Indoor Grilling For Dummies E-Book

Lucy Wing

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 346

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

This no-fuss guide will get you grilling indoor like a pro! Heard about the phenomenon called indoor grilling? From open or covered electric grills to contact grills, grill pans, and cooktop inserts, there are all kinds of indoor grilling options that are inexpensive to purchase, take little time to clean up, and store conveniently out of sight. Best of all, whether it's a bright, sunny day, a rainy afternoon, or a cold, wintry night, you can still enjoy mouthwatering, healthy meals any time you're in the mood to grill! Indoor Grilling For Dummies takes you from beginner to master griller with a dash of humor, a splash of good fun, and lots of sizzling recipes. If you're already an indoor grill owner, you'll find ways to perfect your technique and expand your menus. Step-by-step guidance shows you how to: * Choose the right indoor grill * Speak a griller's language * Clean and maintain your grill * Select the best accessories * Cook for better health and great taste! While indoor grilling isn't rocket science, it isn't a cakewalk either. This easy-to-follow guide gives you tips and tricks for grilling indoors like a pro, from warming the grill and selecting the right temperature to the secret to grilling success (marinating). Plus, you get dozens of fast, delicious, hassle-free recipes for everything from sausage to fajitas, barbecued pork tenderloin to brandied turkey, and grilled mushrooms to chicken Caesar salad. You'll also discover how to: * Create tasty appetizers and to-die-for desserts * Cook safely on a patio or balcony * Add a boost of flavor to every dish with marinades, sauces, and rubs * Buy, store, and handle meat, poultry, and seafood * Choose veggies and fruits that are great for the grill * Prepare for a special occasion Featuring expert advice on reducing fat and calories in grilled foods, using grilled foods in sandwiches and wraps, and serving up a party with a meal that your guests will remember, Indoor Grilling For Dummies has all the buying and cooking tips you need to become an indoor griller extraordinaire!

Leseprobe

Indoor Grilling For Dummies®

by Lucy Wing and Tere Drenth

Indoor Grilling For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2001 Hungry Minds, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 00-112171

ISBN: 0-7645-5362-3

Printed in the United States of America

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Dedication

We dedicate this book to the grilling enthusiasts who have made indoor grilling the phenomenon that it is today.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Lucy and Tere both wish to thank Linda Ingroia, who believed in us enough to let us write this book and encouraged us throughout the project; and Elizabeth Kuball, Project Editor Extraordinaire, who edited our words, managed the book project, and made the grueling task of writing a book in four months seem painless — even fun!

We also give our heartfelt thanks to Acquisitions Coordinator Erin Connell, who made sure the bills were paid; Recipe Tester Emily Nolan and Technical Editor Majorie Cubisino, who gave extensive feedback throughout the project; Nutritional Analyst Patty Santelli, who came up with calories, fat grams, and sodium counts for over 80 recipes; illustrator Liz Kurtzman, whose artwork is absolutely adorable; and Production Coordinator Maridee Ennis, who managed the project through layout and proofreading.

Special thanks to Christine Marks at Le Creuset and Anja Thomas at Hamilton Beach for generously providing samples for our use throughout this project. Their willingness to ship products at a moment’s notice was heartwarming.

Lucy also wants to thank Donna Myers, spokesperson for the Barbecue Industry Association, for her words of wisdom, recommendations, and encouragement.

Tere also wishes to thank her husband, Doug, and best friends, Elizabeth and Jan, for being such excellent distractions while writing this book.

About the Authors

Lucy Wing, former Executive Food Editor at Country Living magazine and Food Editor at McCall’s, grills as part of her everyday cooking and entertaining lifestyle. She often dishes up both outdoor and indoor grilled foods in the same meal and has been known to grill even with snow piled high around the area. Whether grilling on her rooftop in New York City, farmhouse in Pennsylvania, or patio in Arizona, only high winds force her to cease grilling outdoors to retreat to fulltime indoor grilling. Passionate not only about grilling, Lucy maintains gardens where she resides and often uses the bounty of her vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs in her recipes and food articles. Her garden food articles have been published in Country Living Gardener and Rebecca’s Garden. She has edited a number of cookbooks, including Country Living Country Mornings, Family Circle’s Delicious Desserts, The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, and Campbell’s Great American Cookbook. She created recipes for Anne Willan’s Look & Cook Asian Cooking and Reader’s Digest Quick & Delicious Cookbook, and has contributed to Time-Life’s Great Meals in Minutes. She was formerly a food consultant and food stylist to the Barbecue Industry Association and to many other food companies and public relations agencies.

