Customer Reviews

George Foreman GR36CB Jumbo Size Plus Grill with Cookbook

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you have a family of four (or less if they're big eaters!) this is the grill for you. So far, I've cooked chicken, hamburger, and steaks on it, all in less than 10 minutes. Although it comes with a handy cookbook, you'll be able to adapt many of your regular recipes for use with this grill, whether the recipes call for grilling, broiling, frying, or baking. The grill holds about 3 "whopper" sized burgers, 4 good-sized burgers, or 6 smaller ones. For chicken breasts, it can hold 4-6 (maybe more) depending on size.

This particular model comes with 2 spatulas and 2 dip trays. Yes, the grill can be hard to clean if you don't wipe it off right away. The best way to clean it is to use the spatulas to scrape off the grill as soon as you remove your food. Then, as soon as you've eaten (and the grill has cooled a bit), wipe the grill down with warm, soapy paper towels. If you wait too long, the grease is hard to remove (be sure to wipe under the rim, too, for grease builds up there and might be hard to see). I haven't had any trouble with the teflon coating coming off, and I also find the spatulas easy to use (though they are a bit flimsy, but you can use any plastic utensil you want). The spatulas don't work as well scraping the grease from the very tip of the grill's bottom piece, as the grooves are deeper there than elsewhere. But for the job it does, the clean-up is worth it. This model is large, making it difficult to store in certain cabinets, but I use mine so often it just stays on the counter.

I would definitely recommend a George Foreman grill of any kind. It delivers what it promises: healthier food, and fast! You'll find yourself using the oven a lot less.

I bought the George Foreman jumbo grill in April, and it is by far the best grill I've ever used. A day rarely goes by when I'm not cooking something on it.

The key aspect I must touch base on where the grill is concerned is how it literally drains the fat from your food. I was astounded by the amount of fat that came off 4 1/4 lb. hamburgers. I ultimately thought back about how much fat we consume per day without even knowing it. Meanwhile, the grill manages to retain the taste and juciness of the food you cook.

The fact that you can cook frozen food is an added bonus as well, especially for someone like me who usually waits until the last minute to decide what to eat.

I mainly use it when cooking chicken breasts. From the frozen state to fully-cooked takes approximately 10 minutes, and the result is incredible.

I also found clean up to be a breeze. The plastic scrapers which come with the grill are practically useless. Your best bet is to use either a wet cloth or a wet paper towel to wipe down the grill WHILE it is still warm. It will be clean in no time.

The grill is incredibly easy to use, and with the easy clean-up, you can simply wipe down the machine and be ready to use it again. I find this especially handy when cooking for a large group of people.

So, if you're looking to cook low-fat food that is absolutely mouth watering, quick, and easy. You can't go wrong with this product. I recommend it to anyone.

I bought the George Foreman grill as a joke for my husband (it DOES say "Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine" on it), but we used it every day for three weeks solid after it arrived. The reason? It's EASY, and the food turns out really tasty!

This particular model is HUGE and will cook several portions of meat at a time -- it cooks from the top and bottom all at once to cut your cooking time down to mere minutes! The grill is tilted and comes with a trough so that all excess fat is drained away from your food. Pretty nifty! It's also fairly easy to clean up -- you just wipe down the grill and throw the trough in the dishwasher.

We've used the grill for chicken breasts, Boca Burgers, regular burgers, pork chops, steaks, and even bacon strips (it's GREAT for avoiding a bunch of messy bacon grease). It cooks even frozen meat in a relatively short period of time, and it cooks it thoroughly. It's easy to throw something on the grill, sprinkle some seasonings on it (BAM!), and let it cook for a few minutes while you fix the rest of the meal. It is hard to overcook things, and it's fun to have grill-lines on your food.

It took me awhile to believe the hype about the George Foreman Grills, but they are easy to use and deliver good results. In fact, this might be a good way to introduce your older children (12 and up) to rudimentary cooking. With this model, your teenager could be in charge of cooking a meal once or twice a week, and you could be fairly sure the results would be edible.

