Most Helpful Customer Reviews
126 of 127 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy use, Easy clean!, November 16, 2004
This review is from: Hamilton Beach 25295 Indoor Contact Grill with Removable Grids (Kitchen)
I was very intrigued by the Hamilton Beach Indoor grill/griddle with removable grids. I saw the commercial, but was hooked on the advertisement featuring removable grids. That advertisement sold me on purchasing one. Since purchasing one, I have been using it quite often. The ease of use and easy clean up keeps it from being a stowaway appliance. (Nut chopper, Salsa maker and toaster oven)
I really like the speed of cooking hamburgers and toasted sandwiches within five minutes. The dual sided cooking surface keeps the food hot and moist. The food remains hot inside for quite a long time and there is a noticeable difference to microwave heat.
The best features are: dual sided cooking, attached adjustable timer and the removable grids. I liked the removable grids the most because when you continuous cook for four or five times without cleaning the grids they can become very dirty. But you just pop them out and let them soak in soapy dishwater. The non-stick surface makes any burnt particles slid right off. This model (25295) has interchangeable grids; One set flat griddle grid and one set of ribbed grilling grids.
As with all kitchen appliances, there are some small inconviences to this grill. The grill must be heated up for five minutes before any cooking is done. (Five minutes is a lot of time to some people.) The bottom grill is slightly slanted for the grease and debris to slide down to the removable tray. This uneven grid makes uneven cook times if two items are cook simultaneously. The grease/debris tray is not locked into place, so it could fall out easily. We don't want grease all over the counter do we!
All in all, this grill/griddle is very useful and convenient for a small family.
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45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I'm going back to Foreman - TODAY!, January 24, 2005
This review is from: Hamilton Beach 25295 Indoor Contact Grill with Removable Grids (Kitchen)
I've owned a number of Foreman grills over the years and am a BIG fan of the product. I bought this to replace my last Foreman (the non-stick surface was peeling off the Foreman - again). I figured this product couldn't be much different than the Foreman - wrong!.
It doesn't get anywhere near as hot as the Foreman. Everything takes at least twice as long to cook.
There is about a half inch of space between the grill plates when closed. This is fine if you are cooking half inch steaks, but when cooking thinner cuts of meat, burgers or bacon only one side of the food is in contact with the grill. So you must turn the food. (the Foreman's plates are closer together and "float" on a hinge to accomidate both thin and thick items)
The cooking surface is TINY. It is comparable to the smallest Foreman. You can only cook 2 burgers at once. About 10% of the cooking area is lost to a large slot for the grease to drip through.
The drip pan doesn't lock into place so it is easily dislodged when you move the grill (just sliding the grill back a few inches on the counter can missalign it). If you don't notice right away you can end up with hot grease all over your counter!
I am buying another Foreman today! I will keep this and use it as a folding pancake griddle (you can cook four 3" pancakes at one time by opening it and using the griddle attachments) but I'm going back to Foreman for grilling.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy Cooking & Easy Cleaning (Rating: 9 out of 10- -4.5 stars), February 15, 2007
This review is from: Hamilton Beach 25295 Indoor Contact Grill with Removable Grids (Kitchen)
My mom has owned this grill for about a year and a half, and she and I ocassionally use it whenever we cook something on it. I find it to cook very effeciently and at a reasonable amount of time. It comes with a timer so you can cook your food at the time you feel that is needed. I cook a lot of food on this grill here (hot dogs, fish, beef patties). It also has a slot at the right side of the grill for the grease to run off of into a cup.
I seem to notice some of the 2 star reviews (mainly one of the spotlight reviewers) complain about how small the grill is. I personally don't believe it is that small. Unless you have two jumbo burgers, or something to the equivulent on your grill, then you aren't much room (I cooked 5 on mine without any problem). Also my grill's non stick surface hasn't peeled off yet. Also I don't have a problem with the amount of time it takes my food to cook because of the fact that the heat cannot be adjusted. Seriously people, whats a couple of extra minutes going to do when cooking your food?? Are you that hungry enough that you have to compain about the grill taking longer to cook food? I personaly believe that the surfaces keep a reasonable amount of heat so you can cook your food without burning youself. You don't have to spray oil or put butter on the grill because of it's excellent non-stick surface.
Another thing about this grill is that the surfaces comes apart so you can wash them or put them in the dishwasher. I find that to be very convient when cleaning the grill.
This grill is very effective when cooking. I find it very useful when I'm trying to cook large amounts of food when I don't have enough room on the stove. This grill has made cooking very convient and much easier. If you want to compare this to the competition The George Forman Grill (one that we once had as well), I find this one to have many advantages. The only difference that I found is that Hamilton Beach grill has a timer and the plates can be taken off, while the George Forman grill can adjust the temperature.
In response to one reviewer: You might want to thaw or defrost your food before you decide to cook it. That might explain why it took so to cook your beef patty. This grill wasn't specifically made to cook frozen food.
In response to another reviewer: I've used this grill for quite a while, and didn't have any weird plastic smells while using it.
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