Cooking with an Electric Grill

In my last post I set a goal of cooking using a gas grill. I was excited to find out how safe it was, how fast it heated up and the flavor it added to meat. I was all ready to go until I was informed by my brother in-law that the gas grill he wanted to rent for me was not going to be available as the owner of the grill informed him that his family was going to use it. I hadn't had a plan B but my daughter informed me that we had an electric grill (Bella Cucina Artful Food grill) on the shelf in the garage. I had never used the grill since we bought it when the kids were in high school. It was used by my eldest daughter to prepare pancakes in the morning and to grill hamburger patties sometimes after school. On the manufacturers website I found different types of Bella Cucina grills. There are grills for waffles, sandwich Maker press, and griddles. There is not a specific grill for barbecue.  However, the specifications on the pancake grill makes it a perfect fit to grill hamburger patties. It has a temperature setting from 250 degrees to 450 degrees, the same temperature setting for an average kitchen oven. 

Instead of making a barbecue rib I decided to prepare some hamburgers for tonight for my assignment. As in some learning situations, the learner must be flexible and adjust to changes that may occur. I had to change my goal of preparing a barbecue rib to a hamburger patty. With the charcoal grill it normally takes about twenty minutes to reach 200 degrees on the temperature meter on the front of the grill when it is covered. From the electric grills manual I learned the various temperature settings for various types of food. I decided to keep the grill at a temperature of 250 degrees and it took less than five minutes for the grill to heat up which was less than the charcoal grills heating time. I had always thought that the charcoal grill is faster to heat up, but this was not true using the electric grill. It took less than fifteen minutes to grill the hamburger patties and they tasted very delicious. I have grilled hamburger patties on the charcoal grill, and I found no difference in taste between the patties grilled on the electric grill with those I had grilled on the charcoal grill. What did I learn in this case? In the previous blog I have learned about the different types of grills and their capabilities, how they functioned, their convenience, laws and city ordinances on where they can be placed, flavors of the meat etc. I have come to realize that the electric grill is safer to use, faster, and adds the same flavor to the meat as the charcoal grill. I had to read the manual which made it easy for me to operate the electric grill and I spent less time preparing the hamburger patty compared to the amount of time I usually spend preparing a patty on a charcoal grill. As with most learners, learning something new can be challenging. However, the grills manual instructions made it easier for me to operate the grill.

This is the last blog for this assignment and during this process I have come to realize that I learn by reading instructions and practicing what I read is the best way for me to learn. I am good at following instructions when putting items together and I used the same technique when I read the manual on the electric grill and used it seamlessly to prepare the hamburger patties. I have had preference for charcoal grills, however, using an electric grill for the first time made me change that preference and will be excited to use a gas grill on my next cooking adventure.