No one has yet verified whether the demand for contact grills has declined during the pandemic.

But it should now rise again.

In contrast to grills that run on gas and charcoal, the contact grill supplies heat to the food with power supply and on two sides.

For example, the Profi Plus Perfection from WMF for 250 euros consists of two plates of the same size that clamp and roast meat, sausage, burgers, vegetables and other items between them.

Marco Dettweiler

Editor in business.

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    To get straight to the point: This is exactly where the problem lies. Such a contact grill is not a lightweight. With the top plate he presses properly on what is pushed under him. That doesn't matter that much to a sausage. It might pop a little earlier, which isn't that bad. If you put on patties for burgers, you should plan in advance that their height is reduced by a few millimeters. A beautiful diamond-shaped pattern can be branded in for this. But a tender fillet, rump steak or entrecôte is too wide and loses liquid in the process. Vegetables are best suited to destroy their cell structure and create roasted aromas.

    The pickled slices of zucchini, aubergine, carrots, onions or fennel show another problem when they are loaded. The two grill plates form an inclined plane so that the liquid that escapes from the food runs forward to be caught in a bowl. Because of this, some sausages and oily vegetables start to slide when you place them on the lower plate. Quick closing and thus jamming can prevent this. Small bulges are more elegant than brakes, as they have contact grills from other manufacturers.

    Like the Optigrill from Tefal, the Profi Plus Perfection supports the grill person with six cooking programs and a manual mode. Pictograms should make it easy for the user. The signs for chicken leg, sausage, steak, and fish do the same. For those for burgers and panini, we first had to look up what they meant. So press the button, place the food on top and close the lid. The grill is now continuously measuring the temperature. Because the sensor knows that a thick piece of meat heats up more slowly than a thin one, it adjusts the temperature accordingly. The programs differ in how high the target temperature is. Because the food is different thick and cold, it always takes different lengths.

    The grill differentiates between rare, medium and done. He always goes through these stages, even with sausages or chicken, which makes less sense here. Unfortunately, the Profi Plus adheres to the now outdated rule of searing and heats the plate quite high with its 2000 watts during "pre-heating". This can be seen from the smoke that creeps out between the greased plates when you open them. On the other hand, the programs proceed so cautiously that nothing was ever burned even after the “done” stage.

    If you sear your steaks briefly, then monitor them with a core temperature measurement and cook them to perfection with indirect heat, you have no chance with such contact grills. However, it should not be written off entirely. Because it is quite suitable for vegetarian grilling - with the exception of the sliding vegetable slices. In manual mode, the contact grill gave the pickled vegetables the right browning with appropriate roasted aromas.