George Foreman Immersa Grill review: even greater grilling & now almost fully washable

T3's George Foreman Immersa Grill review in a sentence: A glorious electric grilling experience made better thanks to being dishwasher-friendly.

I’ve loved grilling food for years, but the task has been made much easier thanks to the arrival of George Foreman grills and the many variations on the theme you can buy right now. In fact, if you love grilling, you’re really rather spoilt for choice as our best electric grill guide highlights only too well. I’ve got a rather soft spot for the original George Foreman models though, not because I’m a fan of the boxer as such, but because of the brilliant simplicity of these handy home appliances.

However, there has always been something of a downside with any type of grill in that they can be a right pain to clean. It’s a chore, often made worse depending on what you’re grilling, but an average cooking stint can result in an appliance that looks and feels like it needs a solid steam clean. The catch has always been that electric grills have lots of wires inside, which means that only careful washing is allowed.

Now though, the boffins at George Foreman HQ have come up with this; the Immersa Grill, which is dishwasher-friendly thanks to a detachable section containing the electrics that can be removed for cleaning. It’s a brilliant move by the George Foreman team and I’ve been trying one out, so read on to hear my thoughts on this latest edition of the greatest home grilling solution there is.

Remember, you can get larger George Foreman grills, like the jumbo version of the George Foreman Fit Grill that we tried out a while ago, but it isn't dishwasher-friendly like this little beauty.

An electric grill is, incidentally, a great alternative to the best barbecues, if you’ve got access to power and a covered space when the weather takes a turn for the worse.

• Sage The Smart Grill Pro review – premium electric grill out-Foremans Foreman!

George Foreman Immersa Grill review: price & availability

The George Foreman Immersa Grill is available to buy right now and the example I’ve been trying out boasts a very respectable RRP of £99 in the UK, from the likes of Amazon and other retailers.

George Foreman Immersa Grill review: what is it?

The George Foreman Immersa Grill looks, perhaps unsurprisingly, much like any other model in the range, with the familiar two-halves design, which folds out to reveal the grilling real estate. In fact, it’s not immediately obvious that the Immersa has another trick up its sleeve in the way that it can be put into your dishwasher when you’re done with the cooking part.

That’s all down to a removable section, which is essentially the control panel that contains all of the electrics. What that means is you’ve instantly got all of the greatness of grilling food at your disposal, only with the cleaning up afterwards bit being made much more convenient.

This being a George Foreman grill, the Immersa also boasts all of the other tried and tested design features that make these little beauties so handy. I love the way you can store them upright when you’re done grilling. That way, you can slot it into a suitable alcove when it’s cool and clean, without any worries.

There’s also the floating hinge, which offers up a much more flexible way of cooking and allows you to squeeze mega burgers, huge grilled sandwiches and other eats inside the hotplates without hassle. The best part of that is doing it and then squishing the contents down for the ultimate messy treat.

As a result, however, you’ll also be glad of the included drip tray, which catches any grease or juice run off as you mush down your burger, sausages, sandwich or whatever. It’s a tried and tested format that works really well, so no real need to change that side of things. You get an indicator light too, which is about as advanced as the technical features list goes, but it’s enough to get the nod when the unit is cooking or not.

The George Foreman site suggests this appliance uses 71% less energy too, which I can’t officially confirm though it does seem to be super fast at heating up, which means you can be done and dusted that much quicker.

George Foreman Immersa Grill review: is it any good?

I love my current George Foreman grill, which is a large size model that can only be wiped over rather than properly washed due to the integral electrics. The Immersa though takes things to another level, especially on the convenience front. All you need to do when you’ve finished grilling is to slide off the hinge bit, which has the electrical components, and you can then put the rest of it in the dishwasher. Alternatively, it’ll be quite happy in a bowl of hot, soapy water.

That’s really left me feeling like I might ditch my old model in favour of this. If you treat the non-stick grill plate surfaces with respect, they’re not a huge pain to clean on the traditional model, but anything messy does take a little bit of time, and time is money, right? The George Foreman brand actually sells a cool sculpted sponge called, unsurprisingly, The Grill Sponge that fits into the grill grooves for better and less harmful cleaning. Putting the whole thing in a dishwasher is even better though.

George Foreman Immersa Grill review: performance

The George Foreman Immersa Grill might look rather like other models in the product portfolio, but it’s been tweaked a little too. Alongside the dishwasher-friendly appeal of this model is the way it has that 62% faster preheat, so you can be grilling pretty rapidly. I’ve found it to be suitably zippy at getting ready to go, though this hasn’t ever really been an issue with any of the other models in the range that I’ve tried either.

This isn’t the biggest of the George Foreman grills, with dimensions of 30.8 x 27.8 x 10.7 centimetres, but it’s fine if you don’t need to cook mountains of food. I rather like the slightly smaller size compared to my jumbo family-sized earlier model and its weight, at less than 3 kilos means it’s easily tucked up and away on a kitchen shelf. And, while it might be smallish in design, there’s still 1300 Watts of power, so it’ll get hot enough to take on even the thickest of steaks if that’s your thing.

And, the basic grilling format with the Immersa Grill is much the same, with those ribbed hotplates grilling food very nicely indeed. As is the case with other models like this, the controls are limited with only the heat indicator showing you when the unit is good to go. What I like about this way of grilling is you can stand next to it and just cook things visually, depending on what everyone likes. Lift the lid on the go and you can instantly tell if something's rare, medium or well done. Easy really. It’s a simple format, but if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

George Foreman Immersa Grill review: verdict

The George Foreman Grill hasn’t delivered any revelations in the grilling department and the results have been as good as they always are with this brand. What has been really excellent about the Immersa model is the ease of cleaning. In fact, if you’ve got a dishwasher, there’s virtually nothing to do, although you’ll need to be sure you unclip the power part of the gadget before approaching the H20. 

Aside from the convenience factor, the Immersa is nicely sized and not too big, while that design delivers beautifully lined burgers or vegetables like all the other models in the illustrious George Foreman line-up. It's a great addition to the product portfolio.