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rp2813

rp2813

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I've seen many posts here with pix of various small appliances that members have scored, but as I pulled out my Rival indoor "Crock Grill" the other night (too cold and too much of a production to roll out and uncover the gas grill on the patio) it occurred to me that items like this haven't received much air time on AW. Is it because they're lame at what they do? I threw a T-Bone steak on mine after letting the grill get good and hot. It came out OK, didn't take any longer than grilling one over an open flame, but it reminded me of the boring steaks my parents would do under the oven's broiler element. It also produced a ton of smoke from the grease dropping onto the heating element and I was thankful I had placed the thing near the exhaust fan.

I doubt I'll ever do another steak this way, but is there anything in particular that these grills do a good job with? I use mine so infrequently that it may eventually end up on a donation pile (and I see these at thrift stores quite often) unless there are certain things that are worthwhile cooking on it. Have the various George Foreman devices rendered my type of indoor grill obsolete?

Any suggestions or experiences to share?

Ralph
 
Thumbs down

I have never found one of those indoor grills that produced a good end product regardless of the skills of the chef. They are about like those eletric woks. Yes, some folks can produce some pretty good meals on them but it never seems to reach the quality of the real grill. I have been given a few over the years (a house warming present, won as a door prize) but they were eventually rendered to the priced to sell table at a yard sale. The forman grills seem to be a pretty good snack/sandwich grill that certainly put a huge dent in the tabletop eletric market. For me it gets down to the quality of the results. If I am going to do the table top thing then I use a hibachi.
 
Greg, thanks for your opinion. I feel the same way and figured that's why nobody has proudly paraded one of these as a thrift store score.

Interesting that you mentioned a hibachi. They were very common items in households everywhere in their heyday and are quite efficient. I've been considering getting one for smaller grilling jobs. Much less of a production (even if they do require a few briquettes of charcoal) than accessing and firing up the big gas grill and I've produced some killer steaks off of one of those in the past.

Meanwhile, the Rival grill is headed back to its hang out, way up and out of reach on top of a cabinet in the garage.
 
You never know...

I saw one in a flea market for $3.00. Sad looking really. Hang onto it if you have the storage space. You never know what adaptive use it might have in the future and a poorly preforming grill may be better than none.
 
Electric grills

They don't get near hot enough to do a good job on a steak-if they did your house would stink for days...
Tom
 
I don't use mine very often, and the end result is not always great. But, I did cook one of the best steaks I have ever made on a crock grill - this was probably due more to the marinating process: When I moved here, I lived with a college buddy 45 miles north of town. We marinated some steaks and then an emergency came up and we never cooked them. We left them in the baking pan, covered in foil, and put them in the freezer, where they were forgotten for over three months.

When I bought my house, my buddy helped me haul everything down - the tranny went out in my truck so he provided truck and trailer. We had found the steaks and brought them with us. After working all day we thawed them (the pan was now dry - no residue, it looked like the steaks had wicked up all of the marinade, no freezer burn) and we sat on the deck on the seawall and grilled them while having a few beers - had to run a 100' extension cord. They turned out great! You could taste the marinade in every bite and all through the meat. I haven't topped those steaks since, although I have perfected the marinade - Super Dave's Secret Tropical Steak Marinade - which is posted on Bon Appetit.

As far as hibachi's, I probably broke a few fire codes when living on campus. I had a wooden stand built that would slide out of the window so I could grill "outside" - the hibachi was held onto the stand by velcro. Worked great and I never got caught: I was in the Cadet Corps at Texas A&M and an rrmy major - a total dickhead - walked under my second story window while I was grilling and never noticed. If he had, he would have blown a gasket.
 
The other day...

The other day I was at an estate sale and saw a "crock-grill" on sale. It was new, unused, harvest gold, square and approx $5.00.
Got a bad vibe and kept walking. Glad I did from what I'm hearing.
Examining it made me think it would yield more grief than fun. Appears to be true.
"Adaptive use" is a really good term. I'm willing to listen if someone comes up with a moderne use for the thing.
 
