Grilling is a popular way to prepare food. Not only is it healthier to grill meat but grilling also imparts a certain flavor to foods not found in other methods of cooking. With countertop grilling, you have the luxury of extending your grilling sessions throughout the year. In choosing countertop grills, you are presented with many choices of grills.

The traditional grill comes with one or more cooking surface. The cooking surface sits atop heating elements and a drip pan is used to collect juices and fats while cooking. To achieve smokeless grilling, pour water into the drip pan to cool the drippings before they have a chance to create smoke.

Another type is the countertop contact grill. These grills work by applying heat directly to food via heating grids. Countertop contact grills usually have two heating surfaces that is used to clamp down the food. Think of a waffle maker and you pretty much get the idea. Contact grills work best with sandwiches and the likes and are not that effective with thick meat. Countertop contact grill heat is usually well insulated inside the grill itself, leaving your countertop unscathed.

Countertop grills are popular because they are easy to clean. The grill surface and drip pan are easily removable and can fit most dishwashers. For contact grills, you just open the grill and wipe the grilling surface when done cooking. Countertop grills are quite portable too. Any countertop surface will do when you have that urge to do some grilling. When done grilling, you just pack it up and store it away.

For the serious grillers, you might want to consider a built-in countertop grilling unit. These units offer more grilling surface and some even come with a frying surface. You can install a gas fed countertop grill for open flame cooking. Some popular countertop gas grillers also accommodate wood chips to add the wood flavor to your grilling. You will need to install a ventilation unit to suck all that smoke away. There are electric built-in countertop grillers available where heat is generated from heating elements sitting under the grill ? much like the portable countertop grill.