De'Longhi Perfecto Indoor Grill with Lid, Black

The generous area of the grilling surface, easy assembly, ease of cleaning the grilling pan or drip tray, 5 level temperature control, the perfect salmon that we enjoyed on the very 1st evening of owning this grill - any or all of these could have seduced me into rating it as 5, but I have still held back the feature that I liked most. It is the instruction manual! It is full of tips and hints that will amaze you. If you do not read it carefully with a know-it-all attitude and "what's different in grilling with this" smirk on your face, you will miss out on some seriously helpful tips on the use, maintenance and cleaning of the components. And once you miss out, you will probably break something or not able to grill a perfect dinner - and you will then come back to amazon to leave a bad feedback - I can almost visualize what has gone on with the few feedbacks on here which are less than 4 stars! Of course, I am not saying that a particular unit will not be faulty, that can always happen. but only if you are still complaining after reading the instructions and using it as intended and designed, only then you should consider yourself so unlucky. That said, there are points which impose a few restrictions. For example, though the glass lid leaves a fair amount of space under it, it is not enough for a awkward shaped drumstick, say. So if you are grilling a well-nourished chicken's thighs or drumsticks, you will not be able to use the glass lid. Don't get me wrong - the piece will need to be REALLY awkward for it not to fit, but still that's a possibility. Another question I had was though the instruction manual states that the drip tray is machine cleanable, it does not say that regarding the glass lid. But all my instinct tells that the glass lid should also be machine cleanable - I just can't understand why it might be not. The quality and durability of the non-stick has not yet been tested by us - but again, the manual explicitly requests NOT to use metals on it. Wood or good quality plastic - it says. if I keep on following that, I don't see how it can wear away fast.

Sept 20120 - Grille is still great, teflon has only came off in one small place not normally touched by the food. I wash it with a gentle long bristle scrub brush and scrape off any burnt foor with the plastic handle end of the same brush. I'll comment later on durability but we REALLY enjoyed the chicken my wonderful wife cooked for us last night on this grille. No mess. Chicken was tender and properly seared on the outside. Nice grill marks on the chicken, not that this matters much. Cooking time was a reasonable ~20 minutes (plenty of time for other ingredients to cook). Finished chicken was done right and still juicy. Seems the George grilles that friends have used for meals they made for us might dry out the meats cooked on them. Or maybe that is how friends like to cook their meat. I don't know. The George grilles also seem expensive for their sizes. For me to buy a George grille this size would have been very expensive. Also haven't been able decipher the George grille model list yet. Seems to be two dozen different George grilles with only slight differences between them. We like to grill outside with our gas grille when the bugs aren't eating us for dinner or when it isn't raining or when snow isn't blowing. On these occasions or when we want the minimum fuss - we'll use this electric grill. Read the instructions. The last few pages are the most important. Don't submerse the grille heating element or the thermostat in water. That means the dishwasher is out. You can use the dish washer for the lid and base and drip pan. Preheat the grill for 10 minutes. There is a warmup light I think my wife said. Heat until the light goes off. Those last pages of the manual tell you which temps/times to use for what kind of foods. Lastly foods that don't lay flat are not going to cook well such as drumsticks. They need to contact the grill surface to cook. Fillets, steaks and hamburgers ought to do well. I'm going to try grilling veggies soon. Looks very similar to the Hamilton-Beach and Sanyo grilles. Oh and - "Made in China" unfortunately. Where have all the "Made in the USA" or at least in Italy products gone?