The George Foreman grill is a great choice for people who don't have a lot of time to cook & clean, who aren't yet confident cooks or don't have a lot of cooking experience, or for anyone who wants an easy way to make a tasty meal!

PROS
I have the jumbo model that includes a timer. Not having done any research on them, I initially bought it on a friend's recommendation for the product overall and just bought the largest size. I didn't realize the timer was not standard on all models. However, I cannot imagine using it without one. Without the timer, you'd still get the benefits of the cooking method, just have to expend more effort watching over your results. With the timer, we are able to wap on our entree, add seasoning, and walk away long enough to catch a few commercials in the short time before it alerts us to perfectly cooked food everytime!

We use this fabulous machine for practically every meal. Our Foreman grill allows us to cook 4-6 chicken breasts (defrosted) in about 4 min. It also works for partially frozen items, but your best results will be with defrosted ones. I have never had such lean tasty meals or such succulent chicken. I even suggested maybe we use it for cooking the chicken for one of our outdoor BBQ parties (at someone else's house). I was vetoed because of "too much effort to haul it to the party", but was soon able to say I told you so after my "SO" stood at a charcoal grill for the better part of 2 hrs cooking chicken for our guests. That result was slightly burned, dry chicken.

I used to use the Renolds Wrap method of one-stop cooking, putting everything in a foil packet and cooking it all together in the oven. Little mess and minimal effort. However, this required a little more creativeness and supervision for decent results. The Foreman grill allows a pretty brainless operation beyond what seasonings shall we use today. (Cajun, my favorite!) I also noticed a taste difference, the grill tastes better. For total time & effort involved in cooking (did I mention I dislike cooking), between the two methods, I would choose the grill even with the added effort required in cleaning.

CONS
Enough of the glowing recommendations. My grips are cleanup and teflon durability. Because the grill is coated with teflon, I would assume cleanup should be easier than it actually is. We clean up almost immediately after cooking and use Pam to help. We have tried using a sponge, but that takes an amazingly long amount of time. We have even found a few tips that help (like re-heating a wet paper towel in the grill to soften the residue). We found paper towels to be the easiest/fastest/best option. However, I'm afraid this shortens the life of the teflon coating because of the coarse texture (not to mention killing many trees). I believe it's also the paper towel's coarser texture that helps clean up go faster.

You will notice some teflon chipping off the grill within the first few uses. This doesn't markedly change the outcome from a cooking aspect, mainly increases the issues from the cleaning aspect. We've had our grill about 8 mo. and I can see it's life span fading.

One would think the vendor would come up with a better method or a list of recommendations for easier cleaning. The little pronged spatulas to scrape the grill are a waste of my precious storage space and their production money. The spatulas don't take up a lot of space, they just waste your time trying to find a use for them. I haven't been successful yet. Instead, spend those extra product dollars on industrial strength teflon coating!

Storage can be an issue. Space is at a premium in our apartment so permanent countertop placement is not a viable option. We ended up storing it above the fridge. I'm relatively short, but do not find this to be an issue as even the jumbo size is not very heavy. However, it's large size can make it bulky if you have to manuever above your head or move other things out of the way.

SUMMARY
The PROS(*****) far outweigh the CONS(**) so I rated this four stars. I couldn't imagine cooking meals without a Foreman grill. We will definitely buy another when ours finally wears out. I currently highly recommend this product in any conversation I have to anyone who seems remotely interested (and sometimes when they're not). This is a great option for anyone who doesn't like to cook, college students, etc. It would be perfect if it would clean itself or someone had a better method!

Well, being a bachelor, I live like a stereo type bachelor. Actually, I'm a very good cook, but see no sense in cooking a big dinner for one. So most the time I pickup something I can either nuke, or is out of a can. However, I do like my T-bone steaks, but on my flat grill, it takes about an hour to make one. This machine cuts that time down to a third.

