George Foreman GR26CB Family Size Plus Grill with Cookbook, White
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Our Price: $79.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of George Foreman GR26CB Family Size Plus Grill with Cookbook, White
Customer Review: Received this as a wedding present - very useful!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the rave reviews on [Amazon.com] and registered for this (on [Amazon.com]) and received the Family size grill with small cookbook as a wedding present. It's taken me awhile to get the hang of this product but now I love it. Cleanup took a bit of figuring out for me. I now use only damp paper towels (no scrapers or sponge) to just wipe after use. If I don't end up cleaning it until the next day I just heat it up again with a few wet paper towels in it and then wipe clean. This makes it so easy because you don't have to clean up a sponge or scraper afterwards.
I brush on a bit of olive oil onto the grill (very lightly) before grilling any foods. That seems to help make it taste better and also clean very easily.
This family size fit 4 very big salmon filets easily. (Marinated with Yoshida Gourmet Sauce - yum!) I also grilled two very big chicken breasts last night for a chicken quesadilla recipe. It was so nice not to have to drag out a pan and spatula and stand watching over the chicken. All I did was sprinkle McCormick's Grill Mates Roasted Garlic Montreal Chicken spice over the chicken breasts and slap it in there. Very quick and simple and tasted great.
I also grilled sliced sweet potatoes this morning. Turned out great. Again, no fussing with a pan and oil splattering. There was a bit of smoke though so make sure you have ventilation in your kitchen.
One last thing I wanted to mention... I've only had this item for a month now so I'm not qualified to give feedback on the durability of the teflon yet. Right now it is going strong and I can't imagine it peeling ever but because of the other reviews mentioning the problem I use only chopsticks or some other wooden utensils when removing food. But I'm very good at holding heavy pieces with chopsticks so I don't know if that solution would work for everyone. Chopsticks do make really good cooking utensils though because they are small and easy to clean and don't scratch the nonstick surface.
The other thing I do is not to apply wet paper towels on the grill until it has cooled down a bit (from hot to warm) because I think cooling the grill too fast can be tough on the nonstick surface... maybe make it crack.
BTW, my husband doesn't rave about this product, it's just a good product to him but he wouldn't run out to buy one if he didn't have it he says. But I would. Also, this family size is good for cooking meat for 2-4 people. However, I recommend getting as big a size as you can stand because vegetables take up more space per serving so if you like grilling onions or other vegies, the bigger the surface area the better. It's just the right size for my husband and me with a bit of room to spare in case we have a guest or two over. Thanks everyone for the helpful reviews that led me to this product!
Customer Review: overall excellent product
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had this grill for a while and it is very helpful in the kitchen. There are smaller versions, altho this is the smallest one I personally would want to consider for my size family (3).There are many plusses to this grill, including quicker cooking (watch your timing until your used to it, it cooks quicker than the stove top). I have found it excellent for all but *thin* cuts of chicken, beef and fish. When the meats are on the thin side the contact between the food and the upper and lower grill plates isnt as good. For thinner things i want to cook, i will turn over the meat but it is best for things that provide contact to both sides.
It is excellent on veggies also. I have grilled (marinated and unmarinated) brussel sprouts cut in half, asparagus, onions, eggplant. Everything but long cooking veggies like carrots, potatos...etc. I havent been successful cooking meats and veggies at the same time but that is minor.
It is excellent on boneless chicken breasts, boneless cuts of beef (london broil, flank steak..especially good for skirt steak marinated in an asian or fajita sauce.) also on small pork tenderloins. It works well with fish like salmon but not with flatter fish like talapia, sole or flounder as they dont contact both grill plates all that well. It works very well on shrimp, especially when marinated and skewered. If you grill the shrimp unskewered its a bit of a pain to get off the grill. Scallops work well also but it does cook very fast so its a bit easy to overcook shellfish.
Cleaning is a bit tricky. There is a cleaning *tool* that comes with it but i have found it easier to unplug the unit after cooking and lining the whole surface with several layers of wet paper towels. Than i let it sit while i am eating... Cleanup is easier as the build up on the grill softens. This is especially tru of marinades with sugar as they carmelize or burn on the grill. I would have given it a *5* if the grill plates were removable and washable. That would make it perfect.
The drip tray does have to be postitoned *just right* for cooking and cleaning or it is a very big mess. The fat that collects in the drip tray is quite impressive and you will feel better that you are not eating it.
Customer Review: How did I live so long without it?
Summary: 5 Stars
All the media hype and ads made me avoid this product until I had a chance to use one. My son has a small one in his home and I tried it out on burgers and chicken. I was impressed.
I wanted one.....I just needed a bigger model.
