Cuisinart Panini Press, Stainless Steel Griddler, Sandwich Maker & More, 5-IN-1, GR-4NP1

Cooks food evenly and thoroughly. Easy use and easier clean up. It doesn’t take up much space and the shiny chrome adds to the kitchen. This is a great product and have recommend it already to my friends.

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

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.

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.

Fair warning: I've had my Griddler for a grand total of one week so far, so while I can sing praises of its longevity, it's been alive about as long as a state fair goldfish so I can't truthfully speak to ruggedness or sturdiness or any of that. But I have used the heck out of it in that week, enough to know that I really like it and that there is one thing I wish Cuisinart would change or add to make it perfect.I bought the Griddler to fill a few voids in my cooking life, and one in my heart. It's been pretty awful as a life companion, but as a kitchen gadget, it's superb. I had tossed out my old stovetop griddle some months back because its nonstick coating was flaking off and I don't like teflon in my pancakes. I also wanted a sandwich press because I do love my Cuban sandwiches, and I also wanted a contact grill because I foolishly bought the biggest outdoor grill I could afford. I don't always feel like it's necessary to affect the local climate every time I turn it on just to cook a hot dog. Yes, one hot dog. I said foolishly, okay? Anyway, I've done all that on the Griddler so far and I'm genuinely impressed. Mostly.The good: as a sandwich press (or a panini press, if you're fancy), it's excellent. It's much better than a Foreman grill, mostly because the pivoting top plate lets it sit flat on whatever you have in there, no matter how thick. Similarly, it does very well as a contact grill. The lower settings don't get as hot as I would have thought, but the sear setting is HOT. It will make that steak sorry it came home with you. It's crazy-easy to clean. You can toss the plates into the dishwasher if you like, but so far, I haven't even had to scrub them to get them clean again. Eggs and burned cheese slide right off, as do sausage drippings. It cools off relatively quickly when you turn it off, so it doesn't have to sit filthy on your counter for an hour while you're waiting to be able to touch it. So that's all a whole lot of pluses, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one of these if some misfortune happened to befall the one I have. It's been pretty indispensable since I've gotten it.Except.You know, when a product is named something like Griddler, you might reasonably expect to be able to use it as a griddle pretty readily. And if you're griddling sausage or bacon or, really, anything else that's solid, you can. It's wonderful for that, and I really do enjoy being able to cook so much sausage or bacon at one time, which I could never do on a stovetop griddle. It's just when you want to griddle something liquid that things take a turn for the embarrassing.So say you'd like to make some pancakes one morning, or some eggs like you see all over the promotional pictures. Not an unreasonable request, I don't think. Both sides of the Griddler are tilted to encourage fat runoff. You can imagine what this means for eggs. Yes, your eggs will run right off the griddle and land, uncooked, in the grease tray. Pancakes fare slightly better, but they'll run downhill until they hit the raised lip of the plate, and you wind up with some teardrop-shaped pancakes that would get you fired from IHOP.It's a problem easily enough remedied by either moving the Griddler to the edge of the counter so the handle hangs off the side far enough that the top plate lies flat, or wedging something about 1'4" thick under the back feet if you want both sides flat, but it seems odd that I should have to do this so I can cook foods the product's box tells me I can cook. This isn't a dealbreaker, all it cost was a single star, it's just an annoyance. I am wondering what that slight tilt will mean for my waffles when I get the waffle plates, though.Anyway, if you're waffling (yeah, I said it) on whether or not to buy this, get it. Just make sure you have a kitchen towel or something to stuff under the back feet if you want pancakes.