Tere Drenth, a freelance writer and editor, has edited numerous cookbooks, including Grilling For Dummies and Seafood Cooking For Dummies, which earned the “Best Cookbook on Fish” Award at the Versailles World Cookbook Fair. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Franklin College (Franklin, Indiana), where she teaches freshman English. When not writing, editing, teaching, or running competitively, Tere is in her kitchen, finding new ways to prepare fast, healthy, and delicious meals.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please register your comments through our Online Registration Form located at www.dummies.com

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Elizabeth Netedu Kuball

Senior Acquisitions Editor: Linda Ingroia

Acquisitions Coordinator: Erin Connell

Recipe Tester: Emily Nolan

Technical Editor: Marjorie Cubisino

Nutritional Analyst: Patty Santelli

Editorial Manager: Pamela Mourouzis

Editorial Administrator: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Assistant: Carol Strickland

Cover Photographer: David Bishop

Cover Food Stylist: Brett Kurzweil

Production

Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis

Layout and Graphics: Amy Adrian, Jacque Schneider, Brian Torwelle

Special Art: Elizabeth Kurtzman

Proofreaders: Valery Bourke, David Faust, Andy Hollandbeck, Christine Pingleton, York Production Services, Inc.

Indexer: York Production Services, Inc.

General and Administrative

Hungry Minds, Inc.: John Kilcullen, CEO; Bill Barry, President and COO; John Ball, Executive VP, Operations & Administration; John Harris, CFO

Hungry Minds Consumer Reference Group

Business: Kathleen A. Welton, Vice President and Publisher; Kevin Thornton, Acquisitions Manager

Cooking/Gardening: Jennifer Feldman, Associate Vice President and Publisher

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Hungry Minds Consumer Editorial Services: Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Publisher; Kristin A. Cocks, Editorial Director; Cindy Kitchel, Editorial Director

Hungry Minds Consumer Production: Debbie Stailey, Production Director

The publisher would like to give special thanks to Patrick J. McGovern, without whom this book would not have been possible.

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : Mastering Indoor Grilling

Chapter 1: Why Grill Indoors?

