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The top health grills
A health grill cooks food quickly and drains away the fat. The Good Housekeeping Institute has tested a range of models to find the best...
A health grill is an asset in any kitchen - it's as useful cooking steaks or chicken breasts as it is grilling fillets of fish or toasting sandwiches. George Foreman remains one of the most popular and well-known brands when it comes to grilling at home, but how do other brands compare?
TefaL Tefal GC450B27 Super Grill
TefaL Tefal GC450B27 Super Grill
Score: 93/10
The Tefal SuperGrill scored top marks for cooking burgers, chicken, and vegetables. It was quick to heat up and had even coverage across the entire grilling surface. We found that, when cooking meat, food had a perfect sear, while remaining moist on the inside. Grilling vegetables admittedly takes quite a while, as the manual suggests cooking them at the lowest setting, but this resulted in vegetables with a subtle char and a deep, intense flavour. On the downside, the external casing on the grill can get quite hot. It reached 56C during one of our tests, which is higher than we would like. However, this is an excellent grill with useful features, it scored full marks for ease of use, as each function enhances the grilling experience. It's a perfect choice for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.
Score: 88/100
The Delonghi Multigrill impressed us with its performance across the board. This model heats up quickly and its external casing remains cool, even when grilling at the highest temperature. During our tests it grilled a whole host of foods with ease! When using the ‘sear’ button, burgers had a great crust and were cooked almost perfectly. Vegetables were also grilled quickly and had a great flavour. However, the instructions lack suggestions for cooking times for certain foods. For instance, it is difficult to gauge how long chicken should be cooked for, which resulted in a little trial and error when in test. Overall however, this is a brilliant grill that is easy to use and performs very well when grilling both meat and vegetables.
Sage BGR840BSS
Sage BGR840BSS
Score: 87/100
This grill scored highly cooking burgers, pork chops and vegetables. We found it was quick to heat up and had even coverage across the grilling area. It comes with an integrated temperature probe which we found really useful for cooking meat exactly to your liking. When cooking with the probe there's also an audible sound when it's time to rest the meat, encouraging the user to rest it for 3-5 minutes for improved flavour. The instructions were detailed, and a lot of information is given about the five meat settings, but it lacks any detail for how to cook vegetables! The grill opens out into flat BBQ mode which would enable you to cook items such as eggs and pancakes on the flat grill plate. This is an excellent grill with an extensive range of features, but it is fairly pricey and would take up quite a bit of counter space. It might not be your first choice if you're a vegetarian, as we found it was catered more towards meat eaters.
TefaL Tefal GC722D40 Optigrill
TefaL Tefal GC722D40 Optigrill
Score: 87/100
The Tefal Optigrill+ XL scored perfect marks for evenness of coverage, meaning that this it will grill right up to the edges. We saw good results when cooking burgers using the designated burger setting. In under eight minutes we enjoyed well-cooked burgers with well-defined grill marks. Chicken didn’t fare quite as well. Not only did it take a long time to cook, it was very dry inside. Having said that, we were impressed with the results when grilling vegetables using the manual mode. Vegetables were cooked through while also retaining some bite, and they all had good grill marks too. This is an excellent grill with many useful features. While it may not suit those looking to grill mostly chicken, it’s the perfect choice for anyone looking for a large grill with lots of worktop space. If space is lacking, opt for its little brother, the Optigrill+.
George Foreman 24640 Entertaining Grill
George Foreman 24640 Entertaining Grill
Score: 82/100
We thought the cooking performance of this grill was good, although the grill plates didn't feel very secure once attached (which could be due to them being removable). Although it is a great idea to be able to use it to cook pizza, the pizza we made was not comparable with one cooked in an oven. With room for seven portions, it is ideal for entertaining but it does take up a fair amount of space due to its large size.
George Foreman Enhanced Grill and Melt
George Foreman Enhanced Grill and Melt
Score: 80/100
The George Foreman Family 5 Portion Grill is a versatile piece of kit that scored very well for its overall performance. It stands out for featuring a melt function which can be used to grill the tops of dishes, perfect for cheesy foods. This model has 4 temperature settings and quick-to-remove grill plates that are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. It also offers non-stick which is very effective as nothing stuck to the plates during any of our tests. This George Foreman model can be easily stored thanks to the side latch and slim dimensions. Perfect for anyone in need of a large grill but lacks kitchen space
Score: 79/100
A well designed and efficient machine with adjustable lid angle for thicker foods. The smooth plates brown food evenly and although fixed are surprisingly easy to wipe clean.
Score: 77/100
A solidly designed, versatile machine which browns evenly and quickly. The plates do not slope which inhibits fat drainage but the removable plates make it easy to clean.
Cuisinart 2 in 1 Grill and Sandwich maker
Cuisinart 2 in 1 Grill and Sandwich maker
Score: 73/100
The Cuisinart GRSM2U 2 in 1 Grill and Sandwich Maker is easy to use and takes just over five minutes to preheat. The outer casing gets very hot after continual use but the handle stays cool and the plates are easy to change. It cooked burgers evenly but isn't big enough to fit 4 burgers. Vegetables were grilled well and the sandwich toaster created large pockets for lots of filling. The instructions could do with more advice on suggested cooking times and temperatures for different foods.
George Foreman Entertaining 7-Portion Grill 19932, Silver
George Foreman Entertaining 7-Portion Grill 19932, Silver
Score: 73/100
A good sized machine which copes well with multiple portions. It drains well but the fixed plates make it fiddly to clean.