"Smokeless Grills"

[flhrci]

Apparently they have become a thing for indoor grilling. Any reviews on them? Just curious if they are worth the money are really smokeless.

 

[Zeldman]

If there ain't no smoke, it ain't grillin'....

 

[Sac Arrow]

They just look like portable electric ranges to me. I dunno.

 

[flhrci]

I guess @Matthew will have to make a determination on this one.

 

[Matthew]

I guess @Matthew will have to make a determination on this one.

I guess they have their place:

If you don't use the broiler, and you can't use an outdoor grill (apartment), or a George Foreman, then a countertop grill might be handy.

I'd be careful of grease flare-ups, though. Since they heat from below, instead of from above like a broiler, you'll have stuff dripping down into the burners. Some stovetop grills have an exhaust fan that draws across the cooktop to pull smoke through a filter. Without that, even if it says "smokeless", that doesn't mean the food itself won't smoke, it just means the heat source doesn't smoke.

 

[denverpilot]

There’s no such thing. The smoke detector is going to go off.

(Note: Some built ins have downdraft fans that will actually evacuate smoke but hire someone else to clean the thing.)

 

[asicer]

Be careful with the packaging. I've seem some that are not smokeless but rather smoke-less (as in "less smoke", comparatively speaking).

 

[MuseChaser]

There' s no point in grilling if you don't get some smoke to add to the flavor. Assuming you get one that gets hot enough to do it (the one we tried years ago failed to do even this), the only remote resemblance to "grilling" will be the faint grill marks. If grill marks are the goal, a cast iron grill pan on a stovetop works much better anyway... Or a branding iron shaped like an ood fashioned potato masher.