Customer Reviews

Calphalon HE600CG Removable-Plate Nonstick Countertop Grill

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've had many indoor grills, this one outshines all of them! It is a large grill, with space enough for four burgers, sandwiches, chicken thighs or breasts, etc. It heats up fast with minimal, if any smoke. I love the timer option and control of the temperature. It is super easy to clean and the removable plates fit nicely in the dishwasher. The drip tray is huge and located where it should be, in the back, so when you open up your grill while cooking, the grease goes in it and not on your counter or under the grill. This is a bonus safety measure which I describe in detail later on in this review.

The cooking quality is excellent. One of the reviewers complained about how poorly his chicken and steak turned out. I do not understand that, he must have cooked at the wrong temperatures (too hot), because we've had perfect results every time. It doesn't taste like steamed anything, but like grilled food. And yes, it makes a mean panini sandwich!

This grill is well made with quality parts. The only part that is questionable is the adjustable height knob, which is plastic, and I could see this breaking down the road, since we use this grill daily. I called customer service about it, and they said should it break, they would send out a new part, no problem. Good to know.

This grill looks so good on the counter, that I leave it there. It does not look tacky like the other models out there, where I found myself wanting to hide them right after use.

There was a huge fire hazard defect on a no-name cusinart model that I bought from Walmart for $50, which occurred well after the warranty ended. That grill ended up in the trash can. What happened with it is the grease leaked underneath whenever I opened it while cooking, melting the plastic that housed the wires, leaving the wires exposed. Thankfully I caught this before anything bad happened. So, when I looked for my next grill, I specifically looked for one that addressed this issue (the grease leaking underneath whenever you open the grill while cooking). The Calphalon addresses this issue with the drip tray in the back. Other grill makers need to follow suit!

The price tag seemed high to me, but it does come with a much better warranty than other models, it is made from higher quality parts, and it looks like something one would see in a professional kitchen. My husband is a chef, and is extremely happy with this grill as well. I'm not one known to buy high-end appliances, but in this case I did and can honestly say that I have no regrets. I highly recommend this grill!



JULY 18th 2010: UPDATE

I just wanted to update and let everyone know that after daily use for well over a year, I can happily report my Calphalon indoor grill is still going strong!

Cleanup is still a breeze and the coating is still perfect. After you cook on it and the plates have cooled down, place the plates in the sink and spray a little water on them, let them soak for a few minutes. Then rinse. I have never had anything clean as easily as these plates!

I read that some people have problems with the front panel coming off or knobs breaking. I haven't had that happen. I'm wondering if there was a bad batch of these, and somehow I lucked out. I bought my grill from Amazon, if that helps. Everything still works like a charm and we put this grill through its paces!

Someone mentioned the top plate coming off while they were cooking. They must not have put it on correctly. If it doesn't snap in, it isn't on there right. Be careful with that.

My grill heats up in about 5 minutes. No problems there. I love the timer. 350 degrees seems to be a magic temperature for me. I cook almost everything at that setting. This is a wonderful grill. I'm very happy we splurged last year and bought it.

I received one of these for my birthday, approximately nine months ago. I specifically wanted this one because I have had positive experiences with their cookware.

This is one of the best you can buy in this price range. It has a generous size, and gets hot enough for many things. The plates are removable, a big plus. One reviewer correctly pointed out that this grill does not get hot enough to grill a steak satisfactorily -- which is quite true. I cooked chicken breasts, boneless pork chops, bratwurst and sandwiches and it worked great. It has a cheesy plastic slider locking mechanism to hold the top and bottom together that looks like it will break at some point. Otherwise, it has a very nice look and can be stored vertically.

Okay - here it is - the "but" as hinted in my title. After less than 16 uses the nonstick finish simply started coming off. I hand wash the plates with a sponge and was surprised to see this happening; it was simply sloughing off with little force.

