ZojirushiEB-CC15 Indoor Electric Grill

When we picked the location to live, it has a big open field behind it and all I could think about were all the cookouts we would have. Then, the forest fires in the Great Smoky Mountains caused our HOA to put in a no open flame grilling rule. I wouldn't say I could live off grilled food but in a way, I could. Having said that, my wife loves steak from a grill but little else. The kids love hamburgers and hot dogs from a grill but little else. My big one is salmon. I'm the only one in our family that eats it so it was kind of frustrating to fire up a large gas grill just to make myself two pieces of salmon 3-4 times a week. I've tried many, we have a Griddler by Cuisinart, two George Foreman "champs" and I recently tried one of the Power Smokeless Grills (review here on Amazon in my review history). The Griddler is nice. It makes really great hot sandwiches (works like a Panini Press). But none of those pressing grills do well with my salmon. I knew I needed one that's more flat and gets hot fast. I finally took the chance on this Zojirushi and here's a brief explanation of my thoughts after a week of having it.This is the best indoor grill I've ever used. There's little to no smoke and I'm pretty sure the design, maybe something some might see as a downside, is why it works so well. Unlike the press type indoor grills, you can't put this one's cooking surface in the dishwasher. That's because the burner is built into the cooking surface. You don't have plates being removed, washed, put back in, snapping into place, trying to make good contact with the burner. It does take away that "ease" of being able to pop the trays out and putting them in the dishwasher but I've used it 4 times now and thanks to other reviews, it's not only the best indoor grill I've used, it's the easiest to clean. This is what you receive with this grill. A cooking surface that makes very good grill marks that has holes in it. The food sits flat on the surface and the grease just drips through. Underneath the cooking surface/burner, there's a metal tray that's the same size as the cooking surface. The excess grease drips down into it. Below the metal tray, a plastic base that if nothing else, helps stabilize everything. You put a sheet of foil in the drip tray, when you finish cooking, you can ball the foil up and throw it away. The only thing to clean is the cooking surface. One end has the receptacle that the thermostat plugs into. You keep that end angled up out of your warm water in a sink, take a brush or cloth and wipe it clean. I'm not kidding, it's that easy. How does it work?I made 2 six ounce salmon pieces (1/2 inch thick) 3 times on it. I turned the dial on the thermostat to high, waited 3 minutes, it was ready. I cooked the salmon on high for 7 minutes, flipped each piece for another 7 minutes, it's done. Grill marks, flakiness, everything exactly like an outdoor grill. I will say you're not going to come from a charcoal or gas grill and say, "This tastes just like food from my gas/charcoal grill". It can't since it's not gas or charcoal but it tastes very good and the food is hot. My original plan was just to use it for my salmon. But the kids, for whatever reason, up and decided they wanted grilled hamburgers. I cooked 6 at a time, 12 total and it took less than 25 minutes to cook all 12. Grill marks, well done in the middle and the kids (possibly the pickiest eaters in the world) loved them. I ate 4.I really can't believe how many times I've seen this grill on Amazon and skipped over it. Even better, it's forty dollars cheaper than I remember it being. I like it so much that I've figured out what I'm buying my brother-in-law for Christmas and might even buy a couple more as presents. I'm the friend/relative that buys you things that aren't exactly exciting but you'll be thanking me for the next year. I gave it 5 stars across the ratings. Easy to assemble is as easy as it can be. Easy to clean was already covered. And durability will take a year or more of use to determine but I see no reason for anything to go wrong. I could see the no-dishwasher part bothering some but when you see how easy it is to clean (excellent non-stick surface), you'll realize it's not that big of a trade off. Very happy with this though the salmon aren't.

I have finally found an indoor grill that gets hot enough to make a good steak with! :)FOLLOW-UP:I've now had this for about 6 months and still LOVE IT! What a fantastic grill, and I have tried many before only to give them to someone else or leave them sitting in the cabinet because they suck!I have been making tri-tip roasts on this one and they come out fantastic! They are crunchy outside, with beautiful grilling marks, and red and juicy inside. I could not be happier!By the way, I read the review from someone complaining about smoke. Ok, completely smoke-free is impossible, unless you have a system to suck the air out. Otherwise, anything that grills will cause some smoke. Duh! I actually put mine on the window and the smoke flies right out.FOLLOW-UP AGAIN:Yeah, this is so good I have to keep talking about it. I actually just bought a second one to give to my mother because I talk about it so much she wants to try it. This grill brought back long forgotten emotions to my life. It's like falling in love again! But without someone actually here to bug me. I love it! :)FOLLOW-UP AGAIN AND AGAIN:So I took the second one I bought to my mother, who can always complain about things like no one else I know... While I was visiting, we made a tri-tip roast on it. It came out perfect! But I was too excited and just kept repeating "Isn't this thing just amazing?" Mom never said anything, or if she did I was too excited to pay much attention. The meat was incredible!I come home, and a week later I was talking with my mom on the phone when she said "Oh, by the way, that grill thing is really fantastic!" My jaw dropped! That was all she said, without the usual "but..." You know what I mean, the mother thing of saying "that thing is really fantastic, but it this or that." No, she just wanted to say it is fantastic, she had nothing to complain about! Wow...So, to finish with a nice touch, last weekend my boyfriend was visiting and we made some fish steaks on the grill. I hadn't made fish on it and didn't really know how well it would work. It was perfect! I turned it on MAX and let it pre-heat for about 10 minutes. Then I added the fish and turned it down a bit. I let each side cook for about 3 - 5 minutes, flipped the fish, another 3 minutes, then flipped the pieces again twice more so they would get the pretty crossed marks. The fish was perfect!Enjoy!___________________UPDATE:Since someone asked me for the recipe for making the tri-tip roast, I thought I'd add it here for anyone who wants to give it a try! :)- Purchase a tri-tip roast and trim some or all the fat on the top side of it.- Leave it outside the fridge so it's in room temperature right before cooking it.- Once the roast is at room temperature, start the grill, turn it all the way to the highest heat setting, and let it get really hot (about 10 to 20 minutes).- Rub salt and ground black pepper to taste all over the roast.- Rub olive oil all over the meat. Any olive oil will do, but I usually use Star Garlic Olive Oil and it gives the meat a delicious additional flavor. Although regular olive oil doesn't have the same garlicy taste, it is still good.- Let the meat sit on a plate or board with the seasonings and olive oil for about 10 to 15 minutes while the grill finishes getting hot.- Once the grill is really hot, put the roast on it and let it sit for about 5 minutes, then turn it.- Turn it again, making sure you rotate the meat so the grill marks cross, then turn again.It will take about 10 minutes total on each side (5 each time you turn), or longer. I like mine medium-rare, so if you like yours more done, you can add more time. But the outside gets to be nice and crunchy, while the inside is nice and red if you use the directions above.Once you remove the meat from the grill, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes so the juices settle inside the roast, then slice it as thin as you can. The trip-tip, as the name suggests, has three tips. When slicing, I usually start from the thinnest tip.Good luck, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)