Great Electric Grill
Written: Oct 10 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
 |
|
| Style: |
|
|
|
Pros: Convenient fuel-less grill with all the benefits of a fuel based grill without the mess.
Cons: Cleaning is a chore.
The Bottom Line: This is a great product if you love an the taste of outdoor grilled foods but want the ease of a small electric appliance.
|
|
|
| prolegomena's Full Review: DeLonghi Alfredo BG16 Sandwich Maker |
DeLonghi Alfredo Healthy Grill BG16
It’s so simple, it’s scary. This grill is just a heating coil that sits in a plastic holder. Okay, it also has a removable electric cord, a splash guard, and small cup and cover which can holds a marinade. The metal pieces are all coated with a non-stick surface that really, really works. The grill is electric and lightweight so that you can use it indoors or out.
As far as I am concerned the cup that holds marinade is a useless addition. I either want to marinade what I am going to cook and do it, or I don’t marinade. What I don’t need is an extra thing to wash or a “miracle-minute-marinade” that burns and adds little but olfactory stimulation.
This sounds like I’m down on the product but I am not. The DeLonghi is electric, so it has a small footprint for its grilling size. I love being able to store it out of sight in a cabinet. It is light enough that it is easy to move around. It can be used outdoors on any kind of a table (you don’t have to worry about coals, flames, or other incendiaries). Inside you can use it on a counter or on your stove. You could even use it in the middle of a dining table. But beware. If you are cooking something that throws a lot of smoke, you could set off your smoke detectors.
The surface of the grill is large enough to cook two to three pounds of meat at one time. The amount depends upon what you are cooking. Excess fat drips through the heating coil and lands in the plastic holder. Because the DeLonghi is electric it has heat settings that are consistent from use to use. The grill heats up quickly, and when you are done cooking it also cools off quickly. The part of the heating coil that is closest to the plug tends to be hotter than the part of the coil furthest away. Although some may think that this is a detriment, I like the idea that I have different areas of the grill to handle different cooking requirements. I can leave vegetables on the cooler part while keeping meats on the hotter part.
The plastic holder is a snap to clean. You can immerse it completely and food just doesn’t stick to it. You could also fill it with water to catch drips, but I have found no need to do this. The splash guard is a non-stick coated metal which is also a snap to clean. The marinade cup and cover is made of the same material, but since I don’t use it, I don’t clean it. And then there is the heating coil. It is also made of a non-stick coated mental. Most of the coil can be immersed, but not all of it. The coil is a pain to clean. The spaces between the metal are good for cooking, but make cleaning difficult. I usually wind up washing mine twice and then cleaning it with paper towels. You can get it clean, but it is not fun. Also since you hare a non-stick surface you can’t really use steel-wool. I have tried plastic scrubbers and toothbrushes among other things. I have not found a simple way to clean it.
I find that cooking with the DeLonghi is easy, quick and you can make those neat crisscross marks on meats. Steaks, chicken breasts, kabobs, etc. all come out great. Even hot dogs benefit from grilling on the DeLonghi. I do not like hamburgers on the grill, because the clean-up is worse than usual. But the hamburgers do come out great.
Over time, the heating coil has discolored. The discoloration of the coil does not seem to have affected the function of the grill. I have been using my grill constantly for a year, so I don’t know if this is a portent of early demise of this appliance, but I don’t think so.
Pros and Cons: I love the convenience of having a very useful, very small electric grill with a large cooking surface. And heavens, I hate cleaning it.
When I first saw this product, I just fell in love with it. I was looking for something that would give me cooking like a gas grill without being so large. It seemed perfect to me at the time. And after a year as well. I did compare it with the George Foreman grill, but I didn’t like the size of that product. I think the DeLonghi is for people who like the idea of an outdoor grill but don’t want to mess around with fuels. You shouldn’t buy it if you don’t have the time to deal with the mess of cleaning it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 85
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
prolegomena
|
|
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.