THE MACHINE APPEARANCE:
This model of George Foreman Grill is somewhat larger than its previous machines. So you should have some counter space for it. It is about two feet long, and a foot and a half wide, shaped oval. The machine itself looks nice sitting on the counter. The paint job isn't cheesy and should last the lifetime of the machine. The construction of the machine is solid, and looks so on the counter. The hind end is lifted about three inches higher than the front, which gives it a space age look. Mine is white like a refrigerator, I think all of them are. It has the George Foreman signature on the top middle where the ready light is also located. Overall, the grilling machine looks very nice on the counter, and will take up a large portion of the counter.

GRILLING MACHINE FEATURES:
The machine itself is not very complex at all, and that is a good thing. It has a top and bottom heating grill that closes like a clam. This clam type heating is what makes grilling so much faster. And the heating surfaces are not flat, they have deep grooves on both the top and the bottom. This enables the fat to run down between the grooves. And because of the angle that it sits, the fat runs down to the front where a tray catches it. The tray that catches the grease is just a plastic long two in wide tray. This is the second cheapest looking part of the machine, but serves it's purpose. It also comes with some plastic fork like utensils, that look very cheap, and don't work well. The power cord is about two feet long, and doesn't really hide away anywhere in the machine. It uses a standard two prong, so you won't need an adaptor. It does not have an on/off switch or button. So your on and off are simply plugging and unplugging it. The main features of this grilling machine is the removal of fat that drips out of the machine, and its fast grilling of food.

THE GRILLING:
Well, putting the machine to use, here's what I found out. Being I cook mostly T-Bones on it, I found one problem. Because of the bone in the steak, it does not allow the clam shell to fully close to properly heat the top. So I do have to flip the steak over after about eight minutes of cooking. And then cook the other side for about the same amount of time. However, with a top sirloin, this is not the case. It will fully close on this and cooks fully in about ten eight or under. I pretty much don't even pay attention to the ready light it has. The cooking really does depend on the thickness, and texture of the product. It barely smokes when cooking, but does smoke some. So how did the steaks taste you wonder? The T-Bones came out fantastic, the top sirloin was somewhat over cooked and dry, but still tasty.

CLEANING:
Clean up on the machine is somewhat clumsy at best. They give you some plastic prong forks that go between the grooves to clean. However, these things don't clean very well if it's been sitting at all. And I'm not sure about you, but after I cook, I like to eat, not do dishes. This little tray does catch all the grease, but the technology of a plastic tray just seems lacking. I found myself using a sponge with water and soap for cleanup. And I do spray it with Pam cooking oil first. So my gripes are cleanup, and the cheesy grease trays. It's still far easier cleaning than a BBQ grill.

CONCLUSION:
This machine will cook amazingly fast for you, and remove all the fat from the meats. It does lack a power switch, which is annoying. And cleanup could be better, but for grilling it's easier cleaning than a BBQ grill. It meets the advertised functions, but the ready light isn't really very useful. Overall, these is a fantastic indoor grilling machine and highly recommend it to anyone. This model is far better than its previous machines. My friend has one of the first models, and he can only fit one hamburger patty on it. So this machine is a definitely a keeper. However, I removed one star because it lacks an off/on switch or button, and lacks a good way to clean it.

I recommend that if anyone is having problems with the nonstick, they contact the manufacturer. That problem is not normal. I have had my grill for a number of years and use it constantly. And I have bought a few for gifts. Neither I, nor anyone I know have had problems with the nonstick coating. They are easy to clean, as well. After I cook my food, before unplugging the unit, I immediately pour water over the entire grill and quickly close the lid for 10-15 seconds. The steam softens anything that might be baked on. Then, with the unit still plugged in, I use an old-fashioned sponge that is dripping wet with soapy water and wipe the grill down, rinse the sponge, and repeat a few times, pouring a little more water over it, if necessary. I'm done cleaning it in less than 60 seconds. Then I unplug it to cool while I'm eating. This is all that is required for clean-up. There is no scraping required to get any of the grease off. I've seen this product being demonstrated by the grill company's representative elsewhere, this is basically what the manufacturer recommends -- just a soapy sponge immediately after cooking.

