BrevillePanini Grill, Silver, 7 Settings, Non Stick, 1500W

Hot, solid, reliable, easy to clean and to stow. Highly recommended.Pro:- High but tunable heat sears food quickly, perfectly, and invitingly.- Surfaces cook evenly, top and bottom. Neither cool spots nor cheap restraining clips as with the Griddler.- High quality nonstick surface. Far better than most on market, and makes a big difference in cooking.- Adjust height and hinge to fine-tune pressure on the food. I often heat frozen chicken wings with top angled for even pressure.- Move slider the other way to lock the halves together for storage.- Adjust angle to guide juices and cleaning liquids into capacious pan in front. Griddler uses tiny channels into small catcher and pan hidden beneath unit.- Easily cleaned: nylon brush with soapy followed by clear water while griddle cools. Empty and clean the drip pan and you're done.- High sides limit spills and splatters.- Plug has hole that invites you to unplug it, removing the highly unsafe temptation to yank the cord.- Simple engineering, solid construction, superior materials.Con:- Pricier, but soooo worth the extra money. Some great deals for refurbished models.- Older versions of this model lack on/off switch.- Single temp control for both surfaces, but I've yet to find a good reason to vary them.- Both surfaces are ridged, so pancakes will look a bit...unusual.Why not some other brand?- Though most Cuisinart products are excellent, their griddles are cheap, cheap, cheap, and don't cook very well. Removable surfaces sound good, but they heat poorly, unevenly, and the hardware holding them in place falls out within a few weeks of use. Dishwashers kill their already poor nonstick surfaces.- Besides all the other advantages I noted above, I was most interested in a unit that could get to higher temperature for cooking meats, and the data and reviews brought me to Breville. They were right; this is a great girdler!

I bought this grill to replace a smaller Breville model I bought quite a few years ago. I used that earlier one until the non-stick coating wore out. The specific model had been discontinued and I got this one even though it's somewhat larger than the old one.This grill has bars top and bottom, the heating plates open up wider, and there's the ability to crank up the temperature for other uses besides sandwich grilling. (I haven't tried the other uses yet.)It takes a while to come up to grilling temperature, but the wait is well worth it. Everything I grill gets super bars and are all evenly heated throughout. Many breads get a gorgeous thin layer of crunch on the outside but with softer toastiness inside. Perfection!It's very easy to clean up and a handy tool is provided for gently persuading any stuck-on bits. It's rare that I need it though. I usually just use a mildly soapy dishcloth for a few wipes.

I just ordered it but still have the original one with no on/off button and no temperature control. Sounds like the original was better. Since you have to plug it in to use it there is no big reason for an on/off switch. As for temperature control I doubt I will use that either since I have never had a problem without one. I own about four of these type grills and this is my favorite of all. I assume the temperature on the original unit is the same as high on this one and I never saw the need to lower the heat. The 2 nicest feature are the simple height control so you can cook a normal or fat bun sandwhich and the solid plates. The removable plate ones I have do not heat as evenly and if you take the plate off you can see why. The plates are thin and the electric coil only is under a very small area of the plate. If the plates were heavier and made of a good conductor they would distribute heat evenly. I assume the coils are built in to the heavy plates on this unit because it heats very evenly. Of the four panini style (some call them grills but how can it be a grill with a solid surface, a griddle maybe) cookers I have, this is the one I grab, even if I have to go to all the trouble of plugging it in for on and out for off. The new one will hopefully turn on and I will never use the switch again. The original has had five years of weekly use and been run over once but still works great.

Paninis, grilled cheese, quesadillas

An everyday essential. Again, item was delivered after barely a week or so. Been using it for a little more than 3 months and was surprised how easy it was to clean and manage. It's incredibly versatile, as you can make toasts, paninis, grilled veggies, meat and fish on it. What's also awesome about it is that you need zero oil to cook your goodies, so everything comes out grease-free. Works perfectly until now.My only issue with it is, since my kitchen isn't huge, that it takes up lots of space.