Tough Mama NTM-SMIGR review: ask what the third function is

The Tough Mama NTM-SMIGR folds three appliances into one body: a griller, a sandwich maker, and a third cooker plate. Tough Mama sells it as a foldable multicooker, and it is the most expensive griller in this category, which puts the burden on the listing to make its case.

What folding buys you

The fold is the genuine idea here. A flat griller lives on the counter or takes a shelf the size of its plate; this closes like a sandwich press and stands on edge, so a small kitchen gets three cooking surfaces for roughly the storage of one. If your reason for not owning a griller is where you would keep it, that is the argument.

The third function is named two different ways

Tough Mama’s own catalog calls this model an “electric griller, sandwich maker, infrared cooker”. The Shopee title calls the same plate a ceramic cooker, and mentions induction.

Those are not the same appliance. An infrared plate glows and heats whatever sits on it: your existing glass, clay, and aluminum pots all work. An induction plate heats only magnetic cookware, so caldero and most aluminum pans do nothing on it. If you are buying this partly to replace a burner, that one word decides whether your current pots are usable. Ask Tough Mama Appliances which it is, and keep the answer in the chat.

No wattage on the dearest griller here

Neither the brand page nor the listing publishes a power rating. Across this category, wattage is the spec that separates a plate that keeps up from one that stalls when you load it cold, and the cheaper rivals all print it. At the top of a line, buyers reasonably expect the clearest specs, not the thinnest.

What the price is really buying

Around ₱4,900 as of August 19, 2026, this costs more than the brand’s own large duo griller and several times what a plain plate costs. What you get for the difference is the folding format and Tough Mama’s lifetime free service warranty, which is a genuine reason to pay brand money in the Philippines: there is a service network to bring it to. Ask what that warranty covers, since a free-service warranty usually means labor rather than parts.

Who the NTM-SMIGR suits

Buy this if storage is your binding constraint, you want the sandwich press as much as the grill, and the seller confirms the wattage and the plate type. If you just want to grill, your money goes further elsewhere.

Better-documented grillers at this money

For two large cooking surfaces at a published 1800W, the Tough Mama NTM-EG3 is the better-documented big griller from the same brand. For a three-job appliance with a published 1500W, the Hanabishi HGRILL380 does griller, hotpot, and soup.

For the full ranking, see our best electric grillers in the Philippines roundup.