De'Longhi Perfecto Indoor Grill with Lid, Black

This has got to be one of the best Amazon purchases I've made. My condo building has several communal gas grills outside, but hauling food up and down to them, plus waiting if other people are using them is a pain. I originally tried one of those stove-top grills that look like a doughnut with a metal grate that sits over and, while it worked, it was small and very inconvenient. After scouring Amazon I found the Delonghi. The great reviews and the glass lid are what sold me on it. There is an electrode that plugs into a slotted grill that sits in a plastic frame over a water filled tray. As your food cooks the grease, fat, and oil drip down into the water. You can use the glass lid to help increase temperatures and keep grease and smoke from splattering up. Temperature control is not precise - it's set by a rotary knob from level 1 to level 5. I usually let the grill heat up at level 5 for about 5 minutes, sear my meat on each side, and then drop the temperature down to 3.5 or so and let it finish cooking. Food is going to take a bit longer to cook than it would with a charcoal or propane grill since I believe those get hotter faster. Clean up is not bad. There's a bit of confusion as to what parts of this will go into the dishwasher. I have seen where people have either claimed, or worded badly, that the grill part can go in the dishwasher. Don't do that. You can put the water tray and the lid in. The plastic frame should not get dirty, and if it does just wipe it down with some soapy water. I clean the grill like I would my cast iron skillet. When it cools down I wet it down in the sink and use a gentle plastic scrubber (I have one from Dawn) which gets the big residue off of the grill. Then I follow up with a paper towel and just get the stray grease and water. You don't want to use soap on it, as that will remove the seasoning that builds up from use. The grilling area is bigger than I had expected, but if you're looking to do a cookout for 4 or more people you're going to be disappointed. This is perfect for two people to have two burgers and four hot dogs cooking at one time. The only thing that would make this grill better would be if you could select a different temperature for each side of the grill. I don't think any electric grill does that though, so I don't hold it against it.

finally, a grill that got it right! I used to cook everything on my grill outside -- meat/chicken/fish , vegetables, potatoes -- and loved both the taste and the ease of cooking two or three meals at once. The apartment I live in now doesn't allow grilling outside (even my electric grill set off the smoke alarm) and I've tried 5 different "grill substitutes" in the past four years. I should have just gotten this one. Here are the pluses: it takes about as long to warm up as my outdoor grill -- 10 minutes. You season the grill part with oil, and then pop on the food; turn after the sear and turn again ... and its done. The genius part? the water tray in the bottom of the grill. This is typical of Korean table-top barbecues, but not typical in other more traditional countertop grills. The effect of this: no smoke, just steam at times. Other genius: the lid. My outdoor barbecue had a lid and that kept the food from drying out. None of the other countertop grills have a lid. The grease drips into the water tray -- which makes it easy to clean up. I bought this on Amazon because apparently all the kitchen stores in my area -- and I went to four of them - think that a multi-use countertop "panini grill" will do everything. well, it does -- badly. Save half the price of the multi-use implements, and get this one, which does one thing, but does it REALLY well.

I just received this item today. It is fabulous. I made boneless chicken breasts with a marinade consisting of 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup dijon, 1/4 cup melted butter, and 1/4 teaspoon of curry. I followed the directions to use the grill explicitly. I coated the grill very lightly with olive oil. I put some water in the tray and there was no smoke at all. I turned the heat up to 5 (the highest setting) for 10 minutes to preheat and kept the grill covered while it was heating. I poked holes in the chicken and basted them with the marinade. I put the chicken on the grill setting high for 3 minutes on each side, uncovered. Every time I turned the chicken I basted with more marinade. The chicken seared beautifully with grill markings on both sides. After 6 minutes on high, I lowered the grill to between 3 and 4, basted again, and covered for 6 minutes. I then flipped the chicken again, basted and cooked for another 6 minutes. They came out so delicious, juicy, moist - it was amazing. Chicken like this usually comes out dry but this was juicy and tender and the marinade which was a recipe I got from the internet was terrific. My kids both enjoyed it. Both are VERY picky eaters. I read all the reviews on this site and agonized over this purchase worrying about what was said in the negative reviews. I am not a cook at all. I am just learning but I followed the directions and I cannot reproduce ANY of the negative experiences stated here. It was also easy to clean. I followed someone's advice that said to place wet paper towels on the grill and then wipe it down with the paper towels. Just like that reviewer, my grill came out perfectly clean, as if it had come right out of the box. I hope this review helps someone. I may never grill outdoors again - this was so easy and quick and was such a great experience. I would give it 10 stars if I could.

