Kevin's Watch

The discussion about grilled/toasted cheese sandwiches in the "what are you eating RIGHT NOW?" thread made me think of it.

Someone recently recommended to me that I get a George Foreman grill. As a long-time apartment dweller, I am always leery of buying stand-alone countertop appliances, due to the clutter-to-utility ratio. Plus, these things often duplicate what you can already do on the stove or in the oven (cupcake baker, anyone? ).

So. Anybody have one? How often do you use it? Do you just grill hamburgers or do you make other things, too? Can you use the stovetop or oven to do the same things? And what are the philosophical and moral implications of buying an appliance named for a guy who named all of his sons after himself?

I have a small one for years and it does a good job. I use it occasionally for single burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and small steaks. It is the original model, just plug in, wait three minutes and use. A bun warmer is attached, basically a clear plastic cover that can snap over a small bun on the top of the unit. I never use that though. It's easier to microwave a bun for 15 seconds to warm it up. Don't lose the drip pan that's shaped to catch the drippings. When not in use, I keep it in the bottom carousel along with the chopper and blender.

I inherited mine from my mother, who passed seven years ago this month. As a dedicated master of charcoal, I was initially skeptical of it -- but we do "let George do it" frequently.

Although I was the one who suggested it in the grilled cheese thread, I do not use it for that. Where it shines is in quickly cooking boneless meats of all sorts: steaks & chops, chicken, non-delicate fish. It also does well with veggies like asparagus or halved zucchini.

Cleanup is simple; as soon as the food comes off, wipe with a well-folded paper towel, then use the same towel to wipe most of the drippings out of the drip tray before putting the tray in the dishwasher or lining it up for handwash. When George cools, he has a spot on a lower pantry shelf.

Finally, no, I have no problem with the appliance being named after Foreman and all his sons. From my perspective, it is a perfectly good name.

I have an inherited one as well. (Does no one buy them, they just get handed down?)

Made burgers on it once. They were good burgers. Clean up was a pain. And you need to find some sort of plate or tray for the grease to drip into.

Probably nice for grilling sandwiches, which is the latest fad.

I have one. I don't make chicken or burgers with it because imo they come out dry. BUT I use it to make panini's. It works pretty good but the cheese sometimes drips out because the Foreman is on a tilt.

I have the one sided round indoor/outdoor GF grill with dome cover. The round bottom lifts off of the pedestal and has molded feet on the bottom for counter top use.



I have used it for just about everything that can be done on a bar-be-cue. Clean up is a snap: simply wet paper towels, lay it on the hot grill, cover, and then turn the grill off. Allow the grill to cool with the damp paper towels on it, then remove and use a clean damp paper towel to wipe clean. You have to do it immediately, though. Allowing it to cool first without the paper towels on it causes foods to stick on, even though the surface is supposedly non-stick.

We got Beorn a small one for his dorm room, and am using that as well now that he is back home. Very handy appliance, IMO.

Hardly ever use one these days but they do do nice sausages. And burgers. (We just have the original small one.)

lorin wrote:BUT I use it to make panini's. It works pretty good but the cheese sometimes drips out because the Foreman is on a tilt.

Yes, that does strike me as the most interesting use. It cooks from the top and the bottom at the same time, and it has ridged cooking surfaces which produces those parallel lines of grilliness. I imagine that would make a very tasty tuna melt on texas toast.

The problem is, the clean-up labor makes it unsensible for making just one cheesy sandwich. If you needed to make a dozen, it makes more sense.

Possibly that's the biggest argument against having one. You use it to make one sandwich or burger, then it's gotta be scrubbed. Won't go in a dishwasher, it has elements on top and bottom. Maybe if they have one where you can slide out the cooking surface and throw in the dishwasher.

Again, the key to easy cleanup is to deal with it right away. It takes me perhaps 30 seconds and two dry paper towels to clean my large Foreman immediately after use.

I am tempted to try Menolly's method of closing the freshly empty grill on moist paper towels, letting it cool that way, then wiping it later. Seems like it would use more paper than my method...and I am better about doing cleaning right away than coming back to it. We'll see...

So what I'm hearing is a lot of "meh"s and one enthusiastic response from Menolly.

For me, the inability to throw the grates in the dishwasher is a big negative. One of the small models (it's the one at my link above) comes with a specially-grooved sponge that's supposed to help with the cleanup. I wonder how long the sponge would last...

The person I talked to suggested making grilled veggies in the Foreman, which I'm sure would be great, and which wouldn't have nearly the cleanup issues of, say, melted cheese. But I don't know how often I would do it.

aliantha wrote:So what I'm hearing is a lot of "meh"s and one enthusiastic response from Menolly.

What am I, Brendan Sullivan?

Oh fine, then -- *two* enthusiastic responses.

Thank you. Contrary to rumor, I am not one of her alts.

thought a DC type like you would comment on the Brendan Sullivan reference...

aliantha wrote:For me, the inability to throw the grates in the dishwasher is a big negative.

George Foreman Next Grilleration with 5 removable plates

the plates are also dishwasher safe...

I don't have a GF grill but I do have this one:

www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ser ... ci_gpa=pla

I love it. It's been a savior during huge holiday meals with tons of attendees. For three years running we grilled salmon on it during Turkey day because of some of our pescatarian friends. With this one, everything but the heat unit can go in the dishwasher and that unplugs conveniently from the side of the base.

I even have fond memories associated with cooking on that grill. Once when Julie was feeling very blue and it was raining hard outside I decided to cheer her up with a fancy dinner so I made an appetizer of thin sliced oil brushed ciabatta bread, toasted with diamond marks on the grill and lightly grilled baby asparagus and I put soft italian farm cheese on the bread and then put the asparagus on top and brushed it with white truffle oil put it back on the grill long enough for the cheese to get a bit melty, served that and then grilled her sea bass topped with a mango salsa, sides of garlic mashed red potatoes, skins in and more grilled baby asparagus. She told me I was a culinary genius that night...

Yeah, but you guys, those are a hundred bucks each. And I'm cheap.

Also, I don't have a problem with cooking meat in the microwave. Doesn't bother me that chicken breasts don't brown. In fact, now when I see a browned chicken breast, I tend to wonder why somebody burned it....

just want to point out it is rare that you find Texas toast in this part of Texas.

Savor Dam wrote:I am tempted to try Menolly's method of closing the freshly empty grill on moist paper towels, letting it cool that way, then wiping it later. Seems like it would use more paper than my method...and I am better about doing cleaning right away than coming back to it. We'll see...

Have been using this method on occasion for the last year (anybody wonder why? You are not paying attention!), and it does work, but not quite as well as the immediate wipe with a dry paper towel. What works best is a hybrid method: immediate dry wipe to get most of the schmutz, followed by closing a moist paper towel in the hot grill, letting it cool that way, then, using that towel to finish wiping the cold grill before storing or reusing.