Breadman TR456 Panini Maker

by Breadman

Product Features

• 4-slice or 2-baguette capacity
• LED pre-heat and ready light
• Floating hinge system for even grilling
• Nonstick cooking surface to simplify clean-up
• Measures 3-1/4 by 14-1/2 by 13 inches

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 14.3 x 4.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00008PC7M
• Item model number: TR456
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,105 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining)
  • #40 in Kitchen & Dining > Small Appliances > Specialty Appliances > Sandwich Makers & Panini Presses

Product Description

With the Breadman countertop panini maker, you can create delicious café-style sandwiches whenever the spirit moves you. Best known for its line of bread machines, Breadman has designed the press with the aim of preserving bread's best qualities throughout the grilling process. The model features a floating hinge system that ensures even contact with the sandwich's surface; the resulting panini have crispy outsides and gently steamed ingredients in between. Suitable for single users or a group, the press accommodates up to two baguette or four sliced bread sandwiches at a time.

The press has several helpful structural details, like lights to indicate pre-heating or readiness and a cool-touch grip to protect your hands. Cord storage beneath and a locking handle make upright or flat storage easy, and the unit comes with nonskid feet to keep it stationary on the counter. Nonstick cooking plates simplify the clean-up portion of your meal, and the streamlined gray exterior blends in well with most kitchens. A handy asset for meals throughout the day, the panini maker measures 3-1/4 by 14-1/2 by 13 inches. --Emily Bedard

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best combo of price/functionality/durability in a panini maker., November 6, 2005

By 

John Nanas "Cheap Scientist Extraordinaire" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Breadman TR456 Panini Maker (Kitchen)

For starters, you'll read a lot of reviews here referring to how Amazon ships the unit. I'm not sure if that's how they did it back then (these reviews seem to be older) but mine arrived very well packed, with the original packaging surrounded by filler, surrounded by a cardboard box marked 'FRAGILE' outside. Everything was completely intact when I received it.

Now to the unit itself. I'm pretty handy in the kitchen, and I have one of just about every crazy gadget imagineable. I had two criteria in mind when I bought this - heavyweight (for durability and to retain heat better while cooking) and powerful (to get enough heat in the first place).

My first paninis were made out of steak (top loin sirloin, which I sliced very, very thinly) which I cooked on the grill itself. The grill did a fantastic job of cooking the meat, leaving attractive grill marks and cooking it very evenly. I took a loaf of bread that I'd sliced per the instruction manual, and got cracking. Five minutes later, well done, nicely thinned, evenly cooked steak and cheese panini.

My observations - very strong and even cooking. The unit does feels like its worth more than you've paid for it, which is always good. The heftiness of the machine and the swinging hinge helps you take uneven sandwiches and turn them into evenly flattened and cooked paninis. The cleanup afterwards wasn't bad at all - although I'm sure one person's complaint here that the buildup will be more difficult over time is likely true. The only way I can see getting around that would be to have removeable plates, but that kind of feature is only found in units that are significantly more expensive - in other words, if you want it, you'll have to pay for it (like a Cuisinart Griddler at 4x the price).

My advice - if you're getting started with paninis, this is probably your best bet. Likewise if you're cost conscious. You may have the impression that this is a cheapo unit, and you'd be better off by paying more to get a higher quality unit - but unless there's some feature that you need that this one doesn't have (like those removeable plates, or an adjustable thermostat), I'd pass on that thinking - this bad boy is about as durable and performant as you're going to find, regardless of the price tag.

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For gourmet toasted sandwiches - and more, December 30, 2003

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Breadman TR456 Panini Maker (Kitchen)

The Breadman panini maker is a welcome addition to my kitchen. Unlike most other counter grills, it has a hinged top that adjusts to the size of the bread so it doesn't force the fillings out on one side. The nonstick surface makes cleaning relatively easy, although you need to run a damp paper towel between the grooves if you use butter. Sandwiches are crispy brown in about four minutes after placing them on the preheated grill. The grilling surface measures ten inches by twelve, enough room for four regular size sandwiches or two to three large ones. I have not tried to grill anything but panini, but I see no reason why it could not be used for other indoor grilling recipes.

Be creative with your combinations. Try maple honey turkey, smoked gouda, and chipotle mayonnaise on an Italian roll. Grilled vegetables and Boursin on focaccia. Pepperoni, provolone, ham, turkey, and tomato on slices of Italian bread. Buy or make fresh wholegrain loaves and slice them thickly, and fill. You will be limited only by your imagination and your tastes. For best results, the bread needs to be thick. Butter or olive oil helps with even browning, although you don't need to use either if you are watching fat intake.

This panini maker is not perfect. As other reviewers have noted, the lights are hard to see, and the only way to turn it on or off is to unplug it. But this is a sturdy grill that does its job well. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to bring a little pizzazz to soup and sandwich night.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor user interface, October 18, 2003

By 

Carl Alexander (Cambridge, Mass.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Breadman TR456 Panini Maker (Kitchen)

The TR456 makes a nice sandwich, no question. But if you make anything even remotely messy, it will take as long to clean up as it did to cook: it's not immersible, and the cooking surfaces aren't removable, so you have to go at it with a soapy sponge, then rinse it with a series of damp paper towels until you're confident your next panini won't taste of burnt detergent. My mother had an immersable electric skillet over 40 years ago; why are they still selling items like this that aren't?

There are other usability issues. The handle, as you may be able to tell from the photo, wraps around both sides and the front of the top. But it's only plastic in front; along both sides it's metal, and gets scaldingly hot when in use. There is no power switch: you have to unplug it between uses. There are two indicator lights: red to indicate power is connected, and green to indicate the unit has reached its operating temperature. The thing is, the green light indicates that the operating temperature has been reached by turning off rather than, as I think most of us would expect, turning on. And both lights are in the middle of the top, which means they are nowhere in sight when you have the lid up.

Overall, the Breadman TR456 Panini Maker is usable but poorly designed.