I'm in Wisconsin, and we love to grill, and love brats. And I've spent plenty of winters freezing my rear off outside on the patio after shoveling a path to my gas grill, and I have another smaller Coleman tailgate grill in my garage as well, but sometimes you just want to use something easy and quick and not have to get dressed for the outdoors. Many have commented about how grease from one thing doesn't slide down on the top of whatever is beneath it on the grill, as it does in the Foreman units. And that's true, but the downside is that this leaves all those spaces between the bars to have to clean. So cleanup on this is quite a bit more involved than with the foreman. It's worth it however, since this really does a much better job. The Foreman grill never really resulted in anything that was much better than microwaving. The temp had issues, the klunky hinged top was a pain depending on where you were placing it to try to cook, and there was just too much to it. This is a much simpler item. The glass top is great so you can see how things are looking as you cook. The grease falls right into the pan which is easy to clean, and the fact that the pan and the grate come out so easily really makes it a far less annoying grill to work with than the others I've tried. The temp control works well and heats up quickly. There's little rubberish bottoms to keep it from sliding around the counter. I actually get it precariously balanced on the stove top grates, so I can use the vent fan on the microwave above the stove to vent out any smoke. Works like a champ. There's still no 100% replacement for the taste of something on a real grill, whether gas or an honest charcoal grill, but for convenience and quality, this one is the best option I've come across so far.

The generous area of the grilling surface, easy assembly, ease of cleaning the grilling pan or drip tray, 5 level temperature control, the perfect salmon that we enjoyed on the very 1st evening of owning this grill - any or all of these could have seduced me into rating it as 5, but I have still held back the feature that I liked most. It is the instruction manual! It is full of tips and hints that will amaze you. If you do not read it carefully with a know-it-all attitude and "what's different in grilling with this" smirk on your face, you will miss out on some seriously helpful tips on the use, maintenance and cleaning of the components. And once you miss out, you will probably break something or not able to grill a perfect dinner - and you will then come back to amazon to leave a bad feedback - I can almost visualize what has gone on with the few feedbacks on here which are less than 4 stars! Of course, I am not saying that a particular unit will not be faulty, that can always happen. but only if you are still complaining after reading the instructions and using it as intended and designed, only then you should consider yourself so unlucky. That said, there are points which impose a few restrictions. For example, though the glass lid leaves a fair amount of space under it, it is not enough for a awkward shaped drumstick, say. So if you are grilling a well-nourished chicken's thighs or drumsticks, you will not be able to use the glass lid. Don't get me wrong - the piece will need to be REALLY awkward for it not to fit, but still that's a possibility. Another question I had was though the instruction manual states that the drip tray is machine cleanable, it does not say that regarding the glass lid. But all my instinct tells that the glass lid should also be machine cleanable - I just can't understand why it might be not. The quality and durability of the non-stick has not yet been tested by us - but again, the manual explicitly requests NOT to use metals on it. Wood or good quality plastic - it says. if I keep on following that, I don't see how it can wear away fast.

Update: I purchased my second grill on October 11, 2015. I use this grill every night. My other grill as I said below lasted 4 years. Tonight this grill bit the dust. Plugged cord into socket, turned it on, light came on. And then nothing. Didn't heat up at all. VERY disappointed. Wish I had purchased a protection plan. This is the second grill I've purchased. I wore out my first one by using it 5 days out of 7 for about 4 years. :-) I don't understand how anyone can say the unit doesn't heat up hot enough to cook. The only thing I can think of is they have a defective unit. (That does happen to the best of products.) It's VERY important to heat the grill on 5 for 10 minutes, or until the light goes out. If you don't, your meat will not cook properly. Everything I've ever cooked on this grill has been cooked completely and very juicy. Heat distribution is always even, so when I cook burgers or chicken breasts, they are all cooked to perfection. I don't cook drumsticks or wings on the grill because they don't cook evenly. I LOVE the huge cooking surface. Most grills are much smaller than this. Someone mentioned that the food doesn't taste like "flames had been licking at it". All due respect, how could it? You aren't cooking with fire, wood, etc so of course it's not going to have that type of grilled taste to it. The food turns out juicy, well cooked and very flavorful. It's a fantastic appliance to have if you don't like your food fried (very unhealthy) and if you want a change from roasting or broiling. A definite plus is the cooking time. I can cook 6-8 chicken breasts in 20 minutes, from frozen. As far as the teflon coating wearing off, as one user stated, that must be because they are either using sharp utensils or what they're using to clean it. I've recently come across a couple of cleaners that others may be interested in. I haven't used them yet but do plan to. The first is George Foreman GFSP3 Sponges, 3-Pack. They're grooved to fit the grill plate and are "non-stick" friendly. The other is Brushtech Indoor Electric BBQ Grill & Griddle Brush B272C. They can both be purchased here at Amazon. Do NOT use either of these while the grill is hot. I'm pleased that DeLonghi changed the non-stick drip tray. My previous grill had a black "coated" drip pan. The one I received with this recent model is not coated so there's no coating to flake off (although I do always place foil in the drip pan to help with cleanup). As far as cleaning, I've seen a few reviewers say they wash the cooking plate in the dish washer. DO NOT DO THIS!!! It even states it clearly in the user manual not to do this. I clean mine with a soft sponge and either Dawn or Method dish washing detergent. I make sure not to get the control socket wet, as they state in the manual. I dry it with a soft dish cloth. Bottom line, as long as DeLonghi makes this grill, I will be purchasing it.

