Hamilton Beach Indoor Grill 25325W

My family and I really enjoy grilled food and unfortunately we live in an apartment and we can't have a barbeque grill because of the fire hazard from outdoor grilling so close to the apartment buildings. So we have been using indoor grills since we first saw one of those Infomercials with George Forman hocking his brand of indoor grills.

We had a small indoor grill for the past year and the non stick coating on the grilling surface was bubbling and peeling off so it was time to replace it. I happened to be at the store (Walmart) doing some shopping and I saw the indoor grill I really wanted. I was looking for one that had a decent size cooking surface so I could cook more than a couple of burger patties at the same time or cook a good size steak. What I found was the Hamilton Beach Indoor Grill 25325W (W stands for white)and like I said it was the one I wanted.

What does it look like

Because we live in an apartment we have very limited kitchen counter space so having small appliances on the counter is very difficult to do. I really like the fact that I was able to replace the old indoor grill that I was replacing with a larger grill and not need to create more counter space. This is because of how the grill opens up. The outside is completely white except for the very bottom and even the cup the collects the juices is made of white plastic and it tucks neatly into a slot in the end of the grill that is away from the wall.

There is a timer and a power light that indicates when the grill is on and cooking. This feature is a big advantage over our old one which we had to unplug from the wall to turn the power off. The timer settings are incremented from 0 to 15 minutes (0, 5, 10 and 15 minutes are numbered) plainly marked around the switch knob. Along with the timer you will find a small listing of cook times to use for some of the more popular meats.

Other important features

One of the big featured that I was interested in was removable grill plates and I am happy that Hamilton Beach made the right choice in putting removable non stick coated cooking plates which are dishwasher safe. I usually wash the plates by hand after a couple of uses and in between washings I will preheat the grill (5 minute setting) and take a paper towel and carefully wipe down the surface of the plates.

For those of you that are not familiar with the indoor grills; they offer a special feature that allows the grease and oils that cook out of the meat to drain away from the meat and collect in a specially designed cup. This cup is made of matching white plastic and it slips neatly into a slot on the right hand end of the grill. The very first time I used an indoor grill I was amazed at how much drippings actually were caught in the grease cup after cooking a few hamburger patties.

My Final Thoughts

I have been pretty happy with all of the other Hamilton Beach products that we have bought over the years so when I found this Hamilton Beach Indoor Grill I didn't hesitate to pick it up from WalMart. After pulling it out of the box and pulling out all of the packing materials I removed the old grill and it fit perfect in the same spot without having to move anything to make room for it.

I removed the cooking plates from inside and I washed them just in case there was any residue before I tried it for the first time. I turned the timer to warm up setting (5) and waited for it to warm up. After the timer went off I placed the four burger patties on the inside and closed the top and selected 7 minutes according to what it says on the outside of the grill for cooking hamburger patties. After waiting for the timer to go off, I noticed that the meat wasn't cooked thoroughly enough and I had to cook it for a bit longer. So I just remembered the next time to adjust the cooking time to 10 minutes and they were cooked perfect.

Note: You need to be careful not to touch the outside of the grill while warming up and during cooking. The outside of the grill gets very hot and presents a burn hazard. Hamilton Beach recommends you use a oven mitt when opening the lid to avoid being burned by escaping steam.

I have since tried to cook a good size steak and in about 10 minutes it was cooked and ready to serve. A good thing to remember is use a cooking spray on your food before closing the lid to avoid sticking when cooking.

I would definitely recommend this Hamilton Beach Indoor Grill if you aren't partial to the George Foreman Grill.