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- Heats up quickly, with a temperature range of 90 to 230°C
- 6 automatic programs for meat and paninis
- Comes with meat temperature probe
- Control panel took a while to get used to
- It takes longer to grill larger vegetables such as corn on the cob
- You have to pay extra for the Teppanyaki flat plates
If you’re looking for one of the best grills to prepare tasty paninis, succulent steaks or grilled vegetables, the Zwilling Enfinigy Contact Grill makes for an attractive solution.
As one of the oldest cookware brands in the world, established in 1731 by Peter Henckels, German brand Zwilling prides itself in selling ergonomic and stylish kitchenware. The collection includes knives and scissors, saucepans, glassware, cutlery and small appliances such as the Contact Grill reviewed here.
To see how well the Contact Grill performs on a daily basis, we put it through its paces in a busy family home to assess its design, performance and practicalities. It’s a sleek, flexible grill that’s quick to heat up, allowing for healthy meals in a flash.
Zwilling Enfinigy Contact Grill review: What do you get for the money?
The Zwilling Enfinigy Contact Grill is a premium-priced electric tabletop grill that costs £219. It’s similar in shape and design to the Ninja Sizzle (a bit cheaper at £150), but there are notable differences such as in the layout of the control panels and number of grill plates included in the price.
The Enfinigy Contact Grill grill measures 18 x 32 x 39cm (HWL) and weighs 8.16kg. It comes with two folding contact grills that have the capacity to fit around four portions of food on each plate – be it four burgers or four salmon fillets. The grills can be folded or laid flat at 180 degrees to create a barbecue-style surface. As well as adjustable heat controls, you get six automatic programs on board for steak, burgers, fish, sausages, poultry and paninis. There’s also a defrost mode and a boost mode that speeds up pre-heating.
It comes with a temperature sensor that can be plugged into the side of the appliance and used to monitor the core temperature of meats as you grill them. Included in the box you also get a handy cleaning fork that’s designed to get into the grooves of the grill and help remove any food and grease. Unlike the Ninja Sizzle, you don’t get a separate flat grill plate included in the price – instead, the Teppanyaki plate accessory is available as an optional add-on for £40.
What’s good about it?
Design wise, this countertop grill has a high-end finish, with a subtle black styling. There are no brash logos or clunky parts in sight here, but smooth lines and a sleek digital control panel.
Setting up the grill is straightforward as it’s reasonably lightweight and there are few parts to contend with in the box. The grill comes with a drip tray that slides across the base so that it’s hidden from obvious sight. The majority of grills I’ve tried such as the Ninja Sizzle have the drip tray sitting at the front of the grill, but having it sit underneath the grill, accessible from the side, frees up worktop space and also looks much better – hiding unsightly grease that collects in the tray, much like a toaster crumb tray hides its crumbs.
The Zwilling Enfinigy can be used either folded, to cook food with that chargrilled finish on both sides, or flat like a barbecue to double the cooking space. When in the folded position, the grill can be locked in five different heights to accommodate foods of varying thicknesses. During testing, the various levels worked well for cooking grilled sandwiches, burgers and steaks and I was able to cook the foods quickly while creating appetising chargrill lines. I found the grill plates very quick to heat up, and the temperature probe was a convenient tool to have included.
It took me a while to navigate the control panel at first, but what I like most about this grill is how quickly it heats up and how flexible the temperature controls are. It was easy using the pre-set cooking modes and I mainly opted for steak and fish, but I also liked the freedom of being able to choose my own temperatures depending on what food I was cooking. A cheese sandwich benefitted from a slow grill at around 180°C, while I chose a hotter 220°C for chargrilling steak. I also found that the defrost feature was a useful extra as it heats up to 50°C to gently thaw food such as burgers, vegetables and paninis before cooking them.
How easy is it to clean?
With its smooth lines and glossy black surface, I found the exterior of the Zwilling Enfinigy Contact Grill easy to wipe down after use. I buffed it dry with a microfibre cloth to keep it looking box-fresh. The cleaning fork that comes with it was very useful too. Its grooves are just the right size to make scraping burnt on grease through the grill plates easy. They worked well for encouraging the cheese to drain off my paninis or the grease from meat to slide down the grills and into the drip tray so there was far less to wash off the grill after use.
The grill plates clip off the appliance with one click too: once they were cool, I was able to take them off and pop them both in the sink to wash them regularly with warm, soapy water (this is much like how the Ninja Sizzle works). However, the grooves are rather narrow, so I had to use a small washing up brush to dislodge any stubborn burnt-on food from the grill plates. From experience, I’ve found that washing the grill plates straight after use is easier than allowing the grease to settle in.
What could be better?
On first try, I found the control panel on this grill confusing as I don’t think its digital display is as intuitive as some of the competitor grills I’ve tried. It doesn’t have one simple central dial that you turn up or down as needed like the Ninja Sizzle does, for example. Instead you’ll need to adjust the temperature up and down using its touchscreen digital control panel. But once I’d got to grips with the instructions, things began to slot into place and I soon found it easy to flit between the six cooking modes and use the defrost and boost modes to get dinner on the table quickly.
When using this grill you’ll also need to consider the size of the food you’re cooking, particularly the thickness of the food when you’re folding the grill. I ran into a couple of awkward roadblocks when doing this. For instance, when I was using the grill to cook a complete meal including a steak and vegetables, I couldn’t get the lid of the grill to close without the corn sliding away as it was too thick.
Should you buy the Zwilling Enfinigy Contact Grill?
There are lots of good reasons to buy the Zwilling Enfinigy Contact Grill. Its dual grill plates mean you can make use of its flat surface for barbecue-style cooking or fold it for melted paninis and tender steak that is chargrilled on both sides.
I’m a big fan of the handy temperature probe that allows you to measure the core temperature with ease, while the ceramic-coated plates are removable to make washing up simple. If you’re willing to spend that bit extra for a mindfully designed product that is built for longevity, I think it provides a healthy and reliable way to cook meat and vegetables for quick snacks and tasty complete meals.