These grills heat top and bottom so they cook fast and evenly. Their quick heat and efficient design sear the meat, sealing in the juices, while channeling the excess fat away. The hinge of the lid is a special design that allows the distance between the upper and lower cooking surfaces to expand: thin or thick cuts of meat cook evenly. The cooking surface is slanted toward the front and there are raised lips on the sides of the top and bottom to channel the draining fat into one of two handy catch basins provided with the grill. The non stick coating on the cooking surface is so slick there are little fins in front to keep the meat from sliding off the grill. This slick coating makes cleaning up a two paper towel affair.
There is no adjustable heat control.....just a little light that turns off and on to show the grill is maintaining temperature. Simplicity itself! You will get to know when your meal is done after just a few uses.
Entertaining on a budget? This family sized model can cook four or five 1/3lb. beef patties at once. Hungry for a good steak...slap a 5 pound top Sirloin or New york on your grill. Six to eight pork loin chops or eight chicken thighs will be done to perfection in 1/3 the time it takes to BBQ. A truly family sized meal.
Your burgers, pork chops, steaks and chicken are juicy and perfectly done. For those of you who love chorizo and eggs for breakfast, this grill cooks chorizo without the mess of mopping up the fat or draining it away into a bowl. Automatic! Perfect!
My only complaint is that the provided catch bowls are not deep enough for more than 4 burgers: so they have to be drained periodically for a big meal. Their shallow design makes it a job for a very steady hand. CAREFUL!
A MUST have for any modern kitchen. If you have a very small cooking area or no stove top, then this is the perfect choice for you. I am going to buy more to give as gifts to my friends and family.
Customer Review: Lean, Mean, and Simple to Use
Summary: 4 Stars
This family- sized grill makes a nice alternative for cooking hamburgers, steaks, chicken, pork chops, other meats, and even vegetables. Promoted by former boxing champ George Foreman, this grill can cook up to five hamburgers (or several pieces of other food items) on its non- stick surface.
Fat drains away from foods and is collected in a small tray that is placed at the front of the grill. The way the food is cooked (top and bottom at once) tends to make it more juicy and flavorful- not quite as good as cooking on a charcoal grill, but better than most other preparation methods. You need to be careful with the drip trays, however, because they are not very big and it's common to overflow the trays if a large amount of food is cooked at once, like several hamburgers.
Cleanup is simple with this grill provided you start the process as soon as possible (once it has cooled) after you finishing cooking. If you start cleaning fast enough, the cleanup is a breeze. You can wipe it off with a sponge or paper towel. But if the food has had a chance to dry, it will take a little more elbow grease to break loose. The fact that the surface is non- stick isn't true in the literal sense. The food will still stick if the dirty grill is left sitting for a long period of time.
This grill, like other George Foreman Grills, is a simple device. There are no heat settings or other means to adjust the cooking. You plug it in, wait for the orange light to go off (indicating the unit is warmed up), place food in the grill, close the lid, and wait about five to ten minutes for it to finish. The easy operation makes it very practical, but it also makes it less appealing for more those with more advanced culinary skills. Those who enjoy cooking will consider this device too elementary and lacking in sophistication to take seriously.
This George Foreman model has a few minor annoyances, but I still like it and will continue to use it for the foreseeable future. It makes better tasting food than what you get from skillet preparation and the ease of use makes it second to none for grilling burgers and other meats.
Customer Review: Food as GOOD as any RESTAURANT!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I wish I could give the George Foreman grill 50 stars....... I originally got this as a gift from my mother. I'm an entertainer and am on the road a lot, but she knew that when I was here I cooked for myself, my grown foster son and his two kids.What a great gift! This is one product that EXCEEDS the promises made by its advertising. There are a couple of reasons why you should order this grill immediately...and realize this is coming from someone who is NOT a professional cook (in fact, I'm a professional ventriloquist...and I'm not kidding...check my reviewer's profile):
1)COOKING EASE: All you do is lift up the top, plop the food on it, and the cooking is underway.
2)EVEN COOKING: The top and bottom of this grill are heated so it cooks evenly.
3)RAPID COOKING: Anything you cook on it will cook a lot faster since you have the upper and bottom grills cooking it. Your cooking time in some instances is half what it would be on another device.
4)LOW FAT: George Foreman was not exaggerating. YOu can see the fat, excess marinade, etc. drain out.
5)FOOD QUALITY: Everything tastes better on the grill.
I've used this grill to cook grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, veggieburgers, steaks, etc. Chicken comes out sublime. You can slit a hotdog or sausage in half and it grills beautifully. So do vegetables.
I also now like two things I never liked before due to the grill. On the advice of a local health food store, I cooked fish marinated in a fresh Italian dressing on it. I don't like fish..and this was GREAT! I also marinated boneless pork chops (also not my favorite) in Italian dressing and used it on the grill. In both instances the grill cooked the fish/meat evenly, quickly, and excess marinate was grilled off so I had truly juicy, quickly made, absolutely delicious food.
This is the BEST investment you can make for a modern-day kitchen. It's so easy you can teach older kids (fifth, sixth grade) to cook on it. Again, this is even better than it's advertising says it is. A MUST to own and great to gift (I can attest to both of these claims!).