Enter... The Griddler!
So a few weeks ago I mentioned that we got a Griddler, which I described as the most useless gift I'd gotten in a very long time. Well, shortly after that post we finally opened the box and broke it out, and I stand corrected. The Griddler is awesome. The Griddler is more or less the expensive Cuisinart version of the George Foreman grill. On a side note my fraternity brother DJ and his wife SJ got 7 different Foreman grills as wedding gifts. No, they only got married once. Anyway, I digress. I'd had no experience with any variant of the grill, so it was all new territory to me.
There is a top and a bottom grill plate, each of which is reversible to a griddle plate. You can 'press' it top and bottom of the food, or you can lay it out flat to have double the cooking space. Heat control is simple and there's a nifty draining point where all the fat and greases drips to.
We broke it in with some very nice avocado grilled cheese sandwiches. These were a resounding success, so we followed it up with a recipe from the official Griddler cookbook, namely grilled green beans with feta. That was delicious. Then on Memorial Day the Griddler was featured in the meals for both sets of our guests. We made chicken sausage for brunch, which was much easier than making them in the pan and not as messy as using the microwave. Then that night we grilled some salmon steaks and smothered them with pesto, which was also a big win. Last weekend we grilled some chicken on it, which we served with couscous (mixed with tomatoes and Parmesan) and with garlic green beans.
Now that we've used it five times for five different kinds of food, I feel qualified to make the following statements:
- This is a lot easier than using a frying pan, especially for anything meat related that would drip fat.
- Running the grill plates through the dishwasher makes cleanup a lot easier, but you'll still have to scrub them a bit.
- It takes forever to cool off.
- It generates enough steam and odor that you should try to have it near the kitchen fan if feasible.
- It takes up a lot of counter space when being used, and it's heavy enough that it's a bit of a pain to move if you aren't chiseled muscle like myself**.
The verdict? I didn't really need it, and I certainly wouldn't have bought it, but it's a worthy addition to the kitchen. However, at best it can only be my fourth favorite counter-top kitchen appliance. Note that I'm not counting the electric tea kettle because that's not a luxury item; my wife's tea consumption is such that if it broke we'd go buy a new one that very day. Here's the breakdown:
1. The rice cooker has a death lock on first place that can probably never be broken. Heck, I actually bought that myself.
2. The food processor is a strong second. I can make my own hummus. Enough said.
3. I never actually use the Cuisinart Mixer myself, but without it xhollydayx wouldn't make cupcakes or many of the other baked goodies she consistently turns out, which is enough to reach the medal stand.
4. The Griddler might fit in here, although we'll see if I'm still excited when the novelty wears off. If it does, it'll drop behind the blender in the power rankings.
5. The blender lets us make smoothies and is essential for some soup recipes, but we don't really use it all that much.
6. The toaster oven is very useful and we use it reasonably often, but it's not terribly exciting.
7. The waffle iron is too single dimensional to rate. I like waffles as much as the next guy, but we only make them twice a year or so.
DNF: We actually have tigerlily_blue's bread machine at our house right now, but we decided that we didn't like it so it's hiding in the basement. Maybe we'll try it out again.
I'm looking back at this list and I just realized that the only ones that we actually bought ourselves were the rice cooker and the blender. The mixer and the Griddler were both gifts from work, the food processor and the toaster were wedding gifts, and Mom randomly gave us a waffle iron because everybody should have a waffle iron.
I can't imagine what other kitchen appliances we might need, but I bet you can. What nifty gadget do you have on your kitchen counter that you can't live without?
**My apologies to all of you who just snorted your tea through your nose.
cynic51 received no compensation from Cuisinart for this review. But he's open to selling out; please contact him directly with buckets of cash or other swag :-)
There is a top and a bottom grill plate, each of which is reversible to a griddle plate. You can 'press' it top and bottom of the food, or you can lay it out flat to have double the cooking space. Heat control is simple and there's a nifty draining point where all the fat and greases drips to.
We broke it in with some very nice avocado grilled cheese sandwiches. These were a resounding success, so we followed it up with a recipe from the official Griddler cookbook, namely grilled green beans with feta. That was delicious. Then on Memorial Day the Griddler was featured in the meals for both sets of our guests. We made chicken sausage for brunch, which was much easier than making them in the pan and not as messy as using the microwave. Then that night we grilled some salmon steaks and smothered them with pesto, which was also a big win. Last weekend we grilled some chicken on it, which we served with couscous (mixed with tomatoes and Parmesan) and with garlic green beans.
Now that we've used it five times for five different kinds of food, I feel qualified to make the following statements:
- This is a lot easier than using a frying pan, especially for anything meat related that would drip fat.
- Running the grill plates through the dishwasher makes cleanup a lot easier, but you'll still have to scrub them a bit.
- It takes forever to cool off.
- It generates enough steam and odor that you should try to have it near the kitchen fan if feasible.
- It takes up a lot of counter space when being used, and it's heavy enough that it's a bit of a pain to move if you aren't chiseled muscle like myself**.
The verdict? I didn't really need it, and I certainly wouldn't have bought it, but it's a worthy addition to the kitchen. However, at best it can only be my fourth favorite counter-top kitchen appliance. Note that I'm not counting the electric tea kettle because that's not a luxury item; my wife's tea consumption is such that if it broke we'd go buy a new one that very day. Here's the breakdown:
1. The rice cooker has a death lock on first place that can probably never be broken. Heck, I actually bought that myself.
2. The food processor is a strong second. I can make my own hummus. Enough said.
3. I never actually use the Cuisinart Mixer myself, but without it xhollydayx wouldn't make cupcakes or many of the other baked goodies she consistently turns out, which is enough to reach the medal stand.
4. The Griddler might fit in here, although we'll see if I'm still excited when the novelty wears off. If it does, it'll drop behind the blender in the power rankings.
5. The blender lets us make smoothies and is essential for some soup recipes, but we don't really use it all that much.
6. The toaster oven is very useful and we use it reasonably often, but it's not terribly exciting.
7. The waffle iron is too single dimensional to rate. I like waffles as much as the next guy, but we only make them twice a year or so.
DNF: We actually have tigerlily_blue's bread machine at our house right now, but we decided that we didn't like it so it's hiding in the basement. Maybe we'll try it out again.
I'm looking back at this list and I just realized that the only ones that we actually bought ourselves were the rice cooker and the blender. The mixer and the Griddler were both gifts from work, the food processor and the toaster were wedding gifts, and Mom randomly gave us a waffle iron because everybody should have a waffle iron.
I can't imagine what other kitchen appliances we might need, but I bet you can. What nifty gadget do you have on your kitchen counter that you can't live without?
**My apologies to all of you who just snorted your tea through your nose.
cynic51 received no compensation from Cuisinart for this review. But he's open to selling out; please contact him directly with buckets of cash or other swag :-)