Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 25300 Meal Maker Express Indoor Extra Large Contact Grill

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

 

 

I borrowed my son's grill and tried it out twice the first day. It made great grilled-cheese sandwiches and terrific chicken breasts for grilled chicken salad. They both tasted yummy. I can relate to my son's friend who uses one and says he doesn't burn food any more. The timer makes it so simple and I don't have to hover in order to turn the food. It's amazing how much fat is collected. Cleanup is a breeze and storage is simple. Now I need to buy my own!

This grill is great in so many ways! It takes up very little counter space & the tray for fat and grease collection is attached to the grill, not like my friend's George Foreman (it just lies on the counter underneath the grill...just waiting to be knocked over). This is a HUGE saftey issue for anyone with kids or who is just clumsy in the kitchen (like me). The timer is wonderful because you don't have to watch the food while it is cooking and it provides cooking times for several different meats. I got mine as a house warming present & it has been used every week for the last 2 years!

I bought this grill at a store (paid too much) and am now buying one for my brother on amazon.com. The grill is fantastic---it cooks food quickly and leaves it moist and delicous. The ribbed top lets the fat run off so that your meal is much healthier too.

I had one of these in my former home and when I moved, one of the first things I did was order another one. I love the ease of cooking, the evenness on both sides, the fact that it opens up into a larger grill if I so desire (for one sided cooking), the sandwich possibilities, and the clean up. I have no complaints at all about this and highly recommend it. It's probably one of the most use appliances in my kitchen.

This grill just rocks! It grills evenly on both side and at the same time drains away extra fat with the slanted grooves. I tried chicken, steak and fish and everything seems to work. And thanks to the non-stick surface, it is also very easy to clean, although you have to be careful to keep the water out of the internal heating elements.

Note that unlike some other grills, the wedges form a flat "surface"---only the grooves are slanted. That means if you put a hotdog on the grill, it won't start rolling. (Now try that with the slanted ones... and don't think you can fix this problem by putting the hotdog in the "vertical" orientation, 'cos the grooves are vertical too and you want to put the hotdog perpendicular to the grooves in order for the fat to be drained efficiently.)

So that's what I expect from a good grill. What I didn't expect is: this grill can also toast home-made bread very well. I happen to have a bread maker and for a long time I don't like the result of my toaster because, as you know, home-made bread are hard to slice thin and so each slice is thicker. Out of curiosity I tried to "grill" a slice of bread with my new grill and what I got is surprisingly good toast. Now I am using this grill as a toaster in the morning. And did I mention you can use this to make grill cheese sandwich in five minutes too? :P

We originally were looking at a George Forman grill since, after all, GF grills are the "kings" of the market. We liked this because it was bigger and would handle our 2 adult, 2 young children family better.

We are very happy with it. The pluses are that it cooks great with it's top and bottom cooking, gives you a timer to limit how long you cook so you don't overcook, is very easy to clean up, and has a slanted surface to drain off the fat into a small removeable fat holder. It folds up and stores on it's side -- very nice!

The only less-positive comment is that the grill area does not come out, which would make cleaning the outside edges a bit easier (I'm sloppy at times so at rare times, the sauce goes outside the main grill area). Also, you can not adjust the temperature. (Not that I would know what to adjust it to.)

However both of these points are common to most of the other grills and they are minor.

All in all, I'm extremely happy with the grill! And the food it cooks taste great! I''d by it again if I needed to.

This grill is definitely better (dollar for dollar) than the infamous George Foreman grill. My college roommates and I usually buy about fifty frozen hamburger patties from costco every month. Each frozen patty takes only 15 minutes to cook, making it perfect for a quick inbetween-class meal. You'd be suprise at how much grease is extracted from each meal!

Now, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to use this grill in a small room (ie. dorm) unless you don't mind your place smelling like a busy kitchen for a few hours. Also, this appliance is not the easiest thing to clean.

Also, the Extra Large Contact Grill is only large compared to the smaller foreman grills. It really will only hold about two steaks, 3 burgers (2 if they're big), 3 chicken breasts, and about 2 lrg pork chops. If you have a big family, I suggest you go up one model to the even bigger grill.

In conclusion: Great grill for smaller families. Awesome grill for college folks in an apt/house. Not so good for dormatories.

We shopped on-line and locally, were looking for a small grill advertised by a famous boxer. When we did comparison shopping via the web, found this item made by Hamilton Beach, bigger, better, and with a longer warranty than the other.

It arrived in 48 hours, so must say thanks to Amazon for the great buy and super fast shipping.

All I can say is that this Grill stands up to the better Priced ones.. I have tried food made with the George Forman Grill, this one does a better job, has a drip pan, timer, and foods taste great! So far, I have cooked hot dogs, grilled chicken, steak, hamburgers, and Vegetables. I cook for a family of 4 and 4 pieces of boneless chicken breast fit on it at one time. We love it. My teenage daughters use it daily to cook after school snacks!

I love this grill! I wanted a George Forman grill and went with this one because of it's rating/reviews and price. I love it! Meals cook quicker, easier clean up (I HATE washing pans!) and I have even cooked hashbrowns and taco meat on it. It's wonderful and I can't wait to try grilling veggies on it! Best purchase I've made in awhile!