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I had a conversation with a colleague on Slack one day during which he asked me if I thought anyone would really want an electric grill. I thought the answer was yes but that they were doomed to be disappointed. Besides not providing the distinctive flavor that wood or charcoal grills do, the electric grills I’d used were more limiting—they didn’t get as hot; they were too small to be very useful; and using them didn’t really feel like grilling.
Weber promised to address all those things with its new Lumin grill, and after the brand came out on top in almost all our different grill testing in 2022, it seemed like we ought to see if they could improve on a category that feels at best like a compromise made by people who have no other choice.
Is the Weber Lumin a good grill?
If you thought other electric grills did a fine job, it’s possible you won’t notice what is a big improvement in temperature range on the Lumin. Our top-rated indoor electric grill from Zojirushi, for example, has a maximum temperature of 410℉. I was able to crank the Lumin up to 600℉, which is high enough for serious searing (it also means it really should be used exclusively outdoors). I was also able to keep it low, around 250℉, even with the lid closed, and keep it there consistently.
The grates are enameled cast iron like the ones that are standard with Weber’s Genesis and Spirit gas grills. That makes this machine a real joy to cook on. With 242 square inches of cooking space, it is obviously on the smaller side (it’s got almost exactly the same amount of cooking space as Weber’s smallest kettle grill), but it was still comfortable to cook dinner for a family of four. It starts to feel crowded when cooking larger items—racks of ribs, pork shoulders—but it’s spacy enough for burgers, sausages, and chicken thighs.
It also heats up fast and can be plopped safely on to any outdoor table (the heating element is slightly elevated, so even if you don’t get the dedicated grill stand, you shouldn’t do damage to whatever the grill is sitting on). Especially for an electric, the Lumin is a good grill. It requires fewer compromises than lots of other plug-in models.
What can you do with the Weber Lumin?
Obviously, the primary reason to get a Lumin is so you can grill with it. And as electric grills go, the Lumin comes closer to producing the kinds of results I’d expect from a gas grill (nothing but charcoal is going to give you charcoal results) than most other electric grills I’ve used. But besides straight-forward grilling and searing, the Lumin comes with presets for steaming and smoking as well as a steam/smoke tray to fill with water or wood chips. I did a bit of experimenting with the steam function and found that it worked as long the food items were fairly small—vegetables cooked well. I had less luck with large frozen bao.
The smoke function worked all right; the issue was that the dedicated smoke temperature setting caused the grill to run hotter than I expected it to. It hit over 400℉; I’d expected something between 225℉ and 275℉. The instructions did say that the included steam/smoke tray was to infuse smoke flavor rather than do a typical smoky slow cook. Weber does have an expansion set that includes a tray designed to accommodate slow smoking (it also doubles as a chafing dish), but I didn’t test it here.
The bottom line: You can do more with the Lumin than with a lot of other electric grills, but you shouldn’t expect it to replace larger or more specific equipment.
Who is the Lumin electric grill for?
With grates that are what you’d get with a nice gas grill and a temperature range that goes so high, the Lumin is for people who want to grill but either don’t have the space for charcoal or gas or aren’t allowed to have an open flame. That’s the real win here: This comes about as close to duplicating the results you’d get from propane flame without actually lighting one up. Got a stingy landlord? Working with an apartment patio? This could be for you.
