1450 Degrees hot! The electric Luma Grill sears, grills, and roasts FAST – Video Review, Unboxing & Cooking Demo

I love gadgets! And when a gadget makes its way into the kitchen, it becomes even more intriguing, especially if my family can benefit from it. While I have been known to throw a meal together here and there (not a chef by any standards), being able to review a gadget that can help quickly cook a meal is fantastic. The gadget I’m writing about today is the Luma Grill, which you may have seen by other names – the Luma Electric Grill, the Luma Infrared Grill, the Luma Searing Grill, or even the Luma Steak Grill (SKU: LSGE80BK00). All of these names do describe this product. I put the Luma Grill to the test in my latest video review, covering the unboxing, setup, feature walkthrough, and even a cooking demonstration. Some of the highlights are in this article! (*Disclosure below.)

If you like grilling or broiling or even searing meat, poultry, fish, or veggies, and you don’t want to deal with setting up a BBQ or working with the broiler in the oven, you may want to take a look at the Luma Grill. This oven (that doesn’t have a door, by the way) can heat up in minutes to over 1400 degrees F. Can your oven or BBQ do that? I’m guessing not. This is almost professional-level broiling – something you would only find in a restaurant kitchen. Just plug it into the wall, turn it on, set the temperature, decide on the cooking time, and you are literally cooking in a few minutes.

Scroll down for an exclusive 10% discount on Luma Grill on Newair.com!

The Luma Grill is simple to use. The hardest part is figuring out what to cook! Unfortunately, my family members aren’t big meat eaters. I do, for example, want to get a couple of nice steaks to sear. But for now, I have only tested out chicken and veggies.

Full video review, unboxing, feature explanation, and cooking demo

Many of my reviews now have videos, and my review of the Luma Electric Grill is no different. In fact, I feel like I can soon start my own cable TV channel since my more recent videos are almost 30 minutes in length. I encourage you to watch the full review (or use the Table of Contents in the YouTube description to jump directly to the part of the video that interests you the most).

As with any of my reviews, please leave questions here, on HighTechDad, or on my YouTube video. I’m happy to answer them.

In this video, I discuss how to use the Luma Electric Searing Grill, what comes with it (and what’s missing—like a door), some safety precautions like keeping little hands away from it, where you can place the grill, how much electricity it uses, how to set it up initially, and how the grilling actually works.

Let me outline a few highlights in this article.

Key features of the Luma Grill

Again, the video has all the details, but here are some of the features of the Luma Searing Grill that stick in my mind. For starters, the Luma is electric. There are no propane tanks to connect or coals to heat up. You don’t have to clear out your oven to use the broiler. You only need to consider where to place it safely and if there is an electrical outlet nearby.

It is recommended to NOT have anything within six inches on either side or the back. And you need at least 20” above the Luma Grill to ensure you have a safe grilling environment. With me, I store the oven away on a chef’s cart and then put it on a counter when I need to use it.

In my testing, though, I found that the surrounding areas of the Luma Electric Grill remain fairly cool. Yes, they are warm to the touch, but honestly, the insulation of the walls, top, and back is pretty amazing. Even when the grill itself is at 1450 degrees, you can touch the sides or the top, and they are only warm. (Just keep your hands away from the inside because THAT area is HOT!)

Since I’m talking about temperature right now, let me discuss that number — 1450 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the top temperature that the Luma can hit. But there is a dial on the front that lets you define the exact temperature you want, up to 1450 degrees.

In fact, there are ONLY two physical controls for the entire grill. On the back is an on/off switch, and on the front is a dial that controls the temperature and the cooking time. If the switch in the back is set to ON, you press the dial in the front to turn it on. Then you define the temp with the dial, click the knob, and then define the cook time. One more click of the dial, and the oven fires up.

The physical size of the grill is big but not too big. I’m sure you can find space if you have a larger kitchen. But if your kitchen is small, you may need a good storage space. The dimensions are 16.1” wide by 14.2” deep by 15.6” high. Remember, you need to have 6” on either side and at least 20” above for adequate ventilation. The interior grill space is 9.6” wide by 8.5” deep.

Inside the grill oven, there are rack slots that let you slide the cast iron grill and the drip pan to the appropriate level. The top two slots are ideal for searing steak, the middle slots are better for poultry and fish, and the bottom slots are good for broiling or roasting vegetables. The bottom slot is pretty much reserved for the drip tray.

The drip tray is a critical feature. It serves a variety of purposes. First, it is important to state that you MUST put water in the drip tray for every operation. (Also, check the tray regularly to ensure the water hasn’t boiled off.) For starters, the tray collects all of the drippings which fall into the water. The water prevents those drippings from smoking, which will definitely set off your smoke detector. Also, the water in the drip tray prevents the oven from automatically shutting down due to overheating.

