Zojirushi indoor electric grill review

• Indoor grill that lets you grill meat and vegetables inside your home
• Heating element embedded in the cooking grate
• Titanium and ceramic enhanced non-stick grilling surface
• Cool-touch plastic handles make it easy to lift and put away
• The drip tray is dishwasher safe
• Uses 120V–1300W power
• Reaches temperatures over 400F

Testing Zojirushi Indoor Electric Grill

When you unpack the Zojirushi Indoor Electric Grill, you’ll see there are four pieces: the plastic tray that holds the grill, the non-stick grill itself, the drip tray that goes under the grill, and the power plug.

It’s easy to put together. The plug fits inside the grill, and the dial turns from low to medium or hot. You can adjust the settings of the grill just by turning the dial, so if you’d like medium-high heat you can do that.

It’s not a huge grill, but it’s a good size for a family. I found you can fit 4 burgers or 4 chicken breasts on it at one time.

Grilling with Zojirushi Indoor Electric Grill

I turned it on the low-medium setting first, just to warm it up and see how quickly it could get to work. I was surprised to see how quickly it started to heat up, and when I dropped some thin steak on the grill it immediately began to sizzle.

I’ve used a combo grill/panini press to grill steak inside, and my grill has a drip trough built-in that will remove any excess grease and send it into a reservoir on the side of the unit. The food sits in the grease while it cooks, which isn’t really a nice way to cook it, and it’s usually pretty difficult to clean up.

With the Zojirushi electric grill, the drip pan is directly under the grill, just like a BBQ. That drip pan collects grease as it drips from the food you’re grilling, so your steak, chicken, or vegetables aren’t sitting in grease while cooking. The taste of the food you’re grilling is very similar to what you’d get on your outdoor grill.

The thin steak I added sizzled immediately, and you could see the sear marks on it as it cooked. I used a low to medium temperature as a steak that thin can overcook quickly, and it turned out perfectly after 5 minutes on the grill. Because the grease dripped through the steak looked dry, but the flavour was really good and I loved how I could sear it.

The chicken breasts I cooked turned out great too, although I was worried they would be dry too as they looked different compared to cooking on my outdoor grill. When we cut into them they were not dry at all. My kids said it was some of the best grilled chicken I’ve cooked yet.

Cleaning the grill grates between cooking sessions

I grilled chicken, steak, hamburgers, and vegetables on the grill. I noticed when I cooked steak, which had BBQ sauce on it, it lodged a lot of debris in the grates of the grill. I didn’t stop to clean the grates before I made hamburger on it.  The grill still cooked the burgers perfectly so having a dirty grill doesn’t mean it won’t work as well as it does when it’s clean, but after I was finished I spent quite a while cleaning the excess debris out of the grates.

While it makes a great burger, you just have to plan for the fact that the grease and debris dripping through the grill grates will be more intense than if you were grilling something else. Unlike a BBQ, you can’t use a scraper on the non-stick surface of this grill.

Heat control on the Zojirushi electric grill

Overall, I really enjoyed the seared steak and vegetables I cooked on this grill, and I think the adjustable heat dial really makes a difference when grilling. I was able to micro-adjust the heat on the grill for whatever I was cooking at the time.

While the grill is said to have a max temperature of around 400F, I tested it out with my temperature gun in all corners of the grill and found temperatures around 520F. That’s pretty intense for an indoor grill, and definitely on par with my BBQ output.

The heat was even across the entire grill. Everywhere I used my temperature gun was around the same temp, even on high.

Smoke and grease splatter

I didn’t find the grill smoked a lot during cooking, even for the greasiest burgers. Because the grease drips off the food and into the drip tray, there’s no excess odour. The grease didn’t really splatter onto my counters or anything either. The food would just sizzle on the grill, drip into the pan, and not spray everywhere else.

Cleaning the Zojirushi Indoor Electric Grill

Because the heating element is built into the cooking grate, you can’t pop this grill in the dishwasher. The drip pan is dishwasher safe but the actual cooking grate must be cleaned by hand.

I found the easiest way to clean it was to let it cool off for an hour or so and use a rubber spatula to dislodge any debris sitting on the grate. The only tedious part of cleaning it is when you have to dig into the grate itself, removing any debris from each individual area. I flipped it back and forth a few times, running a paper towel in the areas where there was debris and then turning it over and doing it again.

The plastic tray just needed a wipe down on the sides, and the power plug didn’t have any splatter or anything on it. When your grill is clean you can just put it back together and pop it in your cupboard. It doesn’t take up a lot of space.

Should you buy the Zojirushi Indoor Electric Grill?

Having an indoor grill that doesn’t splatter grease, doesn’t smoke up your kitchen, and cooks your food just like your outdoor BBQ is a win in my books. In a Canadian winter, I can’t always go outside to grill, and even in the summer, I don’t always want to.

Using the Zojirushi indoor grill means I can have BBQ steak, chicken, or vegetables in a hurry, and the design removes excess grease so the food is healthier. Everything I made was delicious, and while it really resulted in a lot of debris when making burgers, I think the time spent cleaning the grill was worth it considering how good they taste.

I had a great time testing out the Zojirushi indoor electric grill, and given how easy it is to use and the versatility you get from cooking indoors, I think this quality grill makes it a great addition to any kitchen.

You can find the Zojirushi indoor electric grill on Best Buy right now.