Sanyo HPS-SG3 200-Square-Inch Electric Indoor Barbeque Grill, Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Sanyo HPS-SG3 200-Square-Inch Electric Indoor Barbeque Grill, Black
Customer Review: Cooks good food, but not smokeless
Summary: 5 Stars
All considered, I decided to give this Sanyo indoor grill a 5-star rating. It's probably more like 4.5 stars, but Amazon doesn't allow that. I'll explain.
On the plus side, I really like the simplicity of this grill. It's also light-weight, registering a little under seven pounds, which means it's easy to move around - no breaking your back! It's also quite easy to clean: just soapy warm water and dry! The grill consists of three pieces: a metal grill, a sheet metal oil drip pan, and a plastic base. The base does feel a little insubstantial, but the whole thing, put together, is quite sturdy. The 200 in^2 cooking surface is good for a family of up to four.
I also loved the price: I never imagined I could have a quality indoor grill for such a low price. (Thanks to Amazon, too?) This is probably what tilted me to the five-star rating. The grill, made in China, is of pretty good build quality, and looks like it'll last a long time. The price and value just can't be beat.
Above all, the grill really gives you delicious BBQ food! I've grilled steaks, pork chops, burgers, franks, chicken breasts, chicken legs, chicken wings, vegetables, and more, and *each and every time* the food came out absolutely delicious. For example, I bought 2 pounds of semi-boneless rib steaks at Shaw's for ten bucks. I sprayed the grill with some oil spray, pre-heat the grill to 350 F degrees (which took about 20 minutes), and then grilled the steaks (together with a couple burger patties and some green peppers) for about 15 or 16 minutes to well-done. Then my family enjoyed a delicious steak meal. Not counting the cost of the grill itself, but including electricity (the grill is rated at 1300W), the whole meal came to less than $15 for four full-sized adults! Imagine if we had eaten out at a steakhouse; the last time I went to a steakhouse in Manhattan, I had to shell out over $80 per person, with no appetitizer ordered and only tap water! In fact, I found my own grilled steaks (served with Diet Coke bought on sale) even better. Even if the Sanyo had gone meet its makers after this one meal, I'd have more than broken even on the meal, compared to any restaurant that serves steaks.
So I'm really thrilled about the value and the quality of the food.
Now, why not a full-hearted five stars? Well, because this is a low-cost product, there are a couple items that I dislike. One, the thermostat is a joke; it has temperature ranges like "200-250" and "300-425" but doesn't give you exact markers, so you have to guess where to turn the knob to in order to preheat to 325. Not a big deal after a few tries, and I seem to get it right (more or less) each time even though I'd never operated a grill, indoor or outdoor, before. Two, cooking time is not short, period. Preheating to 300 takes about 15 minutes and to 425 takes over 20 minutes. Cooking itself takes between 10 and 20 minutes depending on what you cook and the meat's thickness. Also, the cooking time seems to vary with room temperature.
Three, more important, this grill is not completely smokeless. The oil spray will give out the most smoke, although it hasn't set off our smoke alarm yet. (I keep the doors and kitchen windows open when cooking.) In fact, I don't think any open grill can give you smokeless cooking. As long as you have oil heated to over 300 degrees, you will get smoke. Please keep this in mind if you live in a meticulously maintained house and cannot stand any grill smoke.
But all in all, I love this grill. I'd gladly buy another one any time. While grilled meat may not be healthy, this grill cooks yummy BBQ meat and veggies and saves me tons of money. I recommend this grill.
Customer Review: Sanyo 200 Sq. Inch Grill HPS-SG3Just used this product last night and grilled
Summary: 4 Stars
Just used this grill for the first time last night, grilling a 1 3/4" Angus choice NY strip steak. The results were just fine for our preference of medium rare results. Prior to using I very lightly rubbed down the element top surface down with cooking oil on a paper towel and ignored their recommendation to use cooking spray. Cooking sprays have have additives that can eventually ruin your non stick coatings. I learned this from Circulon and my pans have lasted beautifully. The grill took about ten minutes to properly heat to a fine searing temperature. I ignored the directions to use a temp setting of 350 and cranked it up to the full 425 degrees. Was able to obtain nice grill marks, then rotated the meat one half turn to get those nice cross marks. I did not turn the steaks until the blood and juices were percolating up to the top surface of the meat, just as I would on an outdoor grill. Thinner cuts would have to be monitored very carefully. Once turned, I lowered the thermostat to 375, or so, and periodically checked doneness by using my finger to see how much it yielded to pressure. This method never fails and you should take the time to master this very simple technique. They were cooked perfectly. I would recommend using a bit more seasoning and perhaps a smoked flavored salt, if that is important to you. This method yields a product that is not much different than a gas grill, but neither will compare to charcoal and a low, slow fire. But, it is convenient and easy to clean up.
We used our grill on the counter next to the sink to make it easier to drain the drip pan. No smoking, by the way. We were surprised at how flexible the base is. It is made of a slightly bendable plastic which we are hoping will hold up. You have to be careful with it and never attempt to move the grill when it is hot, as it flexes so much. The grilling element is sturdy, but we could see the handles may be a weak point if you banged them up too much in the sink during cleaning. Very easy to clean, but no coating on the underside. I was hoping I would receive one on the newer units with Teflon on the underside of the element as well as the top side. :-( But, I can live with it.
Overall, a very good result and we are pleased though we do have some reservations on the sturdiness of the product. Time will tell and I will update down the road.
Note: this is a very large grill and takes up a lot of space on a counter. But, even though we are empty nesters, we liked having the space to do meat and veggies, or even prepare meats for a future meal and freezing those portions. Just remember any meat you fix for the future should be just slightly undercooked to stand up to reheating without too much dryness.
