Panasonic NF-GM600 Review: a bulky but very handy all‑in‑one grill and multi cooker

I’ve been using the Panasonic NF-GM600 for a few weeks, mainly in a small flat where I hate turning on the oven or scrubbing the hob every night. I went into this thinking “it’s just another grill with fancy plates”, but it’s a bit more than that. Between the grill, deep pot, steam tray and all the plates, it does cover a lot of cooking situations, from bacon in the morning to a slow stew in the evening.

My usual setup is a basic electric grill plus a saucepan on the hob, so this Panasonic had to justify taking up a big chunk of counter space. It’s not a tiny gadget you can just shove in a drawer. It’s heavy, big, and the box of accessories is not exactly discreet. So from day one my question was simple: does it cook better and make my life easier enough to deserve that space?

Over these weeks, I’ve done the usual “everyday” stuff: bacon, sausages, burgers, chicken thighs, some veg, pancakes, and a slow-cooked Bolognese-style sauce. I also played with the smoke extractor because I can’t stand the flat smelling like grill for two days. I didn’t bother with anything fancy from the app at first, I just cooked how I normally would and then checked the modes afterwards.

Overall, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty solid for people who want an all-in-one cooking box. It’s easier to live with than a traditional open grill plus pans, especially on the cleaning and smoke side. On the flip side, it’s big, a bit pricey for what it is, and the app is more of a bonus than a serious reason to buy it. If you expect it to magically replace your whole kitchen, you’ll be a bit disappointed, but if you see it as a flexible electric grill/slow cooker combo, it gets the job done well.

Let’s talk about the awkward bit: price versus what you actually get. This isn’t a cheap grill – it’s priced closer to a good air fryer or a branded slow cooker plus grill combo. One reviewer summed it up well: it’s a great gadget, but quite expensive. I agree. You’re paying for the brand, the smoke extractor, and the pile of plates. If you’re just going to fry bacon once a week, it’s overkill. A basic grill will do the same job for much less.

Where the value starts to make sense is if you actually use several functions regularly. If you grill, slow cook, steam, and make pancakes or party snacks fairly often, then having one appliance that covers all of that and is easy to clean is quite practical. In my case, it allowed me to stop using my old grill and my standalone slow cooker. It also reduced how often I used the hob. So from a space and convenience point of view, it kind of “pays back” its footprint by replacing two or three other things.

The smoke extractor is another factor. If you live in a flat without a strong cooker hood or you like to grill at the table without filling the room with smoke, that feature alone has real value. There aren’t that many indoor grills with an effective built‑in extractor that actually reduces smells to this level. So if that’s a pain point for you, the price becomes easier to justify.

If I’m blunt: for people who cook a lot and like gadgets, the NF-GM600 is reasonably good value because it gets used often and solves practical problems (smoke, cleaning, multiple appliances). For occasional cooks, it’s probably too much money and too big. You’d be better off with a decent mid‑range grill and a cheap slow cooker. So value is very dependent on your habits. For my personal use, I’d rate it as “good but not a bargain” – worth it if you actually plan to use most of what it offers.

Design-wise, the NF-GM600 is more about practicality than looking nice. It’s a big black box with a matte finish, around 51.6 cm wide, 39 cm deep, and 25.4 cm high. On a standard kitchen counter, it takes a serious chunk of space. In my small kitchen, once it’s out, it basically becomes a semi‑permanent resident. Forget about sliding it into a tiny cupboard – it’s 9.2 kg, so not something you casually move every day unless you’re used to lifting heavy pans.

The layout is at least thought through. The lid opens wide enough to access the plates easily, and swapping them is simple: they just sit in place, no over‑complicated clips. The water reservoir for the smoke extractor is under the main unit; you pull it out like a drawer, fill it at the sink, and slide it back. The long 2.5 m cable is a real plus. I could put it in the middle of the dining table or near the balcony door without hunting for an extension lead, which is nice if you want to use it raclette‑style with friends.

The control panel is straightforward: clear labels for each auto mode, plus temperature and time controls. No touch-sensitive nonsense; just physical buttons that click. The screen is basic but readable. You don’t get fancy colours or graphics, but honestly that’s fine. Once you’ve used it twice, you know where BBQ, Steam, and Slow Cook are, and that’s all you need. The only mild annoyance is that you do have to scroll a bit through modes instead of having separate buttons for each, but you get used to it.

