Cuisinart Griddler Grill & Panini Press

Love this griddle/press. The cook top is removable, making it easy to clean and also giving you the option to use it as a griddle or a panini press. I also love being able to cook at different temps, really convention when cooking breakfast and I dont want my eggs to burn. It's a good size if your cooking for 2 but anymore than that, you'll be eating separately or someone's food will be cold.

Admittedly, after reading many of the reviews, i was quite hesitant. However, I used Amazon rewards earned from doing surveys, so I didn't feel like paying only $7 our-of-pocket for a $45.95 item would seem so bad if this thing failed. At the last minute, based on comments about the warranty, I did look at the ICHICH brand offered, but had never heard of, despite what sounded like a far better warranty. Anyway, I have had it a couple of weeks, and it has actually helped me to sort of like the kitchen and cooking. (Most of my friends/family know I HATE the kitchen and cooking.) I did tell a friend, who is a professional cook, and he agreed good name brand. He also agreed, despite non-stick cooking surface, to use cooking spray, which I have done--except for grilled cheese, bagels, or other sandwiches, bagels, etc to griddle for which I butter the bread that goes on the cooking plate vs cooking spray. As well, it had helped to have previewed the video and learn some of the item's "quirks" to be aware of upon arrival. E.G. Green light shows up to temperature, but temp will drop when food placed, but does come back up to temp., sometimes more quickly than other times, seeming to depend on how thick the food is and if in closed cooking position. (My electric range for baking does about the same thing for a few seconds when I open the door and place food to bake.) The very first thing I cooked were hamburgers. I set to the 'well done' as per instructions for temp which is what my hubby likes. I figured I would just take mine off a little early as I like medium to medium-rare, but I got distracted. They came out perfect for his well done! I did goof with my first experience with chicken breasts which made me pay more attention to the settings! LOL! I thought I had turned the dial to high, but the chicken was taking forever; then I realized, I had not pointed the lighted end of the dial to the high temp. DUH! Even with the error, I cooked huge chicken breasts on the grill in about 15 minutes! Juicy and very good! First thin salmon filet cooked in about 10 min; next time thicker filets took about 15 min! Turkey bacon on the griddle-- watch closely. Hubby likes his really crispy. I should have taken mine off when it looked like still droopy, but the crispy was okay. Further, we always cook the entire package and freeze the leftovers to micro later for other meals/sandwiches, etc. Definitely would want to take off earlier than crispy for those not being eaten immediately! Grilled cheese and grilled ham with cheese have been PERFECT based on settings and time--on the griddle-opened. Tuna melts in hamburger rolls with cheese slice on panini using the grill plates, as I wanted the little toasted marks gave another PERFECT result. For once in my life, something actually came out looking like a photo in a magazine! Marinated pork chops were to "die" for as per grill and time given in instructions, with cover closed! In the summer, my hubby travels a lot, and I tend to not cook for just myself, mostly because the cast-iron skillet (which I LOVE), is too heavy for me to carry across our huge kitchen to get to the sink and difficult for me to scrup with serious RA. I will definitely love having this little griddler. Am using 2 to 4 times a week with cooking spray except for grilled sandwiches, such as grilled cheese for which I butter its bread. (Have not tried eggs yet, mostly because hubby cooks when we have eggs, and he won't use the griddler--doesn't like to try new gadgets! LOL) His loss. . . . BTW: Heat distribution: I used in open position for the bacon on both panels and found both sides to cook at the same timing. Would need to try something else to verify heat distribution, so my 5-star heat distribution may be biased. Temp control: knowing it loses heat when food placed and then comes back up to temp to green, does not deter my rating in this arena. I LOVE THIS GRIDDLER!ADDENDUM: I still love this gadget. I attempted to answer a question from someone who had asked if BBQ sauce could be used. As I was answering, I got a red flag, saying the link had expired--DRAT! Anyway, here is my response to if one can use BBQ sauce with this appliance: Yes! I've had excellent results using the grill plates and using teriyaki sauce or BBQ sauce. What I have done, just trying it all out is as follows: 1. The first time I just brushed teriyaki sauce onto my burger on its top, slid spatula under, and when I got to the grill, I flipped the sauced side down. This leaves the top of the burger available to brush sauce on it. (The beauty of this grill: put the cover down and you don't have to keep flipping the burgers which can cause them to dry out. Not having to flip, has given really juicy, flavorful burgers. 2. The 2nd time, I had bought a London broil and marinated it in a bowl in the refrigerator for a day and overnight. (during the day, I flipped in the bowl periodically, to make sure teriyaki was getting into both sides of the steak). I got my "pinky perfect--i.e. medium rare on grill/sear for 4 to 5 minutes. 3. BARBECUE SAUCE--with steak. I put some sauce in the bottom of a bowl, placed steak in the bowl; then coated the top. I let it sit overnight in a covered bowl. Again, used grill/sear for 4-5 minutes and got pinky perfect--i.e. medium rare. NOTE: Before I bought this grill, a friend of mine who is a professional chef agreed with me to USE COOKING SPRAY ON THE GRILL/GRIDDLE even though non-stick surface. The only time I have not used cooking spray was when I made grilled cheese, for which I melt and brush melted butter on the sandwiches before grilling. I brush melted butter on the top of the sandwich, pick up with spatula and flip to put the buttered side down on the grill first, which puts the unbuttered side up. Brush melted butter on the top, close the cover and VOILA! As much as I despise the kitchen and cooking, this little gadget has been my GODSEND! I have RA and as much as I love a cast-iron skillet, when my husband is gone, I struggle getting the skillet to the sink to wash and hard for me to scrub. Now, I don't hesitate to cook a hot meal for myself when he is gone. EASY PEEZY clean up with no scrubbing, just a dish rag, and everything cooks perfectly. BTW: I LOVE my salmon on this grill. As with the steak, I have marinated in teriyaki sauce overnight; and I have also marinated in maple syrup---Spraying cooking oil has been another 'key" to the easy cleanup after the sticky sauces! YUMMY! YUMMY! Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy your Cuisinart grill/griddler as much as I do! Blessings! JJ