No Rainouts

Lower Costs

Less Space

Safe Balcony or Patio Grilling

Fast and Easy Cooking and Cleaning

Light and Healthy Eating

Chapter 2: Choosing Indoor Grilling Equipment and Accessories

Getting Grilled: Finding the Right Grill for You

Out of the Fire and into the Pan

Accessorizing

Chapter 3: Understanding the Basic Techniques of Grilling Indoors

Speaking a Griller’s Language

Marinating

Warming Up

Staying Safe

Perfecting Your Timing

Maintaining Your Grill

Part II : Accounting for Taste

Chapter 4: Making Marinades and Rubs

Soaking Up Flavor with Marinades

Bird Bath

Meat Soaker

Carolina Spray Mop

Rubbing Your Food the Right Way

Poultry Dust

Backbone of Rubs

Chapter 5: Serving Up Sauces

Shh! Don’t Tell: Using Bottled Sauces

The Secret’s in the Homemade Sauce

Basic Barbecue Sauce

Orange Soy Glaze

Parsley Puree

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Tropical Fruit Salsa

Veggie Coulis

Part III : Getting Grilled

Chapter 6: Quick and Easy Favorites

Burgers

Simple Burgers with Special Sauce

Special Sauce

Stuffed Burgers

Sausage and Hot Dogs

Grilled Dogs with Onions

Peppered Turkey Sausages

Grilled Cheese and Ham

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Honey Mustard Grilled Ham

Chapter 7: Beefing Up Your Repertoire

Staying Safe with Beef

Selecting Beef Cuts and Grades

Grilling Beef for Dinner and Other Meals

The Original London Broil

Cowboy Steaks

Skirt Steak Fajitas

Chimichurri Round Steak

Beef and Vegetable Kebabs

Thai Basil Beef

Tuscan Strip House Special

Peppery Beef Tenderloin

Chapter 8: Pork-Barrel Projects

Handling Pork Safely

Shopping for Pork Cuts

Grilling the Other White Meat

Asian Butterflied Pork Loin

Barbecued Pork Tenderloin

Maple Glazed Pork Chops with Apples

Jamaican Jerk Pork

Southeast Asian Satay

Miami Spice Pork-on-a-Stick

Tomato Relish

Chapter 9: Getting a Bird’s-Eye View of Poultry

Grilling Poultry Safely

Counting On Chicken

Lemon Lavender Chicken

Chicken with Tomatillo Avocado Salsa

Chicken Tenders Pasta

Tandoori Chicken

Yakitori

Talking Turkey

Salisbury-Style Turkey Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

Mushroom Sauce

Brandied Turkey and Oranges

Staying Ahead of the Game with Game Birds

Honey-Thyme Cornish Game Hens

Quail with Polenta and Peas

Getting Your Ducks in a Row

Asian Greens and Duck

Chapter 10: Plenty of Fish in the Sea

Buying, Storing, and Handling Seafood Safely

Finfish without Fanfare

Zesty Salmon Fillets

Mustard-Dill Salmon Steaks

Gingered Halibut with Lime Barbecue Sauce

Grilled Chive Catfish

Tuna Teriyaki

Cod Provencal with Basil Oil

Don’t Skimp on Shrimp

Margarita Marinated Shrimp

Sweet-and-Sour Grilled Shrimp

Successful Scallops

Saffron Sea Scallops

Chapter 11: Vegging Out

Choosing Vegetables That Are Great for the Grill — and for You!

Grilling Veggies in No Time Flat

Grilled Asparagus Gremolata

Cauliflower Parmesan

Eggplant Antipasto

Grilled Marinated Mushrooms

Grilled Sweet Peppers

Zebra Potatoes

Sesame Squash Medley

Corn Stuffed Tomatoes

Chapter 12: Great Wraps and Salads

Wrapping Up Grilled Meals

Basil Wrap

Grilled Fish Tacos

Meditortilla Wrap

Lettuce Talk about Salads

Firecracker Shrimp Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Blue Cheese Dressing

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Herbed Garlic Bread Tomato Salad

Part IV : Dressing Up for Dinner

Chapter 13: Warming Up the Crowd with Appetizers

Knowing How Much Is Enough

Creating Traditional Appetizers on Your Indoor Grill

Grilled Chicken Wings

Glazed and Grilled Kielbasa

Grilled Shrimp Cocktail

Rosemary Skewered Salmon

Grilling Vegetarian Appetizers

Quesadillas

Bruschetta

Leaf-Wrapped Grilled Brie

Veggie-Stuffed Mushrooms

Swiss Chard Bundles

Zucchini Rolls

Chapter 14: Making the Occasion Special

Dressing Up Your Meal

Two Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail

Grilled Lamb with Vegetable Couscous

A Fine Kettle of Whole Fish

Grilled Trout Amandine

The Merchant of Venison

Venison Steak with Port Wine Cranberry Sauce

The Veal Deal

Veal Chops on Spinach with Red Potatoes

Chapter 15: Getting Your Just Desserts

Selecting Fruits for the Grill

Mastering the Subtleties of Grilling Desserts

Caramel Pears over Gingered Crumbs

Banana Brochettes on Chocolate Sauce

Glazed Pineapple Wedges

Grilled Angel Cake and Blueberry “Cobbler”

Toasted Buttery Pound Cake with Rum Syrup and Grilled Oranges

Indoor S’mores

Part V : The Part of Tens

Chapter 16: Ten Great Reasons to Grill Indoors

Grilling Is a Healthy Form of Cooking

Grilled Food Tastes Delicious!

Those Char Marks Look Cool

Indoor Grills Are Cheaper than Outdoor Grills

You Can Grill Regardless of the Weather

You Can Grill Every Day

Indoor Grills Heat Up Faster than Outdoor Grills

Indoor Grills Don’t Take Up Much Space

You Can Grill on a Balcony or in an Apartment

Cleanup Is Fast and Easy

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Make Grilling Healthy and Safe

Buy Meats, Poultry, and Seafood Last

Shop Carefully

Thaw Foods in the Refrigerator

Marinate Foods in the Refrigerator

Don’t Use Metal Pans to Marinate Food

Throw Away Your Marinade after You Use It

Always Grill to the Proper Temperature

Don’t Cross-Contaminate

Wash Hands, Knives, Cutting Boards, and Sponges with Soapy Water

Position Your Grill away from Cabinets

Use Long-Handled Utensils

Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Stay Lean and Healthy

Eat a Variety of Foods

Consider Your Condiments

Eat Seafood

Go Vegetarian

Don’t Count Meat Out

Look for Cuts of Beef That Have “Loin” or “Round” in the Name

Buy Extra-Lean Ground Beef

Look for Pork Tenderloin

Trim All Fat from Meat

Choose White Meat over Dark

Remove the Skin from Poultry

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Make Your Grilled Meals Memorable