I shipped back the defective plates (at my expense) to the manufacturer (I believe they have a 5 year warranty), and didn't hear anything from them for two months. I called and a very nice person told me that they were back ordered, but I would get mine in a week or so. That was 4 weeks ago. This will mean that I have waited for 3 months, and before that I had use of it for 5 months. Of course, I have to wonder if and when replacement plates arrive whether they will hold up any better, and will I have to wait 3 months or more again for replacement plates.

So....I am looking at other grills now.

But first, time for another call.

I recently purchased this item from Amazon.com. I have wanted one for months (I have tried many others that were junk). When it finally arrived it had scratches on the top and a small dent in the front chrome. The handle was ill fitting and it was obvious that it was ground down to fit the right side. The plastic underpart had small chunks broken out of it. All of this was done BEFORE ever being packed. Typical Chinese quality! That said: The temperature and timer markings are small and hard to read. The knobs are kludgy and hard to grasp. HOWSOMEVER! It cooks just near perfectly. I am truly amazed at the non-stick coating; all you need is a little warm water and a few swipes with a sponge and the grills are perfectly clean. I have never seen a product like it before. I think they said the coating is made by GE. Would I recommend it: A qualified -- YES but the price should be somewhat lower. At least it isn't obscene like that Cusinart junk is. That is another story. This grill replaces a Cusinart!!

I read the reviews after I bought the HE600CG. I was wondering what they were talking about. I could read the dials, it looks well made. It looks like it belongs in a restaurant rather than a kitchen. It has a better (than the Cusinart and Foreman) warranty , including 5 yrs on the non-stick coating. It cleaned up great and took no longer to heat up than the Foreman I replaced it with.
Then I realized that some of the reviewers wanted the carmelized meat they get on an outdoor grill. They prefer burnt carbon over fully cooked meat. Sure.. it looks different. It also looked different in my Foreman grill. But no red juices, so it is cooked. Of course, I did the math and figured out to cook it longer than the recommended time. I would start at 12 minutes at 450 degrees if you have a full thick breast.
I liked the timer. It actually shuts the unit off. It is better made than the Cusinart GR4. Side by side, you see the differences. I like being able to adjust the height of the top plate. The Cusinart GR4 has to cups that are easy to slide away or fall and leave a mess on the countertop. There are also drainage issues with the GR4, read the reviews on the GR4.
This is definitely the Rolls Royce of indoor grills. My panel has not fallen off, no dents and the no-stick surface cleaned with the wipe of a wet paper towel. Everything is as advertised.
I guess it is all about expectations. Some people want burnt(carmelized) meat. My chicken breast came out just fine. Pale, yes, but cooked and healthy.(Sorry...no burnt carbon). Moist,not dry,or spongy. I made the right choice for me. What you want, may be different.
BTW I still am trying to figure out what a panini is. LOL

With much anticipation and with lots of success with other Calphalon products, I purchased this table top grill to replace the ridiculous to clean George Foreman. It is a beauty of a machine and the removeable grill plates are truly the easiest thing in the world to clean. Non-stick on steriods. That is about where all the excitement ends. I tried to cook a couple of average size chicken breasts at the recommended time of 5-8 minutes after preheating for 10 mins. The machine left some great looking grillmarks but the rest of the meat was pale. I cut open a breast and it appeared to be cooked but tasted spongy. Mark's review is dead on with the "steamed taste" description. So I left them on for another 10 mins to no avail. They never tasted cooked. Had to finish them off in the oven. Back to the store with this contraption. Very dissappointing.

I bought this grill after reading the reviews of it on Amazon even though it was quite a bit more expensive than some others.

I have found that I can't use the higher settings for most food because the grill marks will burn the food so I just turn it down for most things. I like the way it cooks other than that but there is a learning curve which I think would be with any grill. It does take a long time to heat to the temperature but I really like being able to set the timer to turn it off or being able to set it where it stays on until I turn it off. The bottom grill is very deep and small pieces of vegetables will fall to the bottom and can be hard to get back up - now I know to keep my vegetables as large as possible. The grill is big and can cook several chicken breasts or hamburgers. Our favorite thing to cook on it is large shrimp, brushed with olive oil on a skewer cooked just until done. It handles this very well and for some reason doesn't burn - I guess because it is for such a short time.