Farberware Open Hearth Rotisserie/Grill

I've had decent luck using my Farberware Open Hearth rotisserie/grill. I will not say it's equal to an outdoor grill, but it's a decent substitute when the weather is bad.

They're pretty much smokeless, because most of the drippings drip down past the heating element to a drip tray. Only a very little drips onto the element, making smoke almost non-existent.

They're all over eBay reasonably cheap. You can't beat them as a rotisserie, either. If you have any choice, a vintage unit with the metal motor housing beats the newer ones with a plastic motor housing.
 
David if you could post the recipe for the marinade that would be great!! I checked Bon Appetit and no match could be found. Thanks Terry
 
Sandy, there is a fairly early Faberware rotisserie like yours sitting in the basement at my mom's. I think it was used once. What I didn't like about it was that it had no on/off switch. You plug it in and it's going. I can't remember what was cooked on it or how it turned out, but it seemed much more limited in what it could do than the '55 Roto-Broil it supposedly replaced and which I still have. The Roto-Boil has three heat settings and I will never get tired of the rotisserie chicken that this old machine can turn out, so to speak. The cooking instructions advise to cook 20 minutes on Medium, 20 on High, then 20 more on Medium and the chicken is perfect every time. I prefer it over the Faberware and since the heating element is on the top, there is never a concern about drippings hitting it and smoking up the kitchen. That's my partner's and my job while we're waiting for dinner ;-)
 
Terry

~David if you could post the recipe for the marinade that would be great!! I checked Bon Appetit and no match could be found. Thanks Terry

This marinade will make a top sirloin as tender as a ribeye. I really do not measure the ingredients, I just add them until it looks right.

Dave's (not so) Secret Tropical Steak Marinade

2-4 large top sirloin steaks
About 1/3 to 1/2 bottle Kraft House Italian dressing (not low fat - it scorches).
Balsamic vinegar
McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning
Dried Basil leaves
Dill Weed
Splash of lemon juice.
Shot of a clear liquor (rum,vodka) or tequila (use lime juice instead of lemon if you use tequila). Also Coconut rum works well.


Instructions: Combine ingredients for marinade in a Tupperware marinator as follows: Add the Kraft House Italian dressing. Next, add the Balsamic vinegar - enough to make the dressing look darkish brown when mixed. Then add the McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning - sprinkle over the surface of the dressing/vinegar mixture to give a good coating. Mix. Now add the Basil leaves - sprinkle on top like the Montreal seasoning. Mix. Repeat with the Dill Weed. Mix. Add a splash of lemon juice and a shot of a clear liquor (rum,vodka) or tequila (use lime juice instead of lemon if you use tequila) and mix. Add the steaks to the marinator, put on the lid, and turn to make sure the steaks are completely coated. Refrigerate for 24 hours, turning at 12 hours. At this pint you can grill the steaks or freeze them. Grill over a smokey fire until they reach the desired doneness. Applewood is the best wood I've found so far to cook over. Serves 4 - 6, or 2 - 3 hungry Texans.

Cooking Tips: Freezing for a week or more really allows the flavors to blend and penetrate. The best ones I've made I froze for a few months. I have found the Tupperware marinator to be indespensible: it has a molded grid in the bottom and top that allows the marinade to flow under the meat, unlike using a flat pan.

 
Ralph:

There could well be better indoor grills out there, I'm jus' sayin' I like my Open Hearth. I never found the lack of an on/off switch to be a problem, but then I don't leave heating appliances plugged in anyway.
 
Well Sandy, now that you mention it, my sister expressed interest in the Faberware last time she was in town but I don't know if she remembered to take it. If she did, I'm sure she'll be quick to start trying different things on it.
 
Ralph:

If it's one of the old ones with the metal motor housing, she'll have a great unit that can probably be handed down to her grandchildren. BTW, if any parts are missing, everything for the Open Hearth turns up on eBay sooner or later. Be sure and tell her that everything but the detachable heating element and the motor can go in the dishwasher! That's one big advantage the Open Hearth has over some other indoor units I've seen.
 
David, thanks so much for sharing the recipe, I am going to give it a try this weekend. It sounds really good. Terry
 

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