I love this thing!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Good for many things; Cooks fast; Super-easy clean-up

Cons: Must use proper spatulas; Cookbook isn't very good

The Bottom Line: 
This is a product you'll reach for time and time again; it's easy to use and the food is delicious!

Author's Review
We've had this grill for a month, and it doesn't have a "home" in the cabinet yet. Why? Because we've used it almost every single day!

It can do several things:

First, it can act as an indoor grill -- most of our cooking thusfar has fallen into this category. How big is it? It just holds four burgers (the picture on this page is a bit deceptive -- those burgers are small; in reality, four standard burgers will just BARELY fit into the machine together). I love that it cooks everything FAST because it's cooking on two sides at once. We've done chicken, a small roast, shrimp kabobs, and burgers -- all with great success. We even grilled asparagus once, and it was yummy! When you're grilling, you control the heat using the right-hand dial, which allows you to choose from warm, low, medium, high, or sear.

Second, the machine can "open wide" to act as a pancake griddle. I like that there's a small button that must be pushed to make it "open all the way" so that it doesn't happen accidentally. When it's open all the way, the handle becomes a very sturdy base that's as wide as the machine itself; in this mode, the heat is controlled by the left-hand dial, and you can be more specific: you can choose from 200 to 425 degrees. Pancakes cooked on the griddle come out perfect!

Finally, the machine can act as an exceptional sandwich press. The top portion of the grill is "hinged" in such a way that it is adjustable for sandwiches (or meat) of any thickness. Again, because it cooks both the top and bottom portion at the same time, it cooks very quickly. The sandwiches we've made have been very good, though I suggest that you use thick, substantial bread for your sandwiches -- thin, white bread will be squished very flat by the weight of the upper half of the grill. It also makes nice breakfast sandwiches (using English muffins) similar to McDonald's Griddlers.

The griddler comes with two sets of "cooking plates" -- one flat or solid set that's good for most things, and one "ridged set" that leaves attractive grill-marks on meat. Both sets have raised edges so that no grease runs out onto the countertop. The cooking plates are angled slightly so that grease runs to one corner, which is fluted to allow for run-off into specially designed drip cups. Unlike other reviewers, I found these drip cups to be adequate in size; I've only needed the second cup when cooking burgers.

My personal favorite thing about this product, however, is that the cooking plates pop right into the dishwasher, making clean-up a snap.

One warning: you must use only soft nylon spatulas on this grill -- metal will scratch and ruin the non-stick surface.

Finally, several random comments:
The machine, which comes only in stainless-steel, is very attractive and you won't be ashamed to have it sitting out on the countertop.
You should allow the machine to heat up before cooking; this takes only 2-3 minutes.
We've had no problem with anything sticking to the non-stick surfaces; we did use cooking spray when we cooked the chicken and the pancakes.
This product will save energy because it's preheating time is less than the oven's and it cooks so quickly.
The Griddler doesn't require much cabinet space to store.

You will LOVE this product! It is not one of those things that you'll use three times, then shove to the back of your cabinet.