Invest in a GrillGrate for your Foodi or buy a Ninja Grill/Pro with probe?
As an owner of both the GrillGrate and the Ninja Grill Pro I thought it would be good to share a comparison of both to help those who are looking to grill using their Foodi devices!
What is the GrillGrate and how do you use it?
The GrillGrate is a highly conductive aluminum insert that you put into your Foodi. It is a round disk-shaped slab of metal with high ridges that, when fired up, give your food those lovely sear marks as you cook. The insert can also be flipped so you can use it as a griddle.
You can use either your metal trivet or the defuser from the air crisp basket as a base to lay the GrillGrate on.
Now installed you can fire up your Foodi on Broil and give the grate at least 10 minutes to reach temperature.
Spray with Pam to grease/season the grate and then add your meat.
My test for the GrillGrate, some nice Ribeye steaks!
The steaks were seasoned with salt, pepper, and my favorite seasoning Montreal Steak from Grill Mates – I wholly recommend this seasoning if you like a flavorful steak!
So cooking time, simply place the steaks onto the GrillGrate and you’re good to go!
Now, this is the biggest difference between the Foodi Grill and the GrillGrate – managing the doneness of your steaks. The Foodi Grill comes with the probe and you can set the target temperature for your steaks and the Foodi will simply stop when your meat hits the desired wellness. This is the best selling feature of the Foodi Grill Pro by far. With the GrillGrate you’re on your own to measure or gauge the target temperature. I’d recommend investing in a good meat thermometer, two excellent options are below.
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The Meater is the most expensive option but the coolest by far. It’s a Bluetooth based thermometer that works with an app on your phone to alert you of the doneness of your food so you can watch remotely or keep an eye while you grab a beer! The app gives you the desired temps for the types of meats you are cooking.
You can also use this simple method to test the wellness of your steak – The Finger Test
So how did the steaks work out?
I prefer the sear lines and overall flavor of the steaks on the GrillGrate vs. the Ninja Grill. The major niggle with the Ninja Grill for me is the cleanup. I HATE cleaning the grill plate on the grill. The curved fins on the grill make it more difficult to clean AND added to which the grill seems to have issues with the non-stick coating and this seems to scratch off fairly easily, The GrillGrate, on the other hand, is bulletproof. The cast metal and cleans up good as new every time.
The GrillGrate can also be flipped over and used as a griddle if you’re up for eggs and pancakes!!
So what are all the pros and cons?
If you have a Ninja Combo device the GrillGrate is an AWESOME addition to your Ninja accessories collection. It certainly is cheaper than adding a Ninja Grill Pro to your Foodi family. Depending on what you have for a thermometer and temperature monitoring consider how much you might want to invest in a thermometer as this is the biggest selling point of the Ninja Grill Pro (other than the accessories bundle) The regular Ninja Grill does not come with the probe. I consider the probe to be the killer feature for the Ninja Grill, it helps you fine-tune your wellness so you can cook a steak to perfection.
Again the cons for the Ninja Grill, clean up and also the cost – the GrillGrate offers a significant saving vs. buying yet another unit.
What are your thoughts and experiences with the Ninja Grill Pro vs. the GrillGrate?
Interested in learning more or purchasing a GrillGrate please check here for more information!!!
Note: We are Ninja, Amazon and GrillGrate affiliates and may earn from links in this post.