What to Buy Grilling & BBQ The 5 Best Smokeless Grills for Every Kitchen From straightforward models to newer versions that brown, sear, and even dehydrate, indoor grilling has never been this easy. By Greg Baker Updated on March 28, 2023 In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Our top picks Reviews Our Favorite The Tests Factors to Consider FAQ Other Smokeless Grills We Tested Our Expertise We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Food & Wine / Greg Dupree The earliest indoor grills were fodder for late-night TV impulse purchases, but what started as a pared-down panini press has evolved into, at times, a much more complicated and multitasking kitchen appliance. From the most straightforward versions that could make a small burger in five minutes, we now have grills that brown, sear, and toast; some even dehydrate. Models now offer grilling and griddle choices to expand the horizons. With various sizes, capacities, capabilities, weights, and designs on the market, the choices are many, compared to the models of yore, becoming indispensable kitchen tools for busy cooks. We took the leading brands into our test kitchens to see how they performed against each other. Find out our top choices and what didn’t make the list below. Our Top Picks Best Overall: Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Searing Grill at Amazon Jump to Review Best Splurge: Breville The Smart Grill at Amazon Jump to Review Best Value: Presto Cool Touch Electric Indoor Grill at Amazon Jump to Review Best With Griddle: Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 Grill/Griddle at Amazon Jump to Review Most Innovative: Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 Indoor Grill at Amazon Jump to Review Best Overall Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Searing Grill with Viewing Window Amazon View On Amazon View On Target View On Walmart Pros Easy cleanup and a window for viewing add to the value of this grill. Cons Some hot and cool spots on the grill occur at lower temperatures. The Hamilton Beach is a versatile countertop grill with a relatively large cooking area for an indoor model. It has a temperature range from 200 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, with 50-degree increments, with a 450-degree searing mode. In our testing, the grill was responsive to heating changes, with some hot and cool spots that decreased with higher temperatures. Searing tests showed that it provides good grill marks while producing low or non-existent levels of smoke, although the temperatures recorded on the grill are slightly lower than the setting indicates. This lower temperature gives light caramelization to the foods tested, a result in line with the grill's temperature range. Cleanup is easy with this model; the removable lid, drip pan, and grates allow easy scrubbing and are also dishwasher safe. Price at time of publish: $90 Grill Grate Material: Nonstick ceramic coatingCooking Surface Area: 114 square inches Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Best Splurge Breville BGR820XL The Smart Grill Amazon View On Amazon View On Williams-Sonoma View On Breville.com Pros It gives consistent temperatures and has good searing and toasting capabilities. Cons It’s heavy, and the handle protrudes a bit too much. The Smart Grill has both grill and griddle functions, expanding its usefulness by allowing you to choose your cooking style. The large cooking area shows the most consistent temperatures when testing the cooking surface versus the temperature settings. It sears and toasts quite well but produces a comparatively large amount of smoke to attain those sears. Cleanup is easy, and the grill plates are dishwasher-safe. The only downside is that the handle sticks out too far, making it clumsy on the countertop. The consistent performance and ease of use justify the higher price tag. Price at time of publish: $300 Grill Grate Material: Nonstick cast aluminum Cooking Surface Area: 117 square inches Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt_Glaze Food & Wine / Greg Dupree Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Best Value Presto 09020 Cool Touch Electric Indoor Grill Amazon View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Wayfair Pros This reasonably priced entry-level grill performs well with a large cooking area. Cons It overshoots the temperature settings, and searing and toasting are spotty. The Presto scored consistently high marks when weighed against the price. It’s not as powerful or feature-rich as more expensive models, but it does its job well. This is a good-value grill with a large cooking area. Our searing and toasting tests were mixed, with some good char marks for most of the food tested and some spots left un-browned. It’s one of the few grills on the market that slightly overshoots the temperature settings, whereas most struggle to reach the desired temperature. Cleanup is easy by design: remove the power cord and drip tray, and the unit is washable and dishwasher safe. Price at time of publish: $50 Grill Grate Material: Nonstick materialCooking Surface Area: 152 square inches Food & Wine / Fred Hardy Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Morgan Hunt Glaze Food & Wine / Greg Dupree Best With Griddle Hamilton Beach 38546 3-in-1 Grill/Griddle Amazon View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Wayfair Pros It has a very large, versatile cooking area. Cons Cool spots where the plates join make toasting and searing slightly inconsistent. The 3-in-1 comes with two reversible grill/griddle plates, so you can use the unit in any combination you’d like. There’s some inconsistent heating, with cool spots where the two plates join, but searing and toasting tests showed good (if occasionally spotty) results. Searing and toasting produced little to no smoke or steam, so it lives up to the challenge in these areas. It’s easy to clean, but the plates require more scrubbing to remove stuck food than other models tested. Price at time of publish: $79 Grill Grate Material: Nonstick materialCooking Surface Area: 190 square inches Most Innovative Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 Indoor Grill Amazon View On Amazon View On Wayfair View On Best Buy Pros It gives excellent grill marks and has many features beyond a grill. Cons The sides get very hot, and the fan runs constantly. On the outside, there’s little the Ninja can’t do – it’s a grill, air fryer, roaster, oven, and dehydrator. Our tests