Make an All-Grilled Meal

Create an Indoor Picnic

Vary Your Food Routine

Consider the Presentation

Begin with Appetizers

Dine by Candlelight

Serve a Vintage Wine or Other Delicious Beverages

Finish with a Scrumptious Dessert

Invite Interesting People to Dinner

Invite Kids and Pets to Your Dinner

Appendix: Resources

Grill Manufacturers

Grilling Web Sites

Web Recipe Resources

Mail-Order Foods

Introduction

Welcome to Indoor Grilling For Dummies, a book that gives you all sorts of ways to do one thing: grill great-tasting food indoors during blizzards, rainstorms, or heat waves; on porches, decks, apartment patios, or countertops; using grills that can be inexpensive to purchase, take little time to clean up, and are small enough to store out of sight.

About This Book

Heard about the phenomenon called indoor grilling? Ads and catalogs from department stores, discount stores, specialty shops — heck, even grocery stores — display all kinds of indoor grilling options: open or covered electric grills, contact grills, grill pans, and cooktop inserts. And why shouldn’t indoor grills be all the rage? Indoor grills are inexpensive compared to gas and charcoal grills, are a cinch to clean up, and can fit into the tiniest spaces.

But grilling on an indoor grill doesn’t always result in the best-tasting food, and that’s why this book exists. Ever tasted dried out, curled up pork chops cooked on an indoor grill? Or worse, ever tried to grill steak and ended up with a steamy mess? Indoor grilling isn’t rocket science, but it isn’t a cakewalk, either. Indoor Grilling For Dummies takes the fuss out of grilling indoors, giving you more than 80 recipes for everything from basic burgers to Asian duck. And if you’re a vegetarian, you’re in luck: This book even includes recipes for grilling tender fruits and veggies on your indoor grill. You also find out how to select the right grill for you, how (or whether) to accessorize, and how to stay safe in a world that’s afraid of chicken juices. Best of all, this book takes you from beginner to master griller with humor and good fun.

Conventions Used in This Book

Most of the recipes in this book are pretty straightforward, but we had to use a few conventions, as follows:

Vegetarian recipes are marked with a tomato in the “Recipes in This Chapter” section on the first page of every recipe chapter.

Each recipe contains a nutritional analysis of the calories, fat, protein, and so on in each dish. We’ve tried to include healthy recipes in this book but haven’t gone so far that the food tastes like straw. However, if you’re interested in reducing fat and calories (and who isn’t these days?), you can use lighter versions of cheese, ground meats, sour cream, and other ingredients that the recipes call for. In addition, keep in mind that the nutritional analyses don’t include garnishes or optional ingredients.

If you’re using a small indoor grill (such as a two-burger Lean Mean), you may have to work in batches to make many of the recipes in this book. If you’re purchasing a new indoor grill, look for one that can cook at least four hamburgers at one time — a six-hamburger size is even better! The larger the size of the grill, the more food you’ll be able to make on it at one time, and this alone may justify the cost of a larger grill.

We’ve asked you to preheat your electric grill, grill pan, or cooktop insert for five minutes before beginning to grill, but your particular equipment may need more time. Read the information that comes with your grilling equipment, and if you aren’t satisfied with the quality of your grilled dishes, increase the amount of time that you heat up your grill.

Most recipes call for temperatures like “medium,” “medium-low,” or “high,” because most grills don’t have temperature gauges. When temperatures are mentioned, however, they’re in degrees Fahrenheit.

When a recipe calls for salt and pepper “to taste,” we means about 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. A “pinch” isn’t to help you grow an inch — it’s about 1/16 teaspoon of salt or pepper.

If a recipe calls for butter (which isn’t often), we mean unsalted butter, not salted butter.

Note: The recipe instructions may seem long, but don’t worry . . . they’re not complicated at all. We offer cooking instructions for many types of indoor grilling equipment, so just look for what applies to the equipment you’re using, and you’ll see that the instructions are a cinch!

Foolish Assumptions

We assume the following about you: You’re interested in grilling indoors and you have either an electrical outlet (if you’re planning to purchase an indoor electric grill) or a stovetop (if you’re planning to use a grill pan or cooktop insert). See Chapter 2 for details on indoor grilling equipment.