I received this versatile kitchen appliance as a Christmas gift from my wife, and it has truly replaced three other appliances in one go. I have already used it multiple times for grilling, as a flat grill, and as a Panini press, and it performed excellently in all applications. The reversible plates and the ability to adjust the temperature on each side separately make it incredibly versatile. I particularly love the height adjustments for the Panini press, allowing me to toast or press sandwiches with ease. Despite some minor uneven cooking on the outer edges, this appliance has impressed me overall. It's a fantastic and versatile addition to our kitchen that I highly recommend for its functionality.

I have made crumpets, English muffins and other stovetop breads in skillets and manual griddles of various types and after watching another person make a batch of crumpets on a similar electric griddle I decided to order this Cuisinart Electric Griddler Five to see if it would be easier as well as have multiple use features such as an open or closed grill, and panini or sandwich press that can be tilted to apply very even pressure. The unit is compact and attractive enough to earn a permanent place on my kitchen countertop and is simple to move to wherever I want to use it. In the fully open flat position I can easily pour and bake a variety of pan breads. Although the griddle plates are not perfectly level so as to facilitate drainage of oils produced by non bakery products, on my countertop I was able to level out the plates by setting the unit’s four legs on a thin bread board and then resting the wide cool handle of the opened top on a potholder. When using next to my smoothtop electric stove, I place the legs on the adjacent countertop and lay the handle on top on the cold stovetop, which is 1/4” lower than the counter. Either method achieves a fairly level result for both halves of the open unit. Just be sure the unit is cold and not plugged in when trying to find the best way to level your appliance. By getting both halves of the unit fairly level, good quality silicone egg rings as well as metal crumpet rings remain flat enough not to leak their contents and the nonstick surface of the griddle is very easy to clean. I prefer to wash all of my nonstick bakeware by hand but the removeable cooking plates for this Cuisinart Griddler can also be popped into a dishwasher.This Griddler is easy to set up and use. Instructions are simple. No matter the heat setting, the unit maintains the chosen temperature well enough to do the job. Grilling burgers and pressing patty melts took some time but worked well and didn’t create a mess. After the grill plates cooled down I wiped off most of the leftover grease and charred bits with a paper towel before removing the plates to soak in soapy water. There was no need to use the hard edged grill cleaning tool that came with the Griddler. After soaking, a soapy sponge took care of the softened residue and a simple rinse made the grill plates look new again. I did wipe the grease from the slide out plastic drip tray and popped that into the top rack of my dishwasher which worked perfectly to restore it to grease free cleanliness without any warping.My Cuisinart Griddler Five arrived extremely well packaged to protect it from the inevitable tossing about during the shipping and delivery process. I am glad to report that Cuisinart no longer applies sticky labels to any part of this beautiful appliance. The outer stainless steel surface wipes clean with a damp cloth, leaving it free of fingerprints. After unpacking my new appliance I simply washed and dried the grill plates, tested the heating coils to make sure they worked and then started pouring my first batch of crumpets within an hour. I use 4” (extra large) stainless steel rings to make my crumpets because they are a perfect size to also make English muffins and double as hamburger bun rings in my regular oven, too. As shown in my attached review photos, eight of these big rings fit comfortably on the two griddle plates when the appliance is in the fully open flat position. Using this Griddler has been much easier than cooking with any of my skillets on the stove. I have yet so see any damage to the nonstick surface of the griddle plates that are advertised as being non-toxic. And unlike many skillets, the plates do not warp when they are heated.I like the simple to use controls for heating this appliance and have not found any problems with them. The digital display and the timer work well, too. While it would be nice to be able to control each side of the griddle separately, I know the unit would have cost much more to manufacture to supply such a feature. Before choosing this particular model I found that high quality appliances with single side capability cost at least twice as much.I chose the Cuisinart brand because I have generally gotten very good service from other types of Cuisinart appliances over the last four decades. While a couple of other brands of small appliances have been just as reliable for me, Cuisinart seemed a safe bet regardless of where its products might have been manufactured. The Cuisinart design team is still one of the best.Even using it several times a week I hope to get years of good service from my Cuisinart Electric Griddler Five. If a problem does come up I will update this review to reflect that. For now, I can only recommend this high quality appliance as a great value that is serving my needs very well. Thank you, Cuisinart, for a job well done! 🙂

Great one. Easy to clean. Fast heating and easy to control heat. You can take out the plates and wash them. However, I feel like the plates is light and not a great material. The plates are made from nonstick material which I am not a fan of.