Best Indoor & Contact Grills (Review)

I have done extensive research to help you choose the best contact grill out of 11 different models. Find out which contact grills you should consider and which ones to avoid!:

#1 Hamilton Beach 25600 3-in-1 Contact grill

Hamilton Beach 25600 3-in-1 contact grill has 100 square inches of cooking surface.

It heats up very fast – less than 2 minutes. Heat is distributed evenly across the cooking surface. It cooks very well – meat turns out tasty and tender. Drip tray catches all of the grease, it drains well and meat doesn’t cook in it.

Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 contact grill has adjustable temperature control and can be adjusted in range of 250 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit in 25 degree increments. It also has sear mode which works well and achieves temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit. It has a light to indicate that it has achieved desired temperature.

The nonstick plates and drip tray are removable and are dishwasher safe. Cord is quite short though (25 inches) but that’s because of safety reasons.

#2 George Foreman GRP1060B Contact Grill

George Foreman GRP1060B contact grill has 60 square inches of cooking surface. It heats up fast and cooks well. Meat turns our juicy and really tasty. Heat seems to be even enough across the cooking surface. Considering the low price the performance is impressive.

George Foreman GRP1060B contact grill has removable non-stick plates which are of good quality and makes clean up easy. The base is made of cheap plastic but then again you can’t expect great build quality at this pricing. Power cord is short but that’s the case with most contact grills due to safety reasons. It doesn’t have on/off switch and it’s a bit of inconvenience having to plug/unplug the cord when you use the grill.

It features temperature indicator light to indicate when grill has heated up and drip tray.

When you put something to cook the grill might move, it doesn’t have rubber pads for grip.

#3 Cuisinart GR-150P1 (GR-150) Griddler Deluxe

Cuisinart GR-150P1 has a large 240 square inches of cooking surface. It warms up fast however it doesn’t maintain temperature well all the time, sometimes it does fluctuate. Heat is distributed evenly throughout the cooking surface though. Cooks meat fast and evenly, it’s tender but won’t get browned if it’s not relatively dry.

Cuisinart GR-150P1 has dual zone temperature control with six positions. You can adjust temperature up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit in 50 degree increments. It also has sear function that sears at 50 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 2 minutes.

Brushed stainless steel housing makes unit feel well made and expensive. Cuisinart GR-150P1 has removable nonstick plates with adjustable height. They are dishwasher safe but dishwasher doesn’t clean them 100% clean, so you will have to clean them by hand. It also has integrated drip tray but all the grease doesn’t drain as well as desired.

There is a concerning amount of reports from consumers about the unit breaking after ~1 year of use. It probably doesn’t happen with most units but be aware that reliability could be a potential issue.

#4 T-fal GC70 OptiGrill Electric Grill

T-fal GC70 OptiGrill electric grill has cooking surface of 93 square inches and uses 1800 watt heating element. It features 6 automatic cooking programs that adapts its grilling cycles to the thickness of food (for burgers, poultry, sandwiches, sausages, red meat and fish) as well 2 cooking modes for frozen food and a manual mode. It also has cooking level indicator that changes color depending on cooking progress: from yellow (rare) to orange (medium) to red (well done).

Cooking performance is good for the most part. Hot dogs, hamburgers and steaks usually turn out near perfect, however sometimes they get overcooked.

Many consumers have complained about sensor that controls automatic cooking programs failing after few months or a year of use. When that happens you can only use manual options. Not everyone runs into this problem, however there is a chance you might.

#5 Philips HD6371/94 Indoor BBQ Grill

Philips HD6371/94 indoor grill creates heat with infrared light and reflect to the cooking grid with glass reflectors. Instructions states that it’s harmful to the eyes so you shouldn’t look at it which isn’t cool since you kinda have to look at it to check how much the food has been cooked.

It has heat two settings: cooking (446°F) and warming (250°F). It cooks food very well, warming setting works pretty good too and doesn’t dry out meat fast. It does produce tiny bit of smoke so it’s not completely smokeless.

Cooking grid is made of metal and all of grease goes down to the removable drip tray (also made of metal). Housing is made of plastic and power buttons feel a bit flimsy which is slightly disappointing since this grill is expensive.

Overall Philips HD6371/94 is a good indoor grill but there are far cheaper models that work good enough so it’s probably not worth the price tag (for most at least).

#6 George Foreman GR144 Electric Grill

George Foreman GR144 electric grill has 144 square inches of grilling surface. Cooks meat well, the heat might be better distributed but you might not even notice that.

George Foreman GR144 has indicator light on the top of the grill that lights up when it has warmed up and ready to cook. Plates have nonstick coating and it’s really nonstick but it’s not very durable and might start to wear out after a while. Fat removing slope helps to direct most of the fat and grease to the drip tray. It has adjustable hinge too, so if you need flat surface instead of slope you are not out of luck.

#7 Hamilton Beach 25371 Electric Indoor Grill

Hamilton Beach 25371 has 90 square inches of cooking surface. It cooks meat well and does it quickly. It turns out juicy and good tasting. Could drain grease a bit better though.

Comes with instruction manual that suggests cooking times for different foods.

The plates are non-removable. That makes the cleaning more difficult. According to direction you wipe them with wet paper towel however that doesn’t work well. However there is a trick that makes it easier – put a wet paper towel on the cooking area after cooking when it’s warm and let it cool down. After that everything wipes much easier.

#8 Maxi-Matic EGL-3450 Indoor Grill

Maxi-Matic EGL-3450 indoor grill has 125 square inches of cooking surface. It has adjustable thermostat control that allows you to set temperature from 195 to 445 degrees Fahrenheit but in large increments (195 > 250 > 300 > 350 < 445). However settings are imprecise and real temperature is different, usually higher that set one. Heat is not distributed perfectly evenly however it’s consistent enough not to affect cooking results (it cooks evenly). It cooks fast and does it well. Sears near perfect, flavor and texture is good too!.

It features removable drip tray that’s dishwasher safe. Cooking surface is nonstick coated. Base is made from thin plastic however is unaffected by hot metal.

#9 George Foreman GRP472P Contact Grill/Panini Press

George Foreman GRP472P has 72 square inches of cooking area. It can be used as contact grill or panini press, however it’s not that great for the latter purpose due to it compressing sandwiches too much. They end up too flat. Bottom cooking surface is hotter than top so you will have to flip over food your cooking if you want consistency. Cooks food in minutes.

George Foreman GRP472P is advertised as 5-serving grill but in reality you will be able to fit 2, maybe 3 burgers at best.

#10 George Foreman GR10B 2-Serving Classic Plate Electric Grill

George Foreman GR10B grill is advertised as “2 servings” but that’s a bit generous. It’s very small in size and in reality will be able to cook 1 burger at a time. It cooks well but not perfectly, heat could be more evenly distributed.

George Foreman GR10B grill features fat removing slope and drip tray. It also has non-stick coating but it’s not long lasting. Plates are not removable and isn’t that easy to clean (but isn’t super hard either).

#11 Dash DMG001AQ Mini Maker Portable Grill Machine

Dash DMG001AQ portable grill is super small, in fact too small to cook pretty much anything reasonable. It doesn’t cook evenly as well. It’s rated at 350 watts.