The Ninja Sizzle GR101 Indoor Grill comes with both a grill and a flat plate, which gives it lots of flexibility. It is really an indoor BBQ.
Grill meat, chicken, seafood, and vegetables on the ribbed sear plate at up to 260° (that is super searing) or use the flat plate for bacon, haloumi, eggs, pancakes, meat patties, pizza reheat, and toast/toasties.
Now at CyberShack, we usually look for ‘cooking tech’ like apps, probes, AI, timers, temperature indicators, and on-board menus. Sorry, this is a no-brainer indoor BBQ with a single temperature/off dial.
The ‘tech’ is the removable perforated splatter lid that can reduce smoke and eliminate fat splatter. It also helps keep the heat in for toasties, etc.
Australian Review: Ninja Sizzle GR101 Indoor Grill and Flat Plate (prices as of 11/11/25)
| Website | Ninja Company site Product page Manual Quick Start Guide |
| Price | RRP $399.999 but on special at $299.99, and seen for a little less. |
| From | Ninja Online, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Bing Lee, Myer, Appliances Online |
| Warranty | 2-year ACL |
| Made in | China |
| Company | Ninja is a kitchen brand developed by SharkNinja, a pioneer in small household appliances and cleaning. Its headquarters are in Needham, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Mann&Noble is the exclusive distributor for SharkNinja in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia. |
| More | CyberShack kitchen appliances news and reviews CyberShack Ninja news and reviews |
Ratings
We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards a score between 70 and 80/100 as a fit-for-purpose pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.
- Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
- Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
- Pass (meets expectations).
- Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
- Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).
First Impression: Indoor BBQ
It’s essentially an electric indoor BBQ with both a flat and sizzle ribbed grill plate. It has a lightweight stainless steel hood that you can lift or lower during cooking.
Let’s not get confused. It is not a double plate grill or a top heat grill. The heat comes from directly under the plate.
I was surprised at how light it is (3.5k with one plate installed) and reasonably compact at 385 W x 374 D x 155 H mm. It is not quite the Ninja build quality I am used to, but then nothing ever is.
Non-stick – Pass
It does not advertise the coating, but you can safely assume it is some kind of PFOS and PTFE-free surface. But it is not 100% non-stick like you may find on a Teflon frypan. Once the meat juices start to caramelise, it can stick to the sear ‘grid lines’. Grilled eggs can stick to the flat plate. Not badly. We initially used cannola spray but found it created smoke (see later).
Sorry to be subjective, but I suspect the non-stick coating will, over time, wear thin. Ninja is yet to list replacement plates, but the UK website has the grill and flat plates for £24.99 each (about A$50 each).
Australian readers have complained that they cannot get grills, plates, etc., for other Ninja products, as they are eternally marked ‘Sold Out’ and placing your name on a waiting list does nothing other than get Ninja promotional material. Ninja, please take note!
Smoke – Pass if you think about it
Smoke is simply the burning of the ingredients, which means you have the temperature set too high. It can also be caused by using high-smoke oils like butter, margarine, olive oil, or cooking (canola) spray. It is better to use sunflower, avocado, vegetable or rapeseed oil.
It can also be caused by fatty foods like sausages or patties, where the fat quickly extrudes from the meat. The image below is from two sirloin steaks that were lightly marinated.
Marinades are a problem. As they are largely liquids like soy or Worcestershire or oyster sauces, acidic oils like olive or vegetable oil, salt, garlic, herbs, spices, and sweeteners, these will burn at lower temperatures than the 260° recommended sizzle. I suggest that if meats are marinated, you ‘scrape’ that off before cooking and then heat the marinade in a microwave and use it like a sauce.
The bottom line is this is an indoor BBQ, and it will smoke. Perhaps not as severely as an outdoor one, but you need to be careful and use it near an exhaust fan.
Power – Pass
It’s pretty hungry at 1450W. This was maintained for the pre-heat period and dropped a little once it reached the set temperature. You can hear the thermostat click on and off.
Just remember that this equals 1.45 kW per hour and will drain a 5 kWh solar battery in 3.5 hours.
Pre-heat – Longer than expected
There is no indicator light for temperature, and Ninja simply recommends that you preheat with the lid down for 7 minutes. We tested at 180° and 260°, and the results were 8 and 15 minutes, pre-heat respectively. For temperature-critical cooking, an IR thermometer is cheap – $15-30 and a wise investment.
Temperature consistency – Pass
It advertises edge-to-edge heat, and on the whole, it delivers. Using an Infrared thermometer (180°), the plate was even across (189°) but dropped slightly around the four edges.
At 260°, the ribbed part of the plate maintained 252-255° and the outer edges/corners 220-225°
Cleaning – Pass
The plates are 370 x 280 x 35mm x 1.2/1.6kg (flat/ribbed). They must be hand-washed using no more than a plastic scourer. While they fit in most standard sinks, you need a fair bit of tap head height to rinse them off.