Although the recipes in this book are simple, basic recipes — many of which include step-by-step instructions — if you’ve never set foot in a kitchen, you may want to pick up a copy of Cooking For Dummies, 2nd Edition, by Bryan Miller and Marie Rama (Hungry Minds, Inc.). We figure you know how to measure and make basic cuts with knives, but other than that, we take you through what you need to know about indoor grilling.

How This Book Is Organized

We’ve organized this book into five distinct parts (discussed in the following sections), plus an appendix that gives you additional resources for everything from where to find information on grills to how to get your hands on additional recipes.

Part I: Mastering Indoor Grilling

This part gives you the lowdown on grilling basics and answers questions like the following: Why grill indoors in the first place? Where can you find a grill and grilling accessories? How can you stay safe as you attempt to tame indoor heat? How do you clean and maintain your grill?

Part II: Accounting for Taste

Marinating and rubbing your foods before you grill them adds a boost of flavor to every dish, and this part shows you how to whip up tasty seasonings or use bottled favorites. In addition, your grilled meal can rival that of a restaurant meal by adding simple sauces — you’ll find recipes galore for doing just that in this part.

Part III: Getting Grilled

This part, the bulk of the book, shares dozens of recipes for everything from sausage to fajitas, barbecued pork tenderloin to brandied turkey, and grilled mushrooms to chicken Caesar salad. Simply flip to the chapter that interests you most and get ready for a fast, delicious, hassle-free meal.

Part IV: Dressing Up for Dinner

This part helps you give your parties and meals a boost, showing you how to create mouth-watering grilled appetizers, delicious grilled desserts, and memorable meals from foods you get a chance to cook only once in a great while: lamb, whole fish, venison, and veal.

Part V: The Part of Tens

This part of handy tips and tricks takes you just a minute to read and at the end, you discover ten great reasons to start grilling indoors, ten ways to make your meals lean and healthy, and ten ways to keep people talking about your delicious meals.

Appendix

Near the back of this book, we’ve included an appendix filled with indoor-grilling resources. We list a number of grilling manufacturers and retailers, places on the Web to find recipes, and a listing of specialty mail-order food sources.

Icons Used in This Book

Icons are little pictures in the margins that you can think of as roadside signs: Like construction signs that suggest alternate routes, two of the icons in this book give you tips and tricks that make your travels into the world of indoor grilling seem like a walk in the park; like a stop sign, one icon tells when to stop, turn around, and go like crazy the other way; like those repetitive signs on the highway that tell you the exit really is coming up or construction really is starting, one icon gives you gentle reminders; and like historic register signs, a final icon shares some interesting tidbits that you can skip if you’re in a hurry.

Pay attention to this icon for tips, tricks, and techniques that make indoor grilling a cinch for you to master.

Although most of the recipes in this book are lean and healthy, use this icon to help you cut additional calories and fat from your grilled meals.

Steer clear of potential pitfalls by heeding these signs that warn you of everything from ways to eliminate bacteria in meat to surefire tips to keep from burning tender veggies.

This icons suggests that you remember certain tidbits of information — think of this icon as the stuff to write down and post on your fridge with a magnet.

These bits of techie information are interesting to note but okay to skip if you want to. Of course, paying attention to these icons will make you seem like the smartest indoor griller on your block. . . .

Where to Go from Here

This book isn’t meant to be read from cover to cover, so you can start on page 1, 62, or 189. To find out general information about indoor grilling, start in Part I. To find out about marinades and sauces that add flavor to all types of food, hop over to Chapters 4 and 5. For basics like hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled cheese, flip to Chapter 6.

For general recipe ideas, look at the Recipes at a Glance section near the beginning of this book. If you’re looking for a recipe that includes a particular type of food — say, chicken breasts or salmon or bananas with chocolate sauce, take a peek at the index or flip to the chapter that covers the type of food you’re interested in.

Chapter 18 fills you in on ideas for keeping your meals light, as do most of the recipe chapters. To find out how to dress up your grilled meals, turn to Chapters 14 and 19.

Part I

Mastering Indoor Grilling

In this part . . .

Indoor grilling is fun, easy, inexpensive, and healthy. And this part shows you how to choose from an immense variety of grills and grill pans, find accessories that’ll make your indoor grilling even easier, properly warm up your grill, stay safe while grilling, and clean up in a snap! You can even find a section on mastering grilling jargon.

Chapter 1

Why Grill Indoors?