Customer Review: Excellent grill, and the price is right
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife bought this for me after doing a large amount of research on indoor grills. I got tired of starting my charcoal grill just to cook a small meal for the two of us. So far we have grilled steaks twice and chicken once.
The manual comes with suggested cooking times for many different types of meat. Even with chicken breasts that were about 2 inches thick, the manual was right on the money (about 15-20 minutes on each side). My friend came over for dinner and was so impressed with my chicken (marinated only in an roasted red pepper italian dressing I bought at the store) that he decided to buy the same grill.
The filet mignon I grilled was very thick, so I had to stray from the suggested cooking time. Since steak is so easy to overcook, I turned down the heat from the suggested 325 degrees and just let it cook longer. The result was absolutely delicious steak! My second attempt at steak was a much thinner cut of meat, so I did cook it for less time on a higher heat.
There really is very little smoke, and despite complaints from others, I think it takes minimal time for the grill to heat up. It's not instantaneous but it's certainly less prep time than a charcoal grill. If storage size is a problem, Sanyo makes a compact but similar version (see the HPS-SG2). Depending on the size of your sink, the SG2 may also be easier to clean.
I would definitely recommend this grill. It works great and allows you to stay inside and entertain guests while grilling, keep an eye on the little ones, and/or grill when weather conditions outside are unfavorable. The only downside I have seen so far is that the entire surface is always the same temperature. Not all meat is done at the same time, but I can't move meat off the grill for too long or else it will get cold.
Normally when I grill outside on my charcoal grill I leave one spot without coals, so that when some meat is done I can move it off of the coals but still keep it warm. This isn't possible with an electric grill such as this one, but one possible solution is to have an oven (or even toaster oven) on at 100-150 degrees. As things finish cooking on the grill, you can move them to the oven to keep them warm (without cooking them further) while you finish grilling the rest of the meal.
One final note: the sponges made for the George Foreman grills work perfectly for cleanup with this grill too!
Customer Review: FOR THE MONEY, CAN'T GO WRONG!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been cooking for 40 years, been there done that! For the price, this product performs relatively well. I read grievances, but yet to find same from my unit, wonder if people expect too much from an indoor grill.
As with any cooking device, whether oven/range (gas or elect); aluminum, stainless steel or oven cast iron skillet; or indoor grill - there is always a trial and error learning curve.
Grievances I read, my reply: My unit heats up quickly, running my hand over the top could feel the heat and this was on low. If your meat is curling, cut a slit to allow it to lay flatter. To retain more heat, lay tin foil, shiney side down, over the food. This should help. And you can always use a meat thermometer to confirm safe temperature.
I've found cleaning to be fine only using a dish cloth. The underside of the element/cooking plate does get dirty and it cleaned easily with dish cloth. If you spray the top side before cooking, put a light spray on the under side, should remedy the problem of build-up.
I've grilled steak using a rub, and marinated pork chops - each came out tender and delicious. (See UPDATE below) I didn't have a smoke problem, even placed under range hood in case there was (per another review) and I have WAY more smoke from my cast iron skillet, didn't need vent.
I did add more water (1/2 C) for the marinaded chops as I knew the marinade would drip and could cause more smoke, it worked out well and with little water to pour out later.
Even though I read the dimensions like everyone else, I was surprised to see how large the unit was. If you have a small kitchen with little storage, then I would reconsider & go with a smaller model.
In defense of the size, I was able to grill 3 good size sirloin steaks (6 large servings)all at one time. This is a bonus for me from an indoor grill.
My mom has a large George Foreman and I go over and make a month's supply of sausage bisquits. Whatever grill you choose, a removable grill plate is a must. Cleaning her unit is a pain in the derriere!
Tonight I will grill marinated chicken and hamburgers tomorrow. I'm enjoying my grill!
UPDATE: MARINATED CHICKEN TURNED OUT PERFECT AND TURKEY BURGERS, TOO. THE GRILL IS OFFICIALLY A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY!!
Hope this helps with your decision. Happy Life!
Customer Review: It's better than no grill at all
Summary: 3 Stars
I ordered this grill to replace a tabletop electric grill that I bought at a yard sale for 2 bucks. My old grill went kaput and it's no longer available. I loved that grill. It was fast, the food tasted great, it took up very little space on the countertop, it cooked food evenly, and it was easy to clean (all of the parts went into the dishwasher except the heating element).
This grill is a poor substitute for my beloved $2.00 grill. My biggest complaint is that if the food doesn't actually touch the grill surface, it doesn't cook thoroughly (not very healthy). The sides of the meat are still raw (YUK! - try turning a pork chop on its side). If you like a nice thick portion, forget medium well. The outside will be crispy, while the inside will run very red. In addition, I don't like having to crunch my way through a hamburger or steak. The taste of the food is compromised because the cooking source is a heated piece of metal, rather than the heat itself.
The grill takes up a LOT of space (where will I store it?), it is cumbersome to clean (although the non-stick surface actually IS non-stick. That's a plus). The variable temperature knob is silly. When I have used anything but the highest setting, the food simply does not cook thoroughly. So, I have a choice between crunchy and raw. Plus - this grill is SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW.
Another major concern for me is that, now that I've used it, I can't return it. If I had bought it at a store and it didn't live up to its hype, I could return it. I believe I will pass on buying appliances online in the future. Based on this experience, it's not worth the risk.
I was curious to see how this grill worked for others who have bought it. After reading the reviews, I have to wonder...did we all buy the same grill? Some of the things that worked for me are a big complaint for others. Some of my complaints got rave reviews from others. This leads me to believe that the manufacturing quality of this grill is inconsistent at best.
Still, it is better than no grill at all.