I just received this item today. It is fabulous. I made boneless chicken breasts with a marinade consisting of 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup dijon, 1/4 cup melted butter, and 1/4 teaspoon of curry. I followed the directions to use the grill explicitly. I coated the grill very lightly with olive oil. I put some water in the tray and there was no smoke at all. I turned the heat up to 5 (the highest setting) for 10 minutes to preheat and kept the grill covered while it was heating. I poked holes in the chicken and basted them with the marinade. I put the chicken on the grill setting high for 3 minutes on each side, uncovered. Every time I turned the chicken I basted with more marinade. The chicken seared beautifully with grill markings on both sides. After 6 minutes on high, I lowered the grill to between 3 and 4, basted again, and covered for 6 minutes. I then flipped the chicken again, basted and cooked for another 6 minutes. They came out so delicious, juicy, moist - it was amazing. Chicken like this usually comes out dry but this was juicy and tender and the marinade which was a recipe I got from the internet was terrific. My kids both enjoyed it. Both are VERY picky eaters. I read all the reviews on this site and agonized over this purchase worrying about what was said in the negative reviews. I am not a cook at all. I am just learning but I followed the directions and I cannot reproduce ANY of the negative experiences stated here. It was also easy to clean. I followed someone's advice that said to place wet paper towels on the grill and then wipe it down with the paper towels. Just like that reviewer, my grill came out perfectly clean, as if it had come right out of the box. I hope this review helps someone. I may never grill outdoors again - this was so easy and quick and was such a great experience. I would give it 10 stars if I could.

Now that I have a replacement unit (thanks, Amazon!) I LOVE this thing. The job it does on steaks, chicken and fish is just amazing. Yes, the distance between the grill plates and the lid is a little shallow, but I have been able to cook 1.5-inch pinwheel steaks on the unit (with the lid in place) and they came out great. Being able to cover food as it grills seems like such an obvious thing for an indoor grill but this is the first one I have found that has this. The glass cover is wonderful because you can monitor the status of the food without having to take the lid off. If you cover the lower drip tray with foil each time you use it, it makes for a very easy cleanup. I also like the size of the thing. I know some have complained about it being too large, but it is big enough to cook not just the evening's dinner but food for several days. This is definitely a plus in my book. I have very few appliances that I keep on the counter for instant use, but this unit has become one. It's always set up so that after a busy day I can throw on whatever I have in the fridge for a quick and easy dinner. The unit loses one star, though, due to poor quality control from the manufacturer. I had to send the previous unit back because the plastic ring that is used to hold the knob to the lid was split in half (still in an unopened plastic bag that was protected by undamaged styrofoam). It obviously got placed into the box this way at the factory. As I was looking at the glass cover, I also noticed that the metal rim that surrounded it was stamped so that only half of some sections were actually on the edge of the glass - in some areas the metal was mostly under or over the glass. The new unit seems to have no issues, but I have a feeling that this might have been the luck of the draw. if you get a unit that doesn't work for you, I'd at least request one replacement and see if it that solved the problem. All-in-all it's a great unit that I would highly recommend.

Did my first cook on the Perfecto today. 1/4 lb homemade cheeseburgers. The grill reached searing temp in about 10 minutes, and it took around 12 minutes for 4 perfectly cooked delicious burgers. Cleanup wasn’t bad, but the drain holes to the drip pan may need to be brushed or sponged to get completely clean. Not a big deal as total cleanup took less than 10 minutes. When I cooked the burgers I first seared them for 3 minutes in each side, then reduced the temp to 3.5 and covered the grill for 5 minutes. Added cheeses and turned off heat. They were excellent. I hope the grill holds up, as it feels like a quality product. Good value and decent size grilling surface. I put water in the drip pan and didn’t have any smoke.

