Kitchen grills

Over the past decade they have become very popular. Largely due to the lean mean grilling machine, the 'George Foreman' grill, which was introduced in 1995. An example of these grills is shown on the site's logo.

Portable, they simple plug into the nearest socket, and can be easily stored away in a cupboard. However, they appear to be a domestic version of a commercial electric griddle.

Restaurants up and down the UK use griddles to cook a wide variety of food. One example is the 'Little Chef', which has used griddles to cook the majority of it's menu for the past thirty years.

A typical commercial griddle has a flat cooking service, but for meats such as steak, some have grooves. The 'Beefeater' chain of restaurants uses large grooved grills to cook it's steak and chops.

The majority of 'George Foreman' grills are contact grills, the advantage being, that food is cooked on both sides, simultaneously. This apparently helps to seal in the flavour of the meat, lowers the cooking time, and cooks the food evenly.

Most of these grills are also nonstick, therefore, no oil or butter need be placed on the surface. The grills are also sloped, which allows juices to drain away, and a drip tray collects the runoff.

The downside is lack of choice, it appears the 'George Foreman' home portable grills have a near monopoly. When it comes to inexpensive, domestic, small, portable grills, virtually every major retailer only stocks this brand.

To find an alternative you need to search for 'commercial' alternatives. However, these are larger and more expensive. The cheapest alternative is to simple buy a griddled frying pan. Although it's not as quick, nor as convenient, it will produce similar results.