Bought for my husband for Christmas - he loves it. There are only 5 pieces, besides the lid and removable cord, there is the grilling surface, the drip pan and a light-weight base. The grilling surface is easy to clean, however you will need a soft brush to get the drippings from spaces, but that is with any grill or grate. The grilling surface has 2 cool-touch handles, and you put water in the drip pan which makes it super easy to clean. We spray the grill lightly, and it makes the grill lines on the food. The entire grill surface heats up evenly because the element is integrated into the grilling surface, so you can cook on every square inch. Sprinkle green beans with olive oil and fresh garlic and grill! Since there is no exposed heating element for the drippings to hit, I would call this smokeless. The sides are about an 1 or 1 1/4" tall, which allows you to put the cover on for steak or chicken, but for ribs you couldn't use the lid. We are very happy with the performance and ease of cleaning, I think these would make a very useful gift.

I love this thing and use it all the time. I am the laziest of cooks so anytime I can marinate a bunch of meat and toss it on with minimal supervision I am happy! It's an electric grill but it does a reasonably good job of charring the food up and providing that "grilled" experience. I especially love cooking vegetables on it and have even managed to cook several pieces of corn on the cob but it takes a while for them to cook through satisfactorily. The best way to use this grill is to cook veggies and slim pieces of meat. You'll have some trouble cooking thick steaks and pieces of chicken. I would say that it does a good job of cooking food that is less than an inch fairly quickly, but thicker pieces of meat will take significantly longer to cook. This is no obstacle to me because I don't mind throwing it on and entertaining myself while periodically checking up on it for longer periods of time. I will say that the grill is wonderful for thoroughly cooking a chicken breast without leaving it dry and desiccated in the end. Like I said, I'm not a fantastic cook and tend to dry out my chicken so I was very pleasantly surprised that I've been able to get so many juicy pieces out of this grill :) It's very easy to clean as other reviewers have mentioned, and has been an overall great addition to my tiny kitchen.

Je suis assez surprise par la qualité. Le grill a été utilisé pour des crevettes et du filet mignon de boeuf. La cuisson était parfaite, comme sur un vrai BBQ extérieur. Très peu de fumée, comme promis. Cuisson assez rapide. J'ai fait chauffer l'élément à 5, j'aime bien la viande saisie. Le grill couvre facilement 4 à 5 portions. La cuisson semble égale partout sur le grill. Le nettoyage à la main s'est bien passé. Les petits racoins sont parfois plus difficiles à atteindre, mais avec une petite brosse de cuisine ou une vieille brosse à dent le tour est joué.

I never need a barbecue again. This thing is absolutely stellar. Even with baked-on meat and cheese, this thing cleans up super easily... Just takes a quick scrubbing with a NON-ABRASIVE brush in the sink. I have not tried washing in the dishwasher, as mine is very small and it does not fit... The grill is quite large. The glass cover is a godsend. I didn't realize how much grease was flying off my previous grill until I saw how much collected on the underside of this one. Definitely worth the extra cash for this alone.

This grill is great!! There is a lot of cooking space for a family of 4. Minimal smoke when you are cooking and the lid is great. It can be a bit difficult to clean.

This was a product which I was eyeing for quiet a long time. It makes it so easy to grill indoor especially during winters. Less hassle and good grilled stuffs using it. For better grilling, always refer the user guide comes along with this product on variety of food. Of course it comes with a glass lid.

Works ok, very long time to heat up and expensive but is well designed and easy to clean.