Customer Reviews

Chefscape PRGR1000 Grill, VersaGrill

5 star:		(5)
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I purchased this grill just over a week ago and I think I have made a very smart purchase. I bought the Chefscape Versagrill for $69.99 at a local discounter, Tuesday Morning. It is solidly built and comes with two grease cups and a cup to attach to the grill to warm sauces, butter, syrup, etc., as well as a tool to facilitate cleanup of the grill plate ridges. The Versagrill's short cord (3-prong) stores in the base of the unit. The heating element is imbedded in each of the two cooking plates. There is a 99 minute timer on the unit. I particularly like that the Versagrill's cooking plates are reversible, including a smooth griddle side for cooking pancakes, grilled sandwiches, veggies, meats, fish and the other side is ribbed and gives meat, shrimp, paninis and other foods beautiful grill marks. You can easily change the surfaces to have grill marks on top and smooth surface on the bottom, vice-versa, grill marks on both sides or both sides smooth. What sold me on this machine were the facts that the unit opens up to a full 180 degrees to give you a 12" x 20" surface to cook on and the range of temperatures from "Warm" which is 175 degrees to "Sear" which is 475 degrees. The Versagrill will beep three times to let you know when it has heated to the temperature you have selected. I cooked a New York strip steak in 2 minutes at 325 degrees (Medium) to medium-rare by closing the top down, thus cooking two sides at once. Shrimp takes a minute or less. Tip: make sure ingredients and proteins are dry by patting with a paper towel before seasoning, to get great browning. The hinge design allows you to "float" the top over delicate items. You can even use the unit to keep a pot of something warm, as on a buffet, by opening the unit up 180 degrees and placing the heat-safe pot on top of it. I've already used the unit 3 times and can see that this will get a lot of use in my house. It is simple to operate and easy to clean---the cooking plates can be removed and dunked in hot soapy water to clean. The non-stick surface seems heavy duty and the Versagrill comes with a 3 year warranty. I will be giving my Cuisinart panini grill away.

I consider this grill one of the best in the market place, after using Chefscape for about month. At my time of purchase their were only two reviews which convinced me to purchase. Nothing mention about wattage, which is 1500 watt. It does have a short power cord of 36 inches. With the lift out cooking grills, its makes for easy cleaning and choice of smooth or grill marks. Would I purchase this unit again, YES, Absolutely.........


H G Lutz - Missouri

I love this grill!! I have been using it at work for lunches. It is very easy to clean. I have cooked hamburgers, chicken breasts, eggs, and sandwiches. I would recommend it to anyone.

First i just want to say that the above reviews are pretty darn accurate in describing this machine. They were what convinced me into purchasing one.

On my first impression the grill looked and felt of high quality, everything was made from high quality materials and you can tell that Chefscape paid great attention to detail. I'd advise who ever is reading this to download the user manual and check that out as well since it's packed with information.

I've owned the grill for a few days now, and it's lived up to my expectations which were very high to begin with. The removable plates makes clean up hassle free, and their very easy pop in and out. The drip cups attach nicely to the pins at the base so they don't move around, and work wonderfully when the grill is fully open. The grill scraper tool is actually pretty useful and has the right size scraper tips to reach every corner of the grill plates. The condiment warmer also works pretty good. I found that since the condiment warmer is made of the same material as the grill plates you can also just place it in the grill to warm things up faster. I also like the fact that this grill uses button's instead of dials, because buttons are much easier to clean. The grill does suck up a decent amount of power tough, with the grill on and two other appliances in the kitchen turned on it popped our fuse off. So it's probably advised to turn all other appliances off if your grilling at the higher temp settings.

As far as cooking things go, i haven't touched my stove since i bought this grill. It can take about 10 or so minutes to reach up to searing temp... but you can just do your food prep while you wait for it to heat up. So far I have only compliments about my experience with cooking on it. Chicken seared up nicely, cooked through quickly, about 7 minutes for two chicken thighs, they were nicely colored, and they were juicy and delicious. The chicken also released a lot of fat which did drip into the cups. Frozen sweet potato fries cooked very quickly with the grill closed and were deliciously crispy. I also tried broccoli and baby carrots which did cook pretty well but it required some sprinkles of water to get them started. I was able to fit about 4-6 5inch pancakes on the griddle, which came out great, it worked a hell of a lot better then my slightly warped skillet and uneven stove top, and sunny side up eggs have never been easier. Even toasting bread like i used to on the stove top was drastically improved, even toasting throughout and took under a minute! The best part about all of this was that i used NO OIL, except for maybe my toast, but that was for flavor. Not a Drop. Nothing stuck to the plates, not even the egg or pancakes, when they say non stick they mean non stick, im serious these plates are SLICK.

There's only one grill better then this one on the market right now but it's over double the price. I'd definitely recommend this grill to anyone, it's gotten me excited to cook again because everything has been made easier, faster, and healthier.

Electric Grill & Panini Press The grill shown in this Amazon ad is being offered by a Canadian Merchant Golda's Kitchen. This is a Chefscape grill and is priced at $140.00. I have contacted this merchant to get a U.S.A. pricing. They would not quote such a price as they said it would depend upon how your credit card would handle the transaction since they charge for foreign transactions. Additionally, they did not state if the price shown was in US or Canadian funds. This most probably would also affect the shipping charges. This Chefscape grill is from Focus Electrics and the US model no. is 39941 Versa Grill. It is also available from Frontgate.com for $179.00 plus ship. I have rec'd my grill from Focus Electric but have not used it yet. It appears to be very sturdy and heavy and of high quality. The nice thing about this grill is that it has Five temp settings, including sear, and the grill plates are reverseable and removable for cleaning and washing.