Take a look at this and see if there is anything to help you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Guide to pan-seared steaks

What kind of ventilation do you have in your kitchen? If the smoke alarm goes off when broiling, I'll bet it would do the same if you got a grill, or even if you try the pan-searing method. I'm a lot of help, aren't I? Before I renovated and added serious ventilation, I broiled like you are doing, but now I pan-sear, which I think it throws off even more smoke.

I live alone too, and hardly ever grill, even on my george foreman grill.

But I do like grilling on it, since I found out an easy way to clean it.

Line it with aluminum foil!

Moni

Cooking for one is the best. You can do anything you want and never have to worry about pleasing anyone.

Leftovers is not bad. But that's another whole topic.

I use my cast iron pan to grill all the time. I get the pan to 600F (yes 600F!!). When I do that I put the smoke alarm in the microwave.

dcarch

We used to have a similar problem with our smoke detector each time we made toast! A simple fix was a new detector that was less sensitive to cooking. The contractor who was working elsewhere in the house bought a new detector and the problem was solved. Coincidentally, just yesterday at Costco I picked up some new photo-electric smoke detectors due to a recommendation on one of the news programs. They showed how smoldering fires aren't noticed soon enough by normal detectors. Anyway the package noted that these were also good near the kitchen.
Perhaps that's a quick fix for your broiler cooking issue too!

Move the smoke detector, lol! I got a small outdoor grill for BF for his birthday. And while we use it sometimes, I really wish I had invested in a small cast iron indoor grill pan. I'll bet I would use it a lot, since I use my other cast iron implements all the time. The secret is to just leave them on the stove, then you will cook on them all the time. BF makes pancakes in the smaller pan, he just makes one big pancake but I would like a grill for a series of smaller ones. I saw a teflon coated cast aluminum grill at Target, I am debating on getting it. That would be even better than the cast iron perhaps, certainly lighter. But you can't heat that stuff up really hot, particularly if you have a pet bird, since it is toxic to them.

Last Christmas, Aldis had cast iron grill pans for $15. I didn't need one but they were nice.

When I broil I always put water in the bottom of my broiler pan it keeps the fat from burning so no smoke. Hope this tip helps. Patty