found that it reliably toasts bread and grills vegetables and meat, adding well-defined, if oddly circular, grill marks while producing very little smoke or steam. When we tested the actual temperature versus the settings on the controls, we found it fairly accurate, though it fell short of reaching the highest temperature settings. Still, the upper-temperature range is higher than other models tested, which translates into a better sear. Cleaning ratings were lower than other grills, as the nonstick interior scratched easily. The fan, also used in the air fryer and dehydrator features, constantly runs as part of the smokeless design, which may irritate some. The fan makes the grill function like a convection oven, which speeds up cooking efficiency. That convection also reduces smoke and steam, so it’s a fair trade-off. Price at time of publish: $150 Grill Grate Material: Nonstick ceramic coatingCooking Surface Area: 100 square inches Food & Wine / Greg DuPree Our Favorite Throughout the range of tests, the Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Searing Grill earned consistently high marks and earned our favorite spot. We like the Presto Cool Touch Electric Grill for those who are seeking value over features. The Tests The tests we performed covered many common uses and evaluated other factors, such as portability, ease of cleaning, and ease of setup. For the usage tests, we first checked the accuracy of the temperature settings against the cooking surface's real temperature. We then toasted bread at three different temperatures to gauge the effectiveness of each and the texture and color of the bread. Next, we grilled zucchini, boneless skinless chicken breast, and flank steak at 450 degrees Fahrenheit or the highest setting for the grill, whichever was lower. In these tests, we rated the quality of the grill marks and observed any smoke or steam generated. We then ranked each grill on a scale of 1 to 5 for each of the above categories and took an average score from the total. Factors to Consider Open vs. Contact Grills A contact grill is one with a heated top grate or griddle that lowers onto the food and cooks from above as well as below. A panini press is a good example of what we’re speaking of here. That heat can be advantageous for faster cooking, but the weight of the top grate can also press your food more than you want it to. An open grill frequently offers a larger cooking area, so consider the capacity and what you’ll be cooking, to see which suits your kitchen style better. Temperature Range This is another time to consider what you’ll be cooking. If you are toasting sandwiches or using a griddle model to make breakfast, you don’t need a model with high-heat searing capabilities. In this case, you’ll probably want some precision in your temperature increments, so something that offers less than 50-degree intervals would be a good choice. For high-temperature searing, you’ll want something that will attain 500 degrees Fahrenheit for a good char that won’t dry out your food before it can finish. Features The features of a grill also come down to how you cook. You may find that a temperature probe or a lid makes your cooking easier and more enjoyable. You may also put that probe in a junk drawer and wonder why you’ve kept it, five years later. You might never use the griddle plate for the grill you’re looking at, or you might be on a quest to build the World’s Best Grilled Cheese and find that griddle an indispensable tool in your journey to toasted cheese bliss. Don’t limit your cooking options, but don’t drop extra money for niceties that have no benefit to you. Frequently Asked Questions What happens to the smoke in a smokeless grill? Some grills have lids or fan systems that help eliminate smoke before it leaves the grill. The most common factors among smokeless grills are a means of moving grease and moisture away from the heat before they can turn into smoke or steam, and electric heating elements that won’t ignite the fat to cause smoke in the first place. How do you clean a smokeless grill? Most grills reviewed here have at least some elements or are entirely dishwasher safe. For those that aren’t, a gentle detergent like Dawn, hot water, and a sponge with a nylon scrubber will clean up any stuck-on food or errant grease splatters. Always consult the manufacturer’s recommendations before cleaning an appliance. How do you get a smoky flavor on a smokeless grill? The nature of an electric grill won’t provide smoke flavor in and of itself. There are a few ways that you can accomplish that, despite the lack of flames, though. You could start your food in a stove-top smoker and then finish on the grill. You could use liquid smoke as part of your marinade or make your own by putting ice inside a smoker and letting it absorb the wood flavor as it melts. You could then put the smoke water in a spray bottle and apply it to your food. The other option is to use smoked ingredients, like smoked salts or paprika, in your marinades or rubs to lend your food smoky flavor. Other Smokeless Grills We Tested Strong Contenders PowerXL PG1500-FDR Smokeless Grill ($120 at Amazon) The PowerXL Smokeless Grill performed well but had some inconsistency with temperature and a few more condensation issues that our other picks didn't show. For the price, it's efficient and more compact than some of the larger grills, so if space is an issue, this is still a good option. Zojirushi EB-CC15 Indoor Electric Grill ($90 at Amazon) The Zojirushi was also slightly inconsistent for temperature control but was above average in the larger spread of smokeless grills. What Didn't Make the List For smokeless grills that didn't make the cut, we found more than a few acceptable drawbacks or noticeable problems with performance in one or more of our tests. The George Foreman grills we tried both had shaky bases, and the Techwood we found very difficult to assemble on top of poor performance. Several grills had inconsistent temperatures with small grill plates, including the Aroma Housewares, Elite Gourmet, Gotham Steel Electric Grill, the T-Fal OptiGrill, and the DeLonghi Perfecto. We feel strongly that our five top picks are the best in the batch. Our Expertise Greg Baker is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and food writer with four decades of experience in the food industry. His written work appears in Food & Wine, Food Republic, and other publications. 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