In This Chapter

Discovering the benefits of grilling indoors

Finding out why indoor grilling is becoming so popular

Grill indoors? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of grilling: firing up the grill and braving the elements, rain or shine? Well, maybe. Outdoor grilling is a joy when you’re expecting a large group for a barbecue or picnic on a beautiful summer day. But there’s plenty of work involved, too. If you have a charcoal grill, you have to purchase charcoal briquettes, natural lump charcoal, or wood chunks; prepare the fire; and control the heat. Although grilling on a gas grill is a little simpler, you still have to mess with a propane tank (which eventually runs out of fuel and needs to be refilled). And when you grill outdoors, you have to bring the food from the kitchen to the outdoor grill and back, fight off the mosquitoes, and contend with smoke blowing in your eyes.

Grilling indoors is a kinder, gentler approach to cooking. You don’t have to invest a lot of money in your grilling equipment, go outside to brave the elements and mosquitoes, take the time to fire up a grill, or spend much time cleaning up. Yet you still get the same char marks as with outdoor grilling, and when you use the right recipes (hint: see Parts III and IV), you’ll be eating tender food with a delightful taste. Indoor grilling, like outdoor grilling, takes you back to an age when people hunted for their own food, cooked it over an open fire, and ate it, but the entire process is much more civilized: Buy your food in a grocery store, cook it on an indoor grill, and still feel like a lusty caveman!

The idea behind indoor grilling is that you can do it every day for family meals, regardless of the conditions outside. You simply plug your grill into an outlet or place a grill pan on your stovetop, preheat it for five minutes (some grills may take a little longer — read the instruction manual for your grill), put your food on the grill, and let it cook.

If you’re not sold on the concept already, in this chapter we provide some great reasons to consider bringing your grilling indoors. From weather to cost, cleanup to storage space, if there’s a reason to grill indoors, you’ll find it here.

No Rainouts

The major benefit of indoor grilling is that you never have to worry about the weather. Go ahead and plan a barbecue on the most beautiful day of the year, but plan to cook it indoors, so that if it rains, your plans will go off without a hitch. If you live in Minnesota, you can still grill in January. If you’re in the middle of the monsoon season, you can still eat delicious grilled meals. Even when the postman is trudging through snow, rain, or gloom of night to get the mail to your door, you can be warm and cozy in your kitchen, getting that great, grilled taste from your food.

Lower Costs

Indoor grills range in price from $25 to $120, far short of the money — sometimes thousands of dollars — that you can spend on a charcoal or gas outdoor grill. And after your initial investment, you don’t have to spend another dime on charcoal or propane gas. As long as you pay your electric bill on time, you’ll have all the power you need.

Less Space

An indoor grill requires almost no storage space — you can store most models in a kitchen cabinet. You don’t have to allot a special place on your patio or allow for storage space in your garage or basement while your grill isn’t in use. Remember: Your grill can always be in use!

Indoor grills get bigger every year, and although this challenges your storage space, it’s actually a good thing: The larger the grill grid (the area on which you cook your food), the more food you can cook at one time. Indoor grills have traditionally had about a quarter of the grill grid area that charcoal or gas grills have, but today you can find indoor grills on which you can cook enough for a large party (see Chapter 2).

Safe Balcony or Patio Grilling

Many condominiums associations, co-op boards, and apartment complexes don’t allow outdoor grills on balconies or patios because the heat and flames can start a fast-spreading fire. Indoor electric grills are a safe alternative: You get the feel of an outdoor grill with the safety and convenience of an electric grill.

When your association president or apartment manager stops by, planning to slap you with a fine because of the enticing smell of your grilled food, show off your electric grill and ask him to stay for dinner.

Fast and Easy Cooking and Cleaning

Another benefit of indoor grilling is that it’s fast — really fast! You can prepare and cook many dishes in less than 30 minutes (see Parts III and IV for recipes). Because you don’t have all the fuss and fanfare of outdoor grilling, you can prepare tasty grilled dishes in less time than it takes to order pizza.

In addition, many models are nearly 100 percent dishwasher-safe (except for the plug and electric coil), so cleaning up is a snap. Even if your grill can’t go into the dishwasher, most indoor grills comes with a nonstick surface that you can wipe off with a soapy paper towel after the grill has cooled.

Light and Healthy Eating

Many indoor grills include a system that allows fat to drain away from the food while it’s cooking, so the food tastes more like food and less like fat. Unlike pan frying or deep frying, the food cooked on an indoor grill doesn’t sit in grease throughout its cooking cycle, yet the food tends to stay moist, tender, and delicious.