I find the grill plates hard to clean even though they are made with a nonstick coating. I have to hand clean them as well as possible, then put them in the dishwasher and it does a fairly good job of cleaning but I expected the baked on stuff to just slide off but it has to be scrubbed (with a soft scrubber).

I think the method for attaching the plates to the grill is sort of awkward and once the top grill came off while cooking and I have pinched my fingers more than once attaching the plates.

The grill looks very pretty on my counter but it is very big so I usually store it in a big drawer. It will stand up but takes a very high shelf which I don't have. The black plastic decorative strip has fallen off in pieces but doesn't really look too bad - but since it has broken off, I do worry about all of the plastic parts especially the slider that holds the top up at different heights.

I really thought this product would be a much better quality than it is because of the brand and the price. It may still be much better than the other electric grills that are for sale but it is not something that I would recommend for anyone to buy. I would rather cook everything in a pan or a grill made for the cooktop rather than drag this out each time. A very disappointing purchase.

Wendy Rush brought up a valid point with the issue of plastic parts in high use or high stress places. My issue is with the plastic buttons used to release the cooking plates for cleaning. I have used this grill for only three months and the top release button has melted to the point where it oblstructs the movement of the release mechanism and the plate can no longer be removed for cleaning. I called Calphalon and they advised me that they don't have just the button. I will have to send the entire unit back. Last Calphalon device I will ever buy!

Used this item for the first time tonight, cooked a combo of eggplant/tofu. Nothing stuck, and cleanup was an absolute delight. I cannot understand why there are complaints of a long heating up period, mine was ready to cook in 5 min. Food was thoroughly done after 10 minutes.

I bought this grill so that I may be able to grill indoors. Of course I was not expecting anything like an outdoor gas grill (and especially not a charcoal grill). I previously had an old George Foreman grill that was so ridiculously difficult to clean that I refused to bother with it and gave it away. This one, I must admit, is remarkably easy to clean. It's so easy to clean that I feel guilty when I put the removable trays in the dishwasher. HOWEVER, the cooking quality leaves much to be desired. I have tried cooking steaks and boneless chicken breasts with it. When I opened up the grill after the recommended time and temperature, I completely lost my appetite. It makes beautiful grill marks where it comes in contact, but the rest of the meat is pale and incredibly unappealing, even though obviously cooked through. I cooked both the steaks and the chicken breasts more than recommended, and it made the grill marks more charred, but the rest of it was still unappealing. I was hoping the steak would have a nice crispy outer char, with a juicy inside. It was certainly not at all dried out, but it tasted as what I would imagine a "steamed" steak to taste -- with pretty char lines though. I think you get my point... The chicken breasts were even less appealing. I had marinated them in Stubbs, and planned on serving them as is. They were so disgusting in appearance that I had to brush them lightly with BBQ sauce just to give them some semi-appealing color. Again, like the steak, they did not have that crispy outer layer and juicy inner - they also tasted as if they were steamed (or "nuked"), but with pretty char lines. I'm going back to a cast iron grill pan (with ridges) that I put over my stove burner, and later have to soak to clean, as well as have to clean a really horrible mess on the stovetop. That is what I would recommend for anyone who would be interested in using this thing for meat - I personally don't think I'll ever dare chance destroying meat on it again. The one culinary saving grace that I have discovered is that it does do an EXCELLENT job on Panini. In my opinion, I think that is the only thing this would be good for, and it is far too expensive a contraption to be used only for Panini.

We had this for 3 weeks, used it twice and already some of the asthetic plastic pieces have started to fall off. Around the middle of it is a small plastic bead that covers up the edges of the plate and the whole thing had peeled off. The plate itself works well, but unfortunately this Calphalon product has not passed QA. It seems that their overall quality has diminished somewhat over the past few years. Good thing is it can go straight back to Amazon and I can try something different.