Do you want to buy the Turbo Grill Deluxe by Rocket Chef? Read this review from a stay at home mom who bought and tested this microwave grill plate after seeing its Ads on TV.
The advertisements make it look like a little miracle kitchen gadget. You put your food inside, pop the pan into your microwave and somehow end up with grilled food, complete with grill marks and that lovely browned exterior.
As someone who is always looking for ways to make dinner a little easier, I thought this could actually be useful. I ordered the Rocket Chef Turbo Grill Deluxe on the brand’s Amazon storefront for $49.
I’ve only had it for a few days, and I have to say, my experience has been a bit of a mixed result.
Table of Contents
What Is Rocket Chef Turbo Grill?
The Rocket Chef Turbo Grill Deluxe is a microwave grill pan with a ceramic non stick cooking surface and a lid. It is designed to heat up inside the microwave and give food more of a grilled, browned and crispy finish rather than the soft texture you normally associate with microwave cooking. The product is marketed for things like chicken, steak, bacon, burgers, vegetables and baked potatoes.
The whole idea sounded pretty clever to me.
I don’t use our microwave all that much because I still prefer cooking properly on the stove or our outdoor grill. But there are definitely evenings when I need to get dinner on the table quickly.
So I thought this might be one of those gadgets that I would reach for when I’m in a hurry.
Before I get into my individual food tests, there is one thing I learned that I think is really important.
Preheat the grill pan before putting your food in it.
I initially didn’t realise how important this was. The pan needs to get hot so that the food actually gets that grilled effect.
Cheaper Alternative
There’s a more affordable option by another brand called GOU GOU on Amazon.com. What caught my attention is that it is $10 cheaper and has more positive star ratings on Amazon.
I haven’t personally tested the GOU GOU product, so I can’t tell you that it performs better. I’m only saying that after seeing such a similar product for less money, I wish I had compared my options first.
Grilling food on Rocket Chef Turbo Grill
Chicken
I started with chicken nuggets just to see what would happen before trusting it with an actual chicken breast.
The nuggets came out surprisingly well. After that, I moved on to chicken breast, which I marinated in Italian dressing.
I had to check and flip the chicken a few times until it was cooked to my liking, so this isn’t a case of putting the chicken inside and forgetting about it.
But once it was done, I was genuinely impressed. The chicken had those lovely grill lines, and I could actually hear the sizzle while it was cooking.
That was probably the moment I realised this thing wasn’t completely gimmicky.
The chicken looked grilled and had a surprisingly nice grilled taste.
I’ve also found it particularly convenient for cooking straight from frozen. That is a big plus for me because I am definitely guilty of forgetting to take something out of the freezer for dinner.
Steak
Unfortunately, steak was a different story.
I was hoping this would be one of the foods where the Rocket Chef really showed what it could do. IIt didn’t.
The steak didn’t come out as nicely as I hoped. It was leathery. didn’t get the kind of result I would want from an actual grill, and compared with how our outdoor grill cooks steak, there really wasn’t much competition.
For me, steak is a miss.
Maybe there are certain cuts and cooking times that would work better, and I’m still learning the best way to use the pan, but based on my own test, I wouldn’t buy this specifically to cook steak.
If I’m having a nice steak, I’ll stick with the outdoor grill.
Bacon
Now bacon was a completely different story.
It cooked nicely and developed that crispy texture I want from bacon. This was one of my favorite uses for the pan so far because I didn’t have to stand over a frying pan watching it.
The bacon also benefited from the grill surface, and cleanup was much easier than dealing with a greasy frying pan.
If you’re someone who loves bacon for breakfast, this is very useful.
Potatoes
The Rocket Chef makes what I would describe as baked grilled potatoes. The inside gets soft while the outside develops that slightly crisp, grilled texture. The downside is the cooking time.
It took about 15 minutes. I can microwave several potatoes in much less time, so if speed is your only concern, the Rocket Chef isn’t winning here.
But the regular microwave doesn’t give me that grilled effect and crispness on the outside. So it’s really a trade off.
If I just want a cooked potato quickly, I’ll use the microwave.
Complaints and red flags worth knowing
The Rocket Chef is small. For one serving, I think the size is perfectly reasonable. For two people, though, I think you’d have to be making fairly small portions.
If you’re trying to put two decent sized chicken breasts and vegetables in there, you’re going to run out of room pretty quickly.
Meanwhile, there isn’t enough information in the manual. You’re going to have to experiment with cooking times and figure out what works best for your particular microwave and the food you’re preparing.
I’ve already learned more from actually using the Rocket Chef than I did from reading the booklet. It’s definitely a trial and error situation.
Also, the cover doesn’t come with the knob attached. There are a couple of reviews from people who found a tough time attaching it.
Pros
- Easy and convenient once you get used to it
- Useful for reheating certain foods
- Can cook some foods straight from frozen
- Produces grill marks
- Ceramic non stick cooking surface
- Much less hassle than firing up the outdoor grill for a small meal
Cons
- Better suited to one serving than two large servings
- Requires some trial and error
- Instruction booklet doesn’t provide enough information
- You need to preheat the pan for the best results
Rating: 3/5
After all of my testing, I’m actually quite surprised by how well this little microwave grill works. It isn’t perfect, and I definitely don’t think it replaces our outdoor grill. But it comes quite handy.