About 10 years ago the George Foreman Grill hit the market and indoor grilling became the new cooking sensation. That, plus word of the health benefits of grilling food has made the market for not just the grills has put the sales of the many versions of the George Foreman Grill through the roof. Along with that came the popularity of making grilled sandwiches and the Panini press became popular.

If you enjoy summer grilling in the backyard, you don’t have to give up grilled food in the winter just because it’s cold out. An indoor grill can just as easily give that grilled flavor along with the health benefits of grilling food. Indoor grills are generally two-sided (known as the contact grill style) so that your food can cook on both sides at the same time. There are some open grill options, however, that cook the food only on the bottom so that you have to flip the food. The contact grill style can also be used as a Panini press to make fancy grilled sandwiches.

The contact grill also cooks your food faster than an open grill. Both styles of indoor grills come in more than one size and they each have an optional temperature controls. The standard grill has just one temperature setting.
 
Most of the contact grills like the George Foreman Grill sit at a slant so that liquid can drip from the food onto a catch tray. This is the health benefit of grilling food. If you are using meat that isn’t the leanest, this means that the fat is dripping off and away from the food making your meal healthier, not to mention less soggy!

I use my indoor grill for almost everything, except for steaks, that I use to grill outside. I love grilling pineapple, the way that grilling caramelized the sugar in the fruit resulting in a golden brown color, yum. The recipe I use is:

• • Slice up fresh cored pinapple into thick rings (you can use canned pineapple in a pinch   but I prefer fresh)
• • 3 tablespoons of Honey (or agave)
• • Fresh Lemon Juice (to taste)
• • Little sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper approx ½ teaspoon

I like to use the fresh ground pepper you can get at any supermarket. I like the ones with the little grinder built in to the top. Let the marinade that for a few minutes, although I have been known just to get the pineapple on my indoor grill and then brush the mixture on top of the pineapple and turn it and apply the mixture to the other side. You want to have your grill settings high enough to get those cool grill marks and to seal the flavors inside. You only need to grill the pineapple approx 4 minutes on each side. You don't want to over grill this as the pineapple will turn mushy.

I have used several different types of indoor grills, including the George Foreman, which was a really old model, they have come a long way since the first one I purchased.  I am currently using a grill that has 3 dials on the front, Griddle (which controls the temperature for griddle functions, Function, which lets you choose between which functions you want such as Griddle or Grill , and two different cooking plates. One set of the plates is flat and one is ribbed.

We attended a Panini cooking class with the author of one of the books I am recommending. I have never had so many different Panini’s. What all you can do with a indoor grill and creating different Panini’s. I wish she would have the cooking class again, I would definitely attend. We even got to sample a breakfast Panini, which had the most wonderful tasting cream cheese, some all natural fruit jam and of course, just a hint of butter to help make the bread crunchy on the press. I can almost taste it now.

One of the things I was surprised about was the lettuce wasn't wilted or the tomatoes mushy, although she recommeded using Roma tomatoes, they hold together well.

I have used my indoor grill for so many different things and it has truly become the one kitchen appliance that I leave on the counter all of the time.  I finally did that because I realized that I was putting it away in the pantry and getting it out again the very next day to use.  
I am sure that someone you know would love one of the kitchen appliances.  It makes eating healthy very easy.