In terms of footprint versus what it does, it’s a bit of a trade‑off. It replaces a standalone grill, a slow cooker, a basic steamer, and a pancake plate, but it occupies about as much space as a big bread maker or an air fryer oven. If you’re tight on cupboards, you’ll either leave it out permanently or you’ll start stacking plates inside it and on top of it like Tetris. Functionally, the design is solid; it’s just not compact. If you want something slim and discreet, this isn’t it.

The body of the NF-GM600 is mostly metal with a matte black finish, and the cooking surfaces are non‑stick coated. In hand, the plates have a decent weight to them. They don’t feel like those ultra‑thin plates you get on cheap grills that bend if you press too hard. The grill plate in particular feels solid and heats pretty evenly. I didn’t see obvious hot spots where one sausage burns and the one next to it is pale.

The non‑stick coating is good out of the box. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, and even slightly sticky sauces came off easily with just a soft sponge and a bit of washing‑up liquid. Food doesn’t weld itself to the surface unless you really abuse the temperature or forget oil completely for dry lean meat. That said, like any non‑stick, the real test is 6–12 months down the line. I can’t claim it will last forever, but it feels at least a notch above bargain grills I’ve used before.

The deep pot and steam tray are also coated and feel robust. I used the pot for Bolognese and a curry‑style dish. Even after a long simmer, there was no staining or burnt ring at the bottom, which is usually where cheaper pots start suffering. The edges and handles don’t get ridiculously hot either, but you still need to be careful; this is a 1400 W heater, not a toy.

One thing I liked is that everything that gets messy – plates, deep pot, steam tray – is dishwasher safe. I washed some by hand and some in the dishwasher just to see. Both ways were fine. The only part you really have to baby is the base with the heating element and the smoke extractor section. That obviously can’t go in water; you just wipe it down. Overall, materials and build give a “pretty solid” impression, not cheap, but also not luxury. For an appliance made in China at this price point, that’s what I’d expect, and it lines up with the 4.8/5 average rating you see online.

I obviously haven’t had this for years, so I can’t give a long‑term verdict, but there are a few things you can observe early on. First, the unit feels solid. The hinges on the lid don’t wobble, the plates sit firmly in place, and there are no weird rattles when the fan or heater are running. At almost 9.2 kg, it’s not a hollow plastic box. It has the typical Panasonic “built to last a while” feel, but again, time will tell.

After several cooking and cleaning cycles, the non‑stick still looked like new: no scratches, no peeling, no discolouration. I was careful: soft sponges only, no metal utensils, and I didn’t chuck them loose in the dishwasher with sharp knives. If you treat them like any decent non‑stick pan, I don’t see an immediate red flag. If you’re the type to scrape with a fork or stack plates carelessly, you’ll probably damage them faster, but that’s the same story with every coated surface.

Heat management seems well under control. The outer shell gets warm but not scary hot, and I didn’t notice any smell of burning plastic or anything worrying, even on longer slow‑cook sessions. The fan kept running for a short while after I turned it off, which is normal to cool things down. No error messages, no auto shutoffs beyond what you’d expect from the timer.

The weak point in durability is more about storage and handling than the machine itself. Because there are six plates plus the deep pot and accessories, it’s very tempting to pile them up wherever you can. If you’re not careful, you’ll scratch them or bend something over time. My tip: keep the original soft bags or use kitchen towels between plates when stacking. Overall, from what I’ve seen so far and from the 4.8/5 average rating with no horror stories, I’d say durability looks promising, but it still depends heavily on how you treat it.

In terms of raw cooking power, the 1400 W heater does its job. Preheat is fairly quick: for grilling bacon or sausages, I was ready to cook in a few minutes. One user mentioned bacon being cooked nicely with the extractor on, and I can confirm – bacon comes out crispy on the edges and still juicy inside if you don’t overdo the time. Compared to my old basic grill, this one heats more evenly and doesn’t leave those weird half‑raw patches.

Where I had to adjust was with liquids and slow cooking. When I first did a Bolognese‑type sauce, I followed my usual hob approach and left it on what I thought was a moderate heat. It was boiling way too aggressively. I had to dial the temperature down quite a bit, like that other reviewer who said the same. Once I lowered it, it settled into a proper simmer and the end result tasted good. So yes, it can slow cook, but you do need to get used to its heat levels; they’re a bit stronger than you might expect for the same temperature number on a hob.