Indoor grilling alone, however, doesn’t make high-fat foods leaner. The staff at Consumer Reports cooked identically sized burgers on a variety of indoor grills and grill pans, as well as in a plain frying pan; then they checked the fat content. The result? They found no significant difference in the fat content of any of the burgers.

The trick, then, is to choose lean foods, including vegetables, seafood, and white-meat poultry, and take care to trim all visible fat from fattier cuts of meat (as shown in Figure 1-1). When you combine indoor grilling with seafood, vegetables, and lean cuts of well-trimmed meat and poultry, you can create a low-fat, low-calorie meal that’s high in protein and complex carbohydrates.

Figure 1-1: Trimming away fat from fattier cuts of meat keeps your grilled foods healthier.

Chapter 2

Choosing Indoor Grilling Equipment and Accessories

In This Chapter

Understanding the immense variety of indoor electric grills

Considering a grill pan or cooktop insert

Fiddling with indoor grilling accessories

Indoor grills come in an amazing variety of sizes and shapes. You can find grills that plug in, and grills that are part of your stove; grills that have covers, and grills that don’t; grills that you use on the stove, and grills that you use on the countertop. And although this variety allows you to adapt indoor grilling to your taste, the choices can be a bit overwhelming. This chapter gives you some tips and tricks for selecting an indoor electric grill, grill pan, or cooktop insert.

After you decide on the right grill for your cooking needs, you’ll want to accessorize with tongs, thermometers, mitts, and other assorted grilling toys. Here you’ll find the information you need to decide which accessories are worth purchasing.

Getting Grilled: Finding the Right Grill for You

The following sections discuss the various types of indoor grills that you plug into an outlet (as opposed to the ones that you use on a stove). See the “Out of the Fire and into the Pan” section for grilling equipment that you use on the stovetop.

Open indoor grills

Open indoor grills are grills that plug into an outlet and don’t have a cover (see Figure 2-1). Using an open indoor grill is very much like using an outdoor gas grill with the cover open. You preheat the grill, set the food on the grill grid, set your timer, and check the food’s temperature when the timer dings. Indoor grills come with drop trays that hold water to catch the grease and reduce smoking. And although these are called open indoor grills, some models do come with a cover that increases their cooking versatility.

Food cooked on an open indoor grill has those delightful char marks on the surface that has been touching the grill grid, but as with an outdoor grill, you need to flip the food halfway through the cooking cycle. In addition, while the bottom side is cooking, the top side of the food may get a little dry, just as it can on an outdoor gas grill with the cover open or when food is broiling or baking.

Figure 2-1: Open indoor grills come in a variety of sizes and shapes.

When using an open indoor grill, you may want to cover the food with aluminum foil to keep it from getting too dry.

Salton has created an indoor covered grill that eliminates the problem of dry foods. The grill, the George Foreman indoor/outdoor electric grill, features a large, domed lid (refer to Figure 2-2), similar to what you see on a charcoal kettle grill. With an adjustable temperature control, adjustable steam vents in the dome, and a five-prong base that elevates the grill to waist height, it cooks surprisingly like an expensive outdoor grill, yet costs just $100 to $120. And it boasts 240 square inches of cooking space, so you can use it to host an indoor/outdoor cookout (or is that a cook-in?).

You can find an amazing variety of open indoor grills (see the Appendix for a list of manufacturers), but new indoor grills are always being introduced, so check your local retailer and the Internet for advances in open indoor grilling technology.

Figure 2-2: The George Foreman indoor/ outdoor grill is an open indoor grill with a large, domed cover.

Our favorite design is one that also includes a grill/griddle surface on one side of the grill, which allows you to cook smaller, thinner pieces of foods while grilling your main dish. This solid section of the grill grid doesn’t allow food to drop through, eliminating the need for special equipment when you’re grilling small-sized foods.

Open indoor grills range in price from $30 for a low-end grill to $120 for the top-of-the-line model. Look for better models at home stores, department stores, and discount chains.

Be wary of low-end models — they usually have small cooking surfaces, have lower wattage so they cook more slowly, use lots of parts that can get lost, and may not be dishwasher-safe.

Although many open indoor grills have just one heat setting (similar to a medium or medium-hot setting on a charcoal or gas grill), look for an adjustable temperature control when selecting an open indoor grill. Variable heat allows you to sear foods initially at a higher heat, and then grill them more slowly at lower temperatures, resulting in more tender dishes. Most open indoor grills at the mid to high end of the price range have adjustable temperature controls.

