Kalorik Pro 1500 Steakhouse Grill Review

If you’ve ever been to a high-end steakhouse and gotten your favorite cut of beef with that perfect overall char as a result of the Maillard reaction, chances are it was cooked in a professional high-temperature salamander style broiler. Until recently, these units capable of extreme heat were only available at extremely high prices and were intended for use in restaurants.

That’s changed in the last couple of years with several manufacturers bringing propane-powered outdoor broiler units to market, at an arguably affordable price point. Checkout our showdown here. These cookers reach up to 1500 degrees or higher. The advantage to these units, aside from the intense heat they produce, is the top-down cooking method which all but eliminates flare-ups. The Kalorik Pro 1500 is an electric indoor broiler that allows users to achieve these super high temperatures in the comfort of your kitchen.

This unit features a multi-level design that allows food to be placed at various distances away from the ceramic heating elements, as well as the ability to adjust the temperature coming from those elements to create a versatile cooking environment.

Item Specs:

Not provided on the Kalorik website

What We Loved:

There’s plenty to love about this unit, we’ll start with the clean aesthetic. Given this unit will spend plenty of time on a user’s countertop, it’s important that it not be an eyesore. With the combination of brushed and polished stainless steel, this unit looks good. Beyond just looking good though, it has to perform — and perform it did.

Over several cycles, we recorded the unit heating up from room temperature to 1550 degrees F on average in 3:48. Pretty impressive to reach this temperature in under five minutes. The 1550 degrees is the maximum temperature of the unit, but we loved the ability to adjust the temperature in two ways. First, by turning the dial on the right-hand side the heat from the element is adjusted.

Second, by adjusting the proximity of the food to the heating element. Kalorik provides a temperature chart showing the temperatures at each of the various rack positions and advises us to use maximum heat setting and adjust the temperature by rack position.

We found the ease of cleaning to be beneficial. The drip pan, grill racks, grill grates, and extendable shield are all easily removed and tossed into the dishwasher for cleanup. When those parts are in the dishwasher we found it very easy to wipe out the inside of the unit. For even easier cleanup we recommend lining the drip pan with a sheet of tin foil during use.

The extendable shield might just be one of the most clever things about this cooker. It rests inside the grill on the bottom and by pulling it out (sort of like pulling out a drawer) it prevents drips, etc. from hitting the countertop or floor when a grate with food on it is pulled out.

Finally, we found the cooking area to be very consistent and without voids or hot spots across the surface of the heating element.

What Could Be Improved:

Despite how impressed we were with this unit, it does have one significant drawback. Significant because in our opinion it’s a safety issue. We found the grill grates themselves to have some extremely sharp edges. We advise taking extreme caution when cleaning them because they will slice through flesh with ease.

We’d also love to see the cooking area increased somewhat. Cooking a strip steak, for example, that’s longer than about 7″ required the grate to be moved in and pulled out during the cooking process in order to evenly cook the entire surface of the meat.

Who It’s For:

This piece makes the PERFECT companion piece for those who are fond of the sous vide method of cooking. It also makes a great partner to a pellet type of smoker for those wanting to sear a piece of meat after a lower temperature smoke bath.

Final Thoughts:

At its price point, this is a no brainer for anyone looking to have a home salamander style broiler. Of the players in this space, this is the only unit designed for indoor use, and it’s also the least expensive at $329. Many will consider these types of cookers “one-trick ponies” because they are so commonly used to sear a steak. While they shine at that task, don’t be afraid to experiment with desserts, veggies, and frozen foods. This is an easy unit to recommend, but we would advise using it near your range hood with the fan on when cooking any fatty foods. At those extreme temperatures, fats tend to produce a decent amount of smoke.