I wouldn't get a special grill top for indoor grilling. The cost simply would not be worth it to me. Lodge makes a double burner, rectangular grill pan that has ridges on one side, to get the parallel lines similar to what you'd get on a grill outside, with the other side being smooth - great for pancakes and French toast for a crowd. If you're routinely going to be using it for smaller cuts of meat, Lodge makes a smaller, square grill pan that's like a cast iron skillet with ridges in it, as does Staub. I would invest in the best, most powerful hood available for home kitchens. And I'd push the boat out for a Wolf gas range - I have one and couldn't be happier. ;o)
Post your budget and space constraints. (Factor in the cost of possibly upgrading your exhaust hood.)
The reason why I mention this is because of some of the specific challenges of delivering equal heat to a grill. In a professional grade unit, you'd have closely spaced parallel gas elements to provide an equal amount of heat over the grilling surface area.
In a cheap outdoor gas grill, a simple burner design (like a long oval) has notable cool spots. Some manufacturers will use an H-shapee burner to minimize this.
The challenge of addressing hot spots in an indoor grill are exacerbated because the grill grate will be very close to the heat source (unlike an outdoor gas grill).
Exhausting smoke will be an issue and there's the challenging cleanup issue.
The low-budget way to handle this is to use a grill griddle. That gives the look of grilled food but it's not true grilling since the food isn't directly exposed to flame.
A lot of Western-style grilling requires a cover since larger cuts of meat are being grilled. The cover traps some of the heat so the top is cooked by convection heat rather than radiant or direct contact. This is not an issue for some cuisines (e.g. the Japanese grill small and thin pieces of food).
Grilling large items typically cannot be realistically implemented on a standard residential-sized range. Even something like chicken parts tend to cook more evenly when covered. Thus an indoor gas grill is mostly limited to grilling small and relatively thin pieces.
I lived in a place in the Nineties with Jenn-Air stovetop grill and boy it was clear that its utility was extremely limited.
Remember that when you are grilling you are generating large amounts of carbon monoxide so venting is particularly important indoors. If you go ahead with this, make sure you have at least one CO detector in the kitchen area. You need to move a lot of air quickly. It might be a good idea to consult your county fire marshal's office for guidance.
New Construction, Have no idea what cost would be as I cannot even find anything online to view. 3000.00 ?? I see some cooking shows using the indoor grill. Thank you
Those cooking shows are invariably sponsored by the appliance manufacturer; just watch the closing credits. And the show producer budgets for some intern or janitorial service to clean up after the cameras stop rolling. It's not like the cooking show presenter is supplying any elbow grease.
Note that those shows are always grilling very small pieces of food. You can't BBQ a butt roast or beef brisket on those kind of stovetop grills.
Frankly, I suggest you look at an outdoor propane grill. All of the items you mentioned can be cooked on one of those grill griddles or quite quickly on a real outdoor gas grill (which requires very little cleanup).
Based on what you want to grill and your budget, I’d also suggest that you get a standard range with a center griddle (I used to have one that was made by Samsung.) and get a large grill pan. (My range came with a cast iron center piece that was a griddle on one side and ridged on the other so it gave you the grilled appearance.) And, as 702551 said, get an outdoor grill for big projects.
If you really want an indoor grill function, look at Thermador. https://www.thermador.com/us/products/ranges/ranges-with-grill. But know that you’ll be spending about $10,000 for the range, and another $2000-3000 for the vent hood.
9 Comments
The reason why I mention this is because of some of the specific challenges of delivering equal heat to a grill. In a professional grade unit, you'd have closely spaced parallel gas elements to provide an equal amount of heat over the grilling surface area.
In a cheap outdoor gas grill, a simple burner design (like a long oval) has notable cool spots. Some manufacturers will use an H-shapee burner to minimize this.
The challenge of addressing hot spots in an indoor grill are exacerbated because the grill grate will be very close to the heat source (unlike an outdoor gas grill).
Exhausting smoke will be an issue and there's the challenging cleanup issue.
The low-budget way to handle this is to use a grill griddle. That gives the look of grilled food but it's not true grilling since the food isn't directly exposed to flame.
A lot of Western-style grilling requires a cover since larger cuts of meat are being grilled. The cover traps some of the heat so the top is cooked by convection heat rather than radiant or direct contact. This is not an issue for some cuisines (e.g. the Japanese grill small and thin pieces of food).
Grilling large items typically cannot be realistically implemented on a standard residential-sized range. Even something like chicken parts tend to cook more evenly when covered. Thus an indoor gas grill is mostly limited to grilling small and relatively thin pieces.
I lived in a place in the Nineties with Jenn-Air stovetop grill and boy it was clear that its utility was extremely limited.
Remember that when you are grilling you are generating large amounts of carbon monoxide so venting is particularly important indoors. If you go ahead with this, make sure you have at least one CO detector in the kitchen area. You need to move a lot of air quickly. It might be a good idea to consult your county fire marshal's office for guidance.
Note that those shows are always grilling very small pieces of food. You can't BBQ a butt roast or beef brisket on those kind of stovetop grills.
$3000 sounds a little meager.
If you really want an indoor grill function, look at Thermador. https://www.thermador.com/us/products/ranges/ranges-with-grill. But know that you’ll be spending about $10,000 for the range, and another $2000-3000 for the vent hood.