Mark Begansky loves his electric grill. This isn’t your indoor, panini-press-style electric grill; this is an outdoor grill fit for sumptuous summer cookouts on the Fourth of July. Begansky loves to cook mouthwatering kebabs and barbecue chicken, corn and asparagus, getting the edges crisp and making those characteristic sear marks where the food’s caramelized. The look, and, more importantly, the taste are “the same as what you’d get from a gas grill,” said Begansky, who works in the healthcare industry and lives in New Jersey.
Switching to an electric grill is a way to jettison yet one more foothold of the fossil fuel industry out of people’s homes and lives. Yet despite their climate advantages and on-par performance, electric grills haven’t yet broken into the public imagination in the U.S. Of grillers surveyed every two years from 2015 to 2021 by the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, only 3 to 4 percent owned an electric grill.
Side note, I just bought a Gourmia airfryer. the Ninja was not nearly as good. I made mistakes with the Ninja by not lining the crumb tray and roasting tray with tinfoil. It stank.
The Gourmia is far less expensive and better rated.
I am waiting for my corn on the cob to finish up currently. Time of year for corn in CT.
That would be a very unpopular suggestion on the old Funky Art of BBQ board. Almost blasphemous.
But a lot of talk there was about smoking, and you don’t use fossil fuels for smoking. Basically, you burn wood and/or charcoal (itself not a fossil fuel…it’s a manufactured product).
You would also need electricity at the site of the grill. I fear this might make folks pull it under the patio (where there are usually outlets), which could cause a fire. A neighbor burned down his patio several years ago (plus did damage to the house) because he had a grill on his patio. I didn’t inquire about what sort of grill it was. A good flare-up, and his patio was on fire.
I have a gas grill and a wood/charcoal smoker. Both about 20’ from the house. The only flammable thing nearby is a tree, but it is not dry, so would be difficult to catch fire without prolonged exposure to flame.
I have a Ninja and I’ve never lined the basket or crisper tray for routine air frying. I find it to be very easy clean up. I’m in the market for a second, larger model and I see this Gourmia seems to have one. How does it differ from the Ninja?
My mistake was cooking chicken without the foil underneath. The fats hit the elements below. The chicken fat is not removeable. That is what stinks.
The big square box Gourmia is easier for my hands to get in and work. The Ninjas can be all sorts of different machines. I had the digital one that was lower and would swivel up to stand.
The Gourmia is PBab or whatever free. The elements look as good or better for strength. The cabinet inside is easier by far to wipe because of the greater amount of space. It takes up less space on the counter by a couple of inches because it goes up higher instead of spread out.
I would have loved to have stayed with the Ninja. I loved that machine but could not longer live with the chicken fat smell. Line your crumb tray and broiling pan with tin foil.