I highly recommend this product for it's ease of use and ease of cleaning. It is great for a family when everyone needs to eat at a different time on those especially hectic nights.

4/6/02 Note:
I should also mention that I cook everything on my grill. And, I always use a lot of sauce. I especially load on the BBQ sauce. The cleaning instructions that I mention in my review are exactly what I do even when using loads of BBQ sauce. It comes right off with no scraping. You just need to make sure to clean it right away. In lieu of scraping, just use additional soapy water to clean larger messes.

I bet you have seen the same comercial I have. The grilling machine that will take all the fat out of your food, while cooking it to perfection! Sounds too good to be true. Well it's not! I have seen this machine advertized on TV for a long time. I thought that I would send this product back for a refund. I finally got the nerve to order and placed my order thru Amazon.com. It very easy to order on-line and the product arrived at my home quite quickly.

My wife and I were very excited when it arrived. We went right to work. I took out some hotdogs and burgers. My wife set-up the machine and it was time to put it to the test. We placed the food on the machine and to my surprise the food was done quickly I mean fast! I tried a burger and I was very surprized that it had no fat in it. I had even seen fat on burgers cooked on a charcoal grill, but on this machine not a sign of fat on my burger. My wife was just as surprized as I was with the hotdog no fat great taste.

My wife and I would recommend this product to anyone and everyone for the sake of health and good eating.

Thanks George and Amazon.com for a great product and a great way to buy on-line!!

Carlo and Terry El Paso, Texas

Very convenient for cooking bacon (crispy with NO splatters). Burgers & steaks are tasty, although a different, not "outdoor grill", taste. Nice sized cooking area allows about 7 bacon strips, 2 medium sized steaks, 4 to 6 burgers. Dislikes: VERY loose lid (wobbles), no timer so difficult to tell when burgers are done. Rather messy clean-up (best done while grill is still warm). I wash with sponge & dishwashing liquid, and use LOTS of paper towels to wipe grill area, using drip trays to catch "run-off".. Also,the drip trays are not very heat tolerant, and peeled with first use (I would recommend hand washing, rather than using dishwasher, because of this). I still would recommend the grill for it's convenience of grilling indoors with less mess than conventional oven or frying pan (I'm purchasing another one for my parents).

I've had my grill for over 6 months now. I like the way it cooks foods quickly but it has a few drawbacks that I think reduce its overall rating

Pros:
1. For the most part cooks quickly and pretty evenly
2. Comes with a decent receipe book

Cons:
1. No on/off switch. You have to plug and unplug to power it off or on. There is a power light to show when it's on.
2. No temperature control and no temperature indicator
3. Grill is not removable for cleaning - even with a "non-stick" surface and a spray on non-stick things still seem to stick to it pretty agressively and require a pretty good scrubbing to remove. The non-stick surface also seems poorly bound to the grill so the life of the grill may be shortened since it can't be replaced.

I like the concept but the execution is slightly lacking - if they made these improvements I would buy another one.

I think the George Foreman Grill is great on days when it's just not feasible to use the real thing... My "mom-in-law" recommended it to me and she seemed thrilled at how easy the clean-up was. Well, the first time I used it, I had a big problem when it came time to clean. The food was sooo stuck on it, it took 20 minutes of hard scrubbing to get it off. When I told her, she told me the trick. When you're done cooking unplug the machine and close it on several WET paper towels. (Not just damp, but not dripping either.) Then you can sit and have dinner without having to clean a "hot" grill. And when you're done eating, clean-up should be a breeze.