Surface material
Nowadays, among electric grills, you can find models with
metal,
ceramic and
stone surfaces, as well as devices that use
both metal and stone. Here is a detailed description of each of these options:
— Metal. The most popular plate material nowadays, found in all types and price categories of electric grills. Metal is relatively inexpensive, it can be easily given both a smooth and ribbed shape. Surfaces made of this material are durable and reliable, in addition, they have minimal thermal inertia (they heat up and cool down quickly, and also react almost instantly to changes in temperature settings). For additional convenience, metal plates can be supplemented with a non-stick coating - it, as a rule, requires careful handling and does not tolerate contact with metal utensils, but it significantly facilitates cleaning and in many cases allows cooking without the use of oil. In addition, surfaces made of this material can be easily made removable.
— Stone. Stone work surfaces are found mainly among barbecue grills and raclette makers (and can be
square,
round,
rectangular,
oval); there are other types of devices with this feature, but they are very few. In general, this material is durable, re
...liable and practical: it has certain non-stick properties and at the same time easily tolerates contact with metal spatulas, forks, etc. In open-format grills (including raclette makers), stone plates are massive and have a fairly high thermal inertia, but these points can be both disadvantages and advantages. Thus, significant weight contributes to stability and reduces the likelihood of moving or tipping over the grill; and the ability to retain heat after switching off can be very useful in some cases - for example, in the same raclette maker, due to this, the products on the top plate can remain warm throughout the meal. The disadvantages of this material include, first of all, the complexity of production and relatively high cost.
— Metal and stone. Grills equipped with two types of working surface at the same time — metal and stone. Almost all such devices are raclette grills (see “Type”). The features of each of the mentioned materials are described in detail above, but here we note that the specific format of their combination may be different. The most popular are combined surfaces — part stone, part metal; in this case, the stone is made only smooth, and the metal can also be ribbed (see “Plate surface”). In any case, such a combination allows you to fry different types of products at the same time; and after cooking, you can dump everything on the stone surface, which cools slowly and keeps the contents hot well. Somewhat less common are raclette grills with two replaceable plates — one metal, the other stone. They are in many ways similar to the first type, but do not allow the simultaneous use of different types of materials.
— Ceramic coating. Ceramic and glass-ceramic surfaces are found mainly among contact grills — although there are other devices with plates made of these materials, including barbecue grills (see "Type"). Such a surface has good non-stick properties and is easy to clean from dirt — if necessary, ceramics can even be cleaned with abrasives. On the other hand, ceramics should be protected from impacts and strong temperature changes, since all this can lead to chipping, cracking and peeling of the working surface of the grill.Plates included
The number of individual plates in the device delivery set.
For operating the contact grill (see "Type"), two plates are needed, for other types of grills, one is enough. So if the characteristics state more such parts (4 or more for contact models, 2 or more for the rest) — this means that the device has removable plates (see "Functions") and is equipped with several types of plates that can be changed to your discretion. Most often, such replacement parts differ in the shape of the surface (see "Surface of the plates"); in addition, the set may include specialized devices for waffles, for pancakes (see below), etc.
A separate case in this regard is represented by pizza makers (see "Type"): although they use two-sided heating, but only one complete plate can be indicated in the characteristics. In such cases, we are talking about a removable plate that is attached to the upper half of the device (lid): when this part is installed, the pizza maker actually turns into a contact grill, and without it there is free space under the lid, which is convenient for cooking pizza and other similar dishes.
Functions
Additional features of the electric grill.
Features such as
thermostat,
off timer and < a href="/list/43/pr-21604/">auto-cooking, can be found in all types of grills (see “Type”);
removable plates are also very popular, they are not found except in electric frying pans; and here is
fixing the height of the top plate,
opening 180° and
separate temperature control are relevant mainly for pressure grills (with rare exceptions). Here's a more detailed description of each of these features:
— Thermostat. Regulator that allows to automatically maintain the set temperature of the working surface. To do this, a special sensor monitors the temperature of the grill, turning off the heating when it reaches the desired value and turning it on again when it cools down by a few degrees. This allows to maintain the required cooking mode without any extra effort. Thermostats are very simple in design and inexpensive, and therefore are found in most modern electric grills.
— Timer. The timer that turns off the heating after a specified time. This feature saves the user from having to keep track of time: it is enough to set the desired value on the timer. Among other things, due to this, the risk of overcooking or “burning” the cooked dish is significantly reduc
...ed: such a nuisance can only occur if too much time was chosen for cooking. Note that the capabilities of the timer depend on the type of control (see "Control"): with mechanical control, the time, usually, is set quite approximately (sometimes with an accuracy of up to a minute or two), with electronic control — with an accuracy of up to a second.
— Autocook. The presence of auto-cooking programs in the grill — one or more. This feature differs from the timer described above in greater convenience and functionality. So, the user does not need to manually set the grill temperature for the operating time — usually, it is enough to select the type of product and the desired degree of roasting/warming up. A specific set of auto-cooking programs may be different, it should be specified separately; among the most popular options are “meat” (often with a choice of degree of roasting), “poultry”, “fish”, “burgers”, “sandwiches”, “sausages”, as well as a defrost mode.
— Removable plates. Possibility to remove the grill plate(s). The main purpose of this function is to make it easier to wash and clean the work surface after use. So, removable plates can be washed without problems in a kitchen sink, and often even in a dishwasher, while such features are not available for a non-removable design. In addition, some devices with this feature can be equipped with interchangeable plates of different types (see "Plates included"); and if the removable plate is damaged, it is enough to buy a similar part for a replacement — you do not need to change the entire grill or take it to repair.
— Plate height auto-adjustment. In grills with this feature, the top plate is mounted on a special hinge, which allows it to automatically adjust to the height of the food to be cooked. In this case, you do not need to make any additional settings — just lower the lid, and it, clinging to the contents, will itself take the optimal position. This height auto-adjustment differs from another similar function — manual height adjustment (see below). The disadvantages of this design, compared with the manual height adjustment, include the fact that the top plate must necessarily be in contact with the contents, there is no possibility to heat the products from above in a "non-contact" way. However, this moment is not so often critical; in addition, there are a fairly large number of models where the hinge is combined with manual adjustment.
— Fixation of the height of the plates. Possibility to manually adjust the height of the top plate. The user can select the position of the plate below which it should not fall. This complicates the setup somewhat, but provides some advantages and additional capabilities. First of all, this is the possibility of “contactless” cooking - when the top plate is not adjacent to the food, and heating from above occurs only due to thermal radiation.
— Opening 180°. A feature found primarily in contact pressure grills, as well as individual pizza makers (see “Type”). When the lid is opened 180 degrees, such a device actually turns into a barbecue grill with two separate working surfaces. Thus, this feature allows you to grill not only in a “closed” but also in an “open” way. And some similar models provide separate temperature control (see below), further expanding the functionality.
— Separate temperature control. In grills with this feature, the work surface is divided into two parts, and the temperature of each of them can be adjusted independently of the other. Most of these models are contact grills with the ability to open at 180° (see above) — they can separately adjust the temperature of the main surface and the lid. In the "open" format of work, this allows you to simultaneously cook dishes that require different temperature conditions; and when the grill is closed, due to separate adjustment, it is possible to provide different intensity of processing from above and below — for example, to brown the bottom half of the burger and only slightly heat the top. There are also open grills, in which the working surface is divided into two independent temperature zones; however, this possibility significantly complicates the design and increases its cost, so that very few such models are produced.