Contact grills

Contact grills plug into an outlet but have two sets of grill grids: one that you set the food on and another that cooks the food from the top when you close the cover (see Figure 2-3). The food is sandwiched between the two grids, speeding up the cooking process. Some models also open flat (like a book) so you have the option of cooking food on both sides of the surface, turning the product into a large open grill that then becomes an open grill.

Figure 2-3: Contact grills cook foods from both sides.

Contact grills have all the advantages of open indoor grills (see the preceding section), but the food on the grill grid doesn’t require turning and cooks in usually half the time. However, in order to get those characteristic char marks on your food, you may have to turn (flip) and rotate the food at least one time while it’s grilling. By opening your contact grill to turn and rotate the food, you also let out some of the steam that can get trapped in a contact grill. Like open indoor grills, new models of contact grills are introduced frequently, so check with your local retailer and the Internet before making a selection. See the Appendix for a list of grill manufacturers.

When shopping for a contact grill, look for a dishwasher-safe drip tray, into which fat from your foods can drain away. Also look for a nonstick grill grid and a variable temperature control. Prices range from $20 for a personal-sized model to $120 for a top-of-the-line, fully featured contact grill.

In some contact grills, the intense heat within such a small, enclosed area builds up steam, which has a hard time escaping. This can create an environment in which your food is steamed rather than grilled. Steamed food isn’t necessarily bad for you or even bad-tasting, but it does tend to be rather flavorless. To keep food from steaming, make sure your vent (the hole in the cover that allows steam to escape) is open, and when shopping for a new contact grill, select one that offers a steam vent.

Out of the Fire and into the Pan

Indoor grilling doesn’t have to involve an appliance and an outlet. For years, indoor grilling enthusiasts have used their stovetops to grill tender, delicious foods. The two following sections introduce you to grill pans and stovetop inserts. (See the Appendix for a listing of current manufacturers.)

Grill pans

A grill pan looks like a frying pan with raised ribs on the cooking surface, so fats from foods drain into the bottom of the pan, between the ribs. A grill pan gets its heat source from your stovetop, and because most models are made of cast iron or heavy-gauge aluminum, they retain their heat well. Although indoor grills are relatively smoke-free, stovetop grill pans tend to be smoky during use. When using these pans, make sure you have some sort of ventilation in the kitchen. Turn the ventilation fan on or open a nearby window. And watch out for the smoke detector — it may go off!

Most professional chefs swear by their grill pans and won’t consider using anything else. Food grilled in a grill pan tends to be tender and moist, although grilling times may be a bit longer in a grill pan than with an open grill or contact grill. To reduce grilling time in a grill pan, cover the food with aluminum foil after grilling for a few minutes on each side. Also keep an eye out for grill pans with a cover — they’re becoming increasingly popular. Many grill pans are heavy-duty, so if you maintain a high-end grill pan, it will last a lifetime. Grill pans range from $35 to $90; opt for the best you can afford.

Le Creuset, Calphalon, All-Clad, KitchenAid, and Lodge all make grill pans (shown in Figure 2-4) with metal handles, so you can use the pans in the oven as well as on the stovetop. (Professional chefs do this to finish cooking foods and to keep foods warm.) But keep in mind that you must use a mitt or handle glove when grasping the handle (either when it’s in the oven or on the stovetop), because it can get burning hot!

Figure 2-4: Grill pans allow you to grill right on your stovetop.

Cooktop inserts

A cooktop insert, shown in Figure 2-5, is a component of a cooktop or range, so you have a grill grid available 2 4/7. Some brands are Jenn-Air, GE, and Amana. All models include a downdraft feature that pulls smoke away from the food (and away from your smoke detector). The grill grid can usually be removed, stored away, and replaced with a griddle or another type of cooking module.

Figure 2-5: Consider getting a cooktop insert the next time you remodel, purchase a home, or have to buy a new range.

To get a cooktop insert, you have to buy a new cooktop or a separate range with this feature. These can cost well over $1,000. We’ve heard people say that, after using a cooktop insert, they can’t live without it, so if you’re remodeling your kitchen, buying a new home, or ready to replace your old cooktop or range, consider a cooktop insert that includes a grill grid.

Accessorizing

Indoor grilling doesn’t require you to use all the accessories that outdoor grilling requires, but you still need a few specific tools to make your indoor grilling experience safe and easy.