The 9 auto modes are handy as starting points. BBQ and Steak are basically higher‑heat profiles. Pancake mode keeps it hot enough to brown but not burn too fast, which worked well for me: pancakes cooked evenly without raw centres. Steam mode, with water in the reservoir and the steam tray on, did fine for veg and dumplings. Nothing mind‑blowing, but it cooks properly and consistently once you know which mode and temperature to pick.

For everyday use – bacon, burgers, chicken pieces, sausages, veg, pancakes – the performance is more than enough. It’s not a restaurant‑level grill, but for home cooking it gets things done quickly and with decent control. The only real downside is that you have to learn its personality a bit. First week, you might overcook or boil too hard. After that, you get a feel for “ok, for this dish I should go one step lower than I think”. Once you’re past that, it’s reliable and fairly predictable.

Out of the box, this thing feels more like a small appliance system than a single gadget. You’ve got the main base unit with the heating element and built‑in smoke extractor, the water reservoir underneath, and then a pile of plates: grill, flat plate, pancake plate, party snack plate, takoyaki plate, plus the deep pot and steam rack. All are non‑stick and feel decently solid, not flimsy like cheap sandwich makers. You also get a long 2.5 m power cable already attached, which sounds like a detail but is actually very handy in real life.

The control panel is on the front with push buttons and a simple display. There are 9 auto modes: BBQ, Steak, Steam, Slow Cook, Veggies, Party Snack, Pancakes, Preheat, and Keep Warm. You can also ignore all that and use manual mode with your own temperature and timer (from 5 minutes up to 12 hours). I used the auto modes a bit, but most of the time I ended up in manual because I like to tweak heat depending on what I see in the pan.

The other part they push a lot is the Panasonic Kitchen+ app. It connects via your phone and gives you recipes and step‑by‑step guidance. In practice, it’s basically a recipe book with some hints rather than a true “smart” control system. You’re still pressing buttons on the unit; the app doesn’t suddenly make it an automated robot chef. For someone who likes inspiration or is new to cooking, it can be nice. For me, it was more of a “check it once, then forget it” thing.

So if I sum up the presentation: it’s an all‑in‑one electric cooker that tries to cover grilling, BBQ‑style cooking, steaming, slow cooking, and various snack plates (pancakes, takoyaki, etc.). It clearly targets people who want fewer separate appliances cluttering the kitchen. Just be aware that while it replaces several gadgets in theory, it’s not exactly compact, and all those plates still need somewhere to live.

The big selling point for me was the smoke extractor. I hate having the whole flat smell like grill for hours, especially in winter when you don’t want to keep windows open. To use it properly, you have to fill the little reservoir under the unit with water. It’s an extra step, but it’s quick. Once that’s done and you start grilling, the fan kicks in and pulls a good chunk of smoke and steam away. On bacon, pork steaks and burgers, I noticed a clear difference compared to my old open grill: no cloud in front of my face, and much less lingering smell in the kitchen after cooking.

One Amazon reviewer said there was no smoke or lasting smell while cooking pork steaks, and my experience is close to that. It’s not magic – if you burn something, you’ll still smell it – but for normal cooking it keeps things under control. The noise level of the extractor is acceptable. You hear it, but it’s more like a quiet cooker hood on a low setting, not a vacuum cleaner. I could still talk at normal volume next to it without shouting.

In everyday effectiveness, the mix of auto modes, manual control, and the long cable makes it easy to integrate into routine. I ended up using it three or four evenings a week because it’s just convenient: plug it in, choose mode, cook, then pull out the plates and put them in the dishwasher. I barely touched my hob for simple meals during the test period. One user review saying they “hardly use their hob now” doesn’t feel exaggerated; I ended up in a similar situation for basic dishes.

It’s not all positive though. The app is underwhelming. Another reviewer mentioned struggling to find basic recipes like chicken, beef, or eggs in the app search, and I ran into similar gaps. It feels like the database is either not complete or not well indexed. So if you’re buying this thinking the Kitchen+ app is going to plan your weekly menu, don’t. See it as a loose recipe collection. The real value is the hardware: smoke control, non‑stick plates, and the flexibility to grill, steam, or slow cook without swapping appliances.