The fat trough is a little narrow, and you need to be careful to remove any fat drippings.
One trap was that the plates were still 100° about 10 minutes after use – too hot for hands and to wash. It took about 20 minutes to reach 50°. By comparison, the Ninja Foodi Air Fryer was 32.6°. That’s another good use for the IR Thermometer.
The lid is interesting. It is made from thin-gauge perforated stainless steel and is advertised as dishwasher safe. After a few uses, there was quite a fat/splatter build-up, and you really need to pay regular attention to its cleanliness.
Under the plate is the heater coil. It recesses into the bottom of the plate, so it should not get dirty. It does begin to heat discolour, but that does not affect the heat.
Design – Pass with caveats
Many ‘double’ grills have a flat back to allow them to stand upright for storage. This cannot as the power cable prevents this. It is 750mm long and, in our opinion, too short.
There is no ‘piggy-back’ to help store the extra plate.
Cooking – Pass+
It’s a mini BBQ (ribbed or flat plate). Chuck a steak or prawn on it, flip it in a few minutes and serve.
It is easily large enough for four sirloins, six patties, lots of veggies, etc. Perfect for singles or couples.
You can select any temperature up to 260° (an IR Thermometer is needed to get an exact temperature), but the recommended temperatures are (refer to the quick start guide)
- Sizzle: 165, 180, 190, 200, 260.
- Flat Plate: 175, 180, 190, 200, 260
Flat Plate – Pass+
I tried the flat plate with two lamb sausages, grilled eggs, and sourdough bread (lightly buttered both sides) and had a great breakfast in under 10 minutes (the sausages take the longest and need to be quarter turned every two minutes). I selected 180° as the quick start guide recommended. Yes, it began to smoke at about 8 minutes, so I took the eggs and bread off and lowered the lid, which made a small difference.
I tried a melt (bread buttered on both sides with filling on top). It kind of worked, but I have more success in my Ninja Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill & Air Fryer as it heats all around. I tried a hash brown, but the result was inferior to an air fryer.
Usually, I would have used a frypan and perhaps had the same results, but I liked the flexibility of the more ‘open’ cooking.
Grill Plate – Pass
This is where I learned the folly of marinade when two marinated porterhouse steaks (olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon, garlic) stuck to the plate and started smoking. I also tried to grill baby asparagus (lightly coated in olive oil and Himalayan salt), which was OK.
In my opinion, I get a slightly better steak from the Ninja Foodi with its grill plate because the plate pre-heats and heated air circulates from the top.
CyberShack’s view: Ninja Sizzle GR101 Indoor Grill and Flat Plate GR101 is an indoor BBQ
I have no issues with this as a fit-for-purpose product, despite it not being up to Ninja’s usual build standard.
It has some design foibles (can’t stand it up, short lead, no temperature indicator, etc), but overall it does everything it advertises.
Its real competition comes from two devices.
The first is a double grill with top and bottom hotplates. Examples are the $399 Breville Sear and Press Grill (smaller 30 x 25cm cook surface). Or the excellent $349 DeLonghi Multigrill 1100 Grill with Thermoprobe. Read DeLonghi MultiGrill 1100 (CGH1112DP) with ThermoProbe, timer and App. I happen to own both, and they do the same thing – perhaps not the 260° sear.
Or Ninja itself. The $349.99 Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill & Air Fryer is a combo grill, air fryer, roast, bake and more device. The grill plate is perfect for steaks, and it makes the best melts and toasties. I use it every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Read Ninja Foodi AG551 Smart XL Grill and Air Fryer – the one appliance you really need.
Ninja Sizzle GR101 Rating
We won’t give it a formal rating, but suffice to say that it’s fit for purpose, and there are no downsides if it fits your purpose.
And that purpose is important.
I can see RV/caravan/cruiser boat owners loving this. It adds badly needed cook space for grills – steaks, snags, prawns, fish, and to prepare hearty breakfasts. It could replace a toaster, too.
Apartment owners could get away with this, the Ninja Foodi and a microwave.
But if you already have a large cooktop, ribbed pans and other cooking appliances, it’s probably redundant.
- Features: Electric grill and flat plate – that’s it
- Value: If you can get it for $299 or less, it is well priced
- Performance: With the caveat that it is a grill or flat plate, it does anything that a BBQ can do
- Ease of Use: Plate cleaning is OK, but you need a large, deep sink. Storage is a pain as it won’t stand up, and you need to store it and the other plate.
- Design: Not quite Ninjka’s usual build standard, but it’s fine. We have addressed the storage and stand-up issues, and it needs a temperature indicator.
Pro
Quick and easy replacement for a frypan or griddle
Grill or flat plates are versatile
Treat it as an indoor BBQ
Con
No temperature indicator – buy an IR Thermometer
7 minutes pre-heat is ambitious
Non-stick is not perfect and will wear- take care
No replacement plates on the Ninja AU website
It can be high-smoke if you are not careful
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