to look around a bit.

How about this one? The user reviews say it's pretty good.

http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-HPS-SG2-Barbeque-120-Square-Inch-Nonstick/dp/B00176P77C/ref=pd_sbs_k_1

 

[Mako72]

Gotta +1 the cast iron. I had one of those grills(not GF but similar), they cook one side and leave one side about half done. Plus you have to preheat them. 5 min pre heat, 5-7 min one side, flip for 5-7 min to cook a couple chicken breasts. Cast iron(I use Lodge) turn flame on high, turn back to grab what I want to eat from fridge, turn flame down to med-med lo, cook a chicken breast about 3 min a side, way faster. Get a lid and you can go from frozen to done in almost the same time, toss frozen breast in & cover, cook 3-4 mins, remove lid and flip cook 3 min, flip cook 3 min and done.

Jay

 

[Edcculus]

I've also been eying one of these bad boys.

If you want "fast and cheap" you will probably be pretty disappointed. There isn't anything that is just going to cook a meal for you.

Instead of looking for the next food gadget that will deliver your meal, think about other forms of cooking. Single pot meals from many different cultures come to mind. If you got a wok, you can stir fry a plethora of different dishes extremely quickly. Get a rice steamer and you are in business. Look at making soups. Most soups are very easy to make, can store and reheat well are very tasty and healthy (and cheap). Since its getting into the fall/winter, there are some great hearty stews and chili recipes out there. The best thing about soups/stews are that a lot of them were created by poorer people in order to strech more expenisve or harder to come by items like meat.

You can also make stuff and freeze it. I make a batch of waffles every month. We have fresh waffles that morning, then freeze the rest.

 

[mr_economy]

Do any of you who recommend cast iron cookware have glass-top electric stoves? I very nearly bought several cast iron items, but ran across some warnings saying they don't tend to play nicely with the glass. My old Foreman finally bit the dust, and I'd love to replace it with something more basic if possible.

 

[DeusVult]

Do any of you who recommend cast iron cookware have glass-top electric stoves? I very nearly bought several cast iron items, but ran across some warnings saying they don't tend to play nicely with the glass. My old Foreman finally bit the dust, and I'd love to replace it with something more basic if possible.

We have a ceramic top range and use our cast iron on it all the time. Haven't had any scratches, but the manufacturer (Whirlpool) says that cast iron can scratch the top. Maybe we've just been careful?