GayCalgary had a chance to review a new kitchen appliance from Philips: the Philips Smoke-less Indoor Grill. I was really excited to hear that we were getting something that would allow me to do BBQs inside the house. We don’t own a propane BBQ, but do own a George Forman Outdoor Grill, so having something that I could use indoors makes things easier when the weather sucks and involves less set up time.

There are two different ways the product is packaged: one with the non-stick grill and wire grill; and one without the wire grill, the difference being the wire grill accessory is designed for delicate foods like fish, seafood and vegetables. The package we got came with both so we could see the difference.

When I took the grill out of the box, I realized that the unit is larger than I thought it would be. It looks a good size, but the bulk of the space is below the grill tray. The grill cooks from under the food, but the element heating the food is located along the inside of the grill base, and mirrors help project heat up to the food. The element is protected under glass so food cannot make contact to it directly. Think of placing a toaster oven on its back and a grill on the opening, and you get something similar, but don’t do it for tons of safety reasons. Directly on the bottom of the grill base is the easily removable and dishwasher safe fat/drip tray.

The package comes with a basic quick-read manual, which offers tips on use, cleaning and safety. It also comes with a cook-book. There are some recipes I would like to try and they did not look to be too complex; it also helps you get an idea that you should be able to adapt other recipes for the grill.

The first thing I decided to grill was your typical premade frozen hamburger patties from President’s Choice. The four patties were a little big for the grill tray and a couple of them hung over the edge but, as they cook, they get smaller so I wasn’t too worried. There are only three cook settings: on, warm and off, which makes it easy for those who don’t know what temperature to cook food at. The grill cooks at a constant 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the patties cooked, I noticed some smoke, and then flipped them. With the amount of grease coming off, there was even more smoke. After looking at the instructions, there is mention that items with a high fat content will cause some smoke. If cooking these, they recommend you place the grill under the stove hood. Though the house filled with smoke, by opening the windows, I avoided triggering the smoke detector. However, each subsequent attempt at cooking these burgers did set off the alarm. Putting the grill beneath the hood fan also makes it hard to cook other items to go along with dinner.

Another issue I ran into is that if you want to put anything on top of the patty, like cheese, it needs to be processed slices. There is not enough heat on the top of the patty to melt or cook anything else. But the patties did come out with nice grill marks and tasted like they came off a BBQ.

Seeing that the grill is supposed to be smokeless, I tried grilling a full-sized fish – enough for two people – on the wire grill top. Even though I greased the grill, the skin of the fish got stuck to it, so it was difficult to turn over. In the end the fish broke up while cooking. It still tasted great and there was virtually no smoke.

We decided to use the non-stick for an attempt with salmon filets. Using the non-stick grill is highly recommended. There were no issues with the fish sticking to the grill and they turned out amazing. It takes some getting used to seeing the side that is cooking with the bright red light shining up from underneath. Sometimes it helps to pull the items off onto a plate to check them vs. doing it on the grill.

We tried doing steaks on it several times. They were easy to check and turned out perfectly done. If there is space alongside of them, you can also grill peppers and other vegetables. We did not have an issue with smoke cooking these. There were small amounts, but not as bad as the burgers.

From what I can see, the smokeless grill is not truly smokeless: it depends on what you are cooking. If you are making the patties from scratch, with very little fat, I could see it being ok. But not if you are purchasing them frozen, as a lot of people do. It would also be inconvenient to use for parties without keeping people waiting. It is ideal for use for two people. The steaks and salmon were smaller pieces, so space on the grill tray was not an issue. If you are mostly wanting to make those type of items, or kabobs or items with low fat content, you should be fine.

I wish the grill came with a cover. It would be nice to be able to reflect some of the heat back down so things like cheese on the patties would melt, or to help with speeding up the cooking process. Checking online, it seems they don’t have something available yet. A rotisserie add-on would also be cool. This way, instead of having the grill tray on the top, you could skewer something like a chicken a little lower into the base and have it slowly turning.

The grill tops and the grease tray are dishwasher safe. The protective glass of the elements should be cleaned if things spill on it. It does not come with anything to do that, but recommendations for glass top stove cleaners and a ceramic scrapper are included.

So, if you are looking for something that will help you eat healthier, don’t want to buy a BBQ for outside or deal with propane tanks, but crave that BBQ taste year-round, then the Philips Smokeless Grill would work for you. The price ranges between $375 and $400 depending on where you buy it.

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Contributor Steve Polyak |

Topic Food | Philips | Product Review |