With so many contact grills on the market, how do you choose one that will suit your needs? This article covers the pros and cons of the Cuisinart 4 in 1 Griddler, a very popular grill that receives good reviews.
By the way, I do use this grill myself.
Features of the Cuisinart 4 in 1 Griddler
The Cuisinart Griddler can function as a closed or open grill, using the ribbed grill plates or the flat griddle plates.
The Griddler is designed for:
grilling meat, poultry or fish (recommended only for boneless cuts of meat). grilling plain or panini sandwiches and wraps (either the flat tortilla or the filled wrap). when opened out flat - cooking sausages, pancakes, French toast or open-face sandwiches, eggs, bacon, etc. roast fresh vegetables on the open grill plates. anything else you can invent!
The Griddler is equipped with:
grill plates and griddle plates, with not-stick coating, dishwasher safe. two plastic cups for catching fat that drains during cooking. toothed scraper to clean debris from the grill plates. floating hinge that adjusts automatically for everything from thin burgers to thick panini sandwiches. three control knobs, one for on-off, two for heat settings by degrees or by low-high. sturdy stainless steel construction. three year warranty.
Why Choose the Cuisinart 4 in 1 Griddler?
After a lot of research I settled on the Griddler because:
it was more versatile and suitable for our needs than the other grills I looked at. user ratings were consistently high. we have been happy with Cuisinart appliances (they had a replacement bowl for our 30-year-old food processor and gave it to us free). the price was very reasonable and the value good.
Working with the Cuisinart 4 in 1 Griddler
Overall, we have been happy with the Griddler. We use it mostly for cooking meats and grilling sandwiches & wraps, where it does a very good job. Meats do cook quickly and are more tender than when done in a pan or oven.
The Griddler is by far the best way to grill sandwiches and wraps. Wraps stay closed and they get warmed all the way through. Sandwiches brown evenly, get nice and crispy, but the fillings don't get overdone.
The space where our Griddler sits is too small for opening it flat, so we haven't done that. I would say something like French toast would work very well on the flat; maybe pancakes, too. You could do sausages or bacon, but it will be messy with all that fat.
The Griddler and Cleanup
When I'm done with the Griddle I let the plates cool and then put them to soak, because we don't use a dishwasher. By the time we've finished eating they are easy to wash up.
The Griddler housing should be wiped after each use so you don't end up with a residue of oil building up over time.
The non-stick coating on the Griddler plates is not very effective in my experience. But I've never come across any such coatings that are effective. So I just use a light brushing of oil on meats, or directly on the hot griddle plates (using a silicone pastry brush), to solve that problem. I find it makes a better job of meat anyway, when it's seared in a bit of oil. This method adds very little oil to the food.
Cuisinart 4 in 1 Griddler - What's Good, What's So-So
Snapping the Griddle plates off for cleaning is a breeze, and opening the Griddle to use it flat requires the push of one button.
We find our Griddler to be very well-built. After several years of use everything is still tight and the controls still work fine.
The one nuisance with the Griddler is the drip cups that don't stay put very well, so you can get fat dripping on the counter. For us it's a minor problem because we don't cook much that has any amount of fat to drain.
If you're cooking something with a lot of fat (like full-fat sausages, or chicken with the skin and fat on) it does get a bit messy. You can't avoid some spitting because of the heat, and fat has a way of spreading itself. There will be a bit more cleanup needed.
We found Cuisinart service excellent. There was a problem with one set of plates, so I called and they replaced them immediately. I did have to send the defective plates back, but that's to be expected.
The three year warranty coverage is a real advantage. We have had many small appliances (not Cuisinart) fail after the first year, so I now look for two or more years coverage on everything we buy.
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