FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Question on Foreman grill with removable grids

Pete C.

wrote:
>
> Hello all:
>
> We've used the small (2-burger) and medium-size (4-burger) George
> Foreman grills with great results. They heat fast, they cook quickly,
> they're pretty good at browning, and my younger daughter liked the
> ripply grilled-cheese sandwiches they made. The downside is they're
> not much fun to clean.
>
> For Father's day the wife got me the newer style unit with removable
> grids. Unfortunately I've been very dissatisfied with the performance.
> It has room for six burgers. If I cook two, they brown ok but not
> great. Four burgers at once barely brown at all. I cooked eight
> chicken thighs on it this afternoon, and they took over half an hour to
> cook completely!
>
> If you actually have one of these grills, I'd like to know whether my
> experience is unique.
>
> Thanks -- Terry

I've not personally use any of them, but I think I have the answer to
your question - Energy density.

Because residential kitchens have 15A receptacles pretty much all
countertop consumer kitchen appliances are limited to 1,800 watts of
energy. From Ohms law P = I * E so 1,800 Watts = 15 Amps * 120 Volts.
Even in newer homes where circuits are 20A, the individual receptacles
are often still 15A units (20A receptacles have one horizontal/vertical
combination slot that looks like a sideways T) so we still have the 15A
power limitation.

The larger you make the cooking surface area the lower your energy
density will be. A two burger unit might have 64 square inches of
cooking area (two sides) so a potential for 28 Watts per square inch
energy density. A six burger model might have 192 square inches of area
so a maximum potential energy density of about 9.4 Watts per square
inch.

Of course not every unit is exactly 1,800 Watts, some are less. The key
point though is that while you may be able to heat a larger area to the
same temperature in pre-heat, you have less capacity to maintain that
temperature once cold burgers are taking heat away and hence a slower
cook and less browning.

The same thing applies to microwave ovens where they have a fixed output
power level and the more food you have in the microwave the longer it
will take to heat due to the lower energy density.

Pete C.