Update: I purchased my second grill on October 11, 2015. I use this grill every night. My other grill as I said below lasted 4 years. Tonight this grill bit the dust. Plugged cord into socket, turned it on, light came on. And then nothing. Didn't heat up at all. VERY disappointed. Wish I had purchased a protection plan. This is the second grill I've purchased. I wore out my first one by using it 5 days out of 7 for about 4 years. :-) I don't understand how anyone can say the unit doesn't heat up hot enough to cook. The only thing I can think of is they have a defective unit. (That does happen to the best of products.) It's VERY important to heat the grill on 5 for 10 minutes, or until the light goes out. If you don't, your meat will not cook properly. Everything I've ever cooked on this grill has been cooked completely and very juicy. Heat distribution is always even, so when I cook burgers or chicken breasts, they are all cooked to perfection. I don't cook drumsticks or wings on the grill because they don't cook evenly. I LOVE the huge cooking surface. Most grills are much smaller than this. Someone mentioned that the food doesn't taste like "flames had been licking at it". All due respect, how could it? You aren't cooking with fire, wood, etc so of course it's not going to have that type of grilled taste to it. The food turns out juicy, well cooked and very flavorful. It's a fantastic appliance to have if you don't like your food fried (very unhealthy) and if you want a change from roasting or broiling. A definite plus is the cooking time. I can cook 6-8 chicken breasts in 20 minutes, from frozen. As far as the teflon coating wearing off, as one user stated, that must be because they are either using sharp utensils or what they're using to clean it. I've recently come across a couple of cleaners that others may be interested in. I haven't used them yet but do plan to. The first is George Foreman GFSP3 Sponges, 3-Pack. They're grooved to fit the grill plate and are "non-stick" friendly. The other is Brushtech Indoor Electric BBQ Grill & Griddle Brush B272C. They can both be purchased here at Amazon. Do NOT use either of these while the grill is hot. I'm pleased that DeLonghi changed the non-stick drip tray. My previous grill had a black "coated" drip pan. The one I received with this recent model is not coated so there's no coating to flake off (although I do always place foil in the drip pan to help with cleanup). As far as cleaning, I've seen a few reviewers say they wash the cooking plate in the dish washer. DO NOT DO THIS!!! It even states it clearly in the user manual not to do this. I clean mine with a soft sponge and either Dawn or Method dish washing detergent. I make sure not to get the control socket wet, as they state in the manual. I dry it with a soft dish cloth. Bottom line, as long as DeLonghi makes this grill, I will be purchasing it.

Great indoor grill. Received today and used today... did everything as advertised. Did not take long to heat to high (maybe 5-6 minutes) and did an excellent job searing the chicken. Clean up was not an issue... you have to expect to work a little when cleaning a grill plate, but seasoning it first helped with clean up. Used a little water in the foil lined bottom drip pan therefore no smoke and no cleaning for that part. Used the glass top for last few minutes of cooking at medium heat and I do think that helped to complete the cooking without drying out the chicken. Not a large unit (perfect for two) so storage should not be an issue. Very pleased and looking forward to using this throughout our cold, wet, icy winter. Grilled hamburgers tomorrow!

Much like the older DeLonghi Alfredo Electric grill, except a larger cooking surface area and a glass lid that helps you use the grill to roast. It took less than 10 minutes to assemble out of the box and use. This grill makes cooking easy. I did not use a meat thermometer, but the chicken was evenly cooked. I started by searing both sides and then turning the heat down to 4 and continued to cook with the lid. I turned 4-6 times. Chicken was perfect!! I placed foil in the drip pan and added a small amount of water which made clean up easy. I did not put the cooking grate in my dishwasher. I simply washed by hand. Overall, for the price and the convenience, I rate this a 10/10.

Je suis assez surprise par la qualité. Le grill a été utilisé pour des crevettes et du filet mignon de boeuf. La cuisson était parfaite, comme sur un vrai BBQ extérieur. Très peu de fumée, comme promis. Cuisson assez rapide. J'ai fait chauffer l'élément à 5, j'aime bien la viande saisie. Le grill couvre facilement 4 à 5 portions. La cuisson semble égale partout sur le grill. Le nettoyage à la main s'est bien passé. Les petits racoins sont parfois plus difficiles à atteindre, mais avec une petite brosse de cuisine ou une vieille brosse à dent le tour est joué.

I never need a barbecue again. This thing is absolutely stellar. Even with baked-on meat and cheese, this thing cleans up super easily... Just takes a quick scrubbing with a NON-ABRASIVE brush in the sink. I have not tried washing in the dishwasher, as mine is very small and it does not fit... The grill is quite large. The glass cover is a godsend. I didn't realize how much grease was flying off my previous grill until I saw how much collected on the underside of this one. Definitely worth the extra cash for this alone.

This grill is great!! There is a lot of cooking space for a family of 4. Minimal smoke when you are cooking and the lid is great. It can be a bit difficult to clean.

This was a product which I was eyeing for quiet a long time. It makes it so easy to grill indoor especially during winters. Less hassle and good grilled stuffs using it. For better grilling, always refer the user guide comes along with this product on variety of food. Of course it comes with a glass lid.

Works ok, very long time to heat up and expensive but is well designed and easy to clean.