Unboxing and setup of the Luma Grill

The Luma Grill doesn’t come with too much. You, of course, get the oven itself. There are some manuals and safety instructions which I encourage you to read carefully. You also get the cast iron grill, which holds the food you want to cook. It’s heavy and relatively easy to hand-clean. In the previous section, I talked about the drip tray. Obviously, that is an essential piece. The grill rack slots come pre-attached to the walls. You can unscrew the slots to clean them better if you need to. I recommend when you are setting up the grill for the first time, be sure those screws are tightly fastened. Mine were loose. Lastly, you get a handle that allows you to remove both the grill and the drip tray.

A quick callout about the handle: it fits cleanly into both the cast iron grill and the drip tray, making removing them without touching them easy. It takes a few practice runs, but once you do it a few times, it’s pretty easy and safe. But there is a notch on the handle itself. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was for as part of the tray removal process. But then I thought outside the box and realized it is used to open adult beverages like a beer bottle cap—a very nice little extra function for the grill.

The setup is pretty straightforward. I first hand-washed the cast iron grill and the drip tray with soapy water. You are not supposed to use any abrasives or harsh cleaning items for those. Once those were washed and dried, I filled the drip tray with water and put it on the lowest rack setting. Then, I put the cast iron grill in the middle rack.

I turned the grill on and set the temperature to 1450 degrees and the timer to about 10 minutes. I pressed the button to start it and stayed around while it did the initial burn-off. You could smell some residual items burning off, perhaps from the walls or bottom. But there was no smoke.

After the burn-off, I was ready to start cooking.

Cooking using the Luma Grill

I’m not going to go into too much detail on the cooking, as most of it is documented in my video. However, there are a few things to note if you are cooking. First, I was not cooking steak but rather small chicken cutlets. These tend to cook a bit faster. I seasoned them with various spices and sprayed them with olive oil. The peppers and onions were also seasoned with oil and spices.

Some quick Luma Grill cooking items to note:

• Don’t put dried, leafy spices like oregano, thyme, or the like, as they will burn when being broiled and will smoke.
• If you are searing steak and using the top rack, don’t cook it on high heat for more than one minute, as it cooks quickly.
• The top racks are for meat, the middle for chicken and fish, and the bottom for veggies.
• You can adjust the time while your food is cooking but not the heat level.
• To adjust the heat level, you need to turn off the grill, set the new temperature and time, and start again. It does heat quickly, though.
• Be sure to check the water level as you cook, as it will boil off.
• When you remove the cast iron grill, be sure you have a good fire-safe surface to put it on (e.g., DON’T put it on a plastic cutting board). See my video for some recommendations.
• The back part of the oven tends to be hotter than the front, so you may want to rotate or move around the items you are cooking.
• You may want to put some tinfoil directly below the opening to catch any drippings when you remove your food.

Overall, the cooking experience was quite good. I didn’t make much of a mess, and I didn’t set off any smoke alarms. It may be different when cooking more fatty foods like steak or pork, but I’m saving that experience for my next cooking adventure.

During the cooking, only the inside of the Luma Grill was hot. As I mentioned earlier and in the video, the surfaces remain cool to warm. But remember, there is no door on the grill, so it is easy to touch a hot surface inside the grill itself.

Costs and final thoughts on the Luma Searing Grill

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to grill, sear, and broil chicken and veggies. Now that I have some experience with the process, how the Luma cooks, and the heat distribution, I’m sure my next cooking endeavor will be even better. Be sure you check the temperature of the items you are cooking, particularly if you are broiling chicken, pork, or fish, as you don’t want to undercook anything. Also, remember that your food will continue to cook once you take it out of the grill.

Using the Luma Oven is very intuitive. Just set the temperature and the time – and remember that all of that is adjustable during the cooking process.

The Luma Electric Steak Grill retails for $249.99 on the Newair site. AND, if you use this link (and search for the grill itself) and/or use my code “HIGHTECHDAD”, you will get 10% off your order. You can also order the Luma Grill on Amazon for $229.99.

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The Luma Oven is an excellent broiling, grilling, roasting, and searing oven, especially if you are making a small meal for two people. If you are cooking for more than that, you will have to figure out your timing or cook some things (like roasting veggies) elsewhere. And since it only comes with one cast iron grill, you really can fit more than two steaks at a time.

However, the quick and easy cooking and the reasonable price make this a pretty nice addition to any kitchen, especially if you want to grill up something quickly and don’t want too much prep or clean-up time.

Disclosure: I have a material connection because I received a sample of a product for consideration in preparing to review the product and write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item after my review period. All opinions within this article are my own and are typically not subject to editorial review from any 3rd party. Also, some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate” or “advertising” links. These may be automatically created or placed by me manually. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item (sometimes but not necessarily the product or service being reviewed), I will receive a small affiliate or advertising commission. More information can be found on my About page.

HTD says: The Luma Grill is a quick and HOT way to sear steaks, broil pork, roast chicken, and cook veggies in a compact and easy-to-use oven without the